Music and auditory perceptual learning – cochlear implanted children trained six months inside a musical bells and melody chimes orchestra.

The purpose of the study. To directly improve the capacity to discriminate musical sound’s parameters by the cochlear implanted children who participated in the designed training activity. Also, speech recognition in difficult sound environments is indirectly improved. Materials and method. The experimental study was organized as an orchestra of musical bells and melody chimes. The group was represented by 20 cochlear implanted children aged 4 to 17 years old. They participated 6 months for orchestra training. The capacity of all the subjects to discriminate the rhythm, tonality and timbre of the musical sounds was tested before starting the rehabilitative activity and after six months of musical training. Results. After six months of musical training, all the children showed significant improved capabilities of discrimination of sound parameters comparing with the initial testing results. Conclusions. Musical training for cochlear implanted children can contribute to an increased music enjoyment and quality of life for this category of patients, by providing better discriminatory skills regarding musical parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]