Education

• BS, Washington University in St. Louis, 1988
• MS, Washington University in St. Louis, 1988
• PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 1991

Research Interests

Dr. Litovsky’s translational research investigates cochlear implants, in particular with regard to the effect that bilateral cochlear implants have on the ability of patients to hear speech and localize sounds. Specifically, Dr. Litovsky’s lab studies emergence of spatial hearing abilities in young children, through longitudinal investigations. We study the ability of children to separate speech from competing sounds, and to identify source locations. Through various collaborations these studies also focus on language acquisition (with Jenny Saffran and Susan Ellis-Weismer) and phonological awareness (with Jan Edwards). Another line of research with adults focuses on how to improve performance with bilateral devices that are not designed to be synchronized. Thus we study binaural sensitivity using research processors, in the hope that a clinical binaural processor with a single digital signal processor can be implemented in the near future.

Recent Publications

• Issues in binaural hearing in bilateral cochlear implant users.
  Kan A, Jones H, Litovsky RY
  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2013 May; 133(5):3330.
  [PubMed ID: 23654927]
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• Reaching for sound measures: an ecologically valid estimate of spatial hearing in 2- to 3-year-old children with bilateral cochlear implants.
  Litovsky RY, Ehlers E, Hess C, Harris S
  Otol. Neurotol. 2013 Apr; 34(3):429-35.
  [PubMed ID: 23370551, PMC ID: 3600085]
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• Effect of mismatched place-of-stimulation on the salience of binaural cues in conditions that simulate bilateral cochlear-implant listening.
  Goupell MJ, Stoelb C, Kan A, Litovsky RY
  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2013 Apr; 133(4):2272-87.
  [PubMed ID: 23556595, PMC ID: 3631247]
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• Mapping procedures can produce non-centered auditory images in bilateral cochlear implantees.
  Goupell MJ, Kan A, Litovsky RY
  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2013 Feb; 133(2):EL101-7.
  [PubMed ID: 23363188, PMC ID: 3562277]
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• Interaural level differences do not suffice for restoring spatial release from masking in simulated cochlear implant listening.
  Ihlefeld A, Litovsky RY
  PLoS ONE 2012; 7(9):e45296.
  [PubMed ID: 23028914, PMC ID: 3447935]
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• Spatial acuity in 2-to-3-year-old children with normal acoustic hearing, unilateral cochlear implants, and bilateral cochlear implants.
  Grieco-Calub TM, Litovsky RY
  Ear Hear 2012 Sep-Oct; 33(5):561-72.
  [PubMed ID: 22517185, PMC ID: 3402640]
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• Spatial release from masking in children with normal hearing and with bilateral cochlear implants: effect of interferer asymmetry.
  Misurelli SM, Litovsky RY
  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2012 Jul; 132(1):380-91.
  [PubMed ID: 22779485, PMC ID: 3407161]
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• Studies on bilateral cochlear implants at the University of Wisconsin's Binaural Hearing and Speech Laboratory.
  Litovsky RY, Goupell MJ, Godar S, Grieco-Calub T, Jones GL, Garadat SN, Agrawal S, Kan A, Todd A, Hess C, Misurelli S
  J Am Acad Audiol 2012 Jun; 23(6):476-94.
  [PubMed ID: 22668767, PMC ID: 3517294]
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• Effect of degraded binaural cues in cochlear implant users and normal hearing listeners on spatial release from masking.
  Litovsky R, Goupell M, Kan A, Misurelli S, Stoelb C
  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2012 Apr; 131(4):3340.
  [PubMed ID: 22501715]
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• Possible implications of interaural mismatch in the place-of-stimulation on spatial release from masking in cochlear implant listeners.
  Kan A, Stoelb C, Goupell M, Litovsky R
  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2012 Apr; 131(4):3340.
  [PubMed ID: 22501717]
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