Department of Surgery
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Ruth Y Litovsky, PhD

Professor

  • Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

litovsky@waisman.wisc.edu
(608) 262-5045

1500 Highland Ave.
Room 521
Madison, WI 53705-2274

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, particularly 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. The lab studies the ability of children to separate speech from competing sounds and 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 the lab studies 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

    • Sound Localization in Toddlers with Normal Hearing and with Bilateral Cochlear Implants Revealed Through a Novel "Reaching for Sound" Task.
    • Bennett EE, Litovsky RY
    • J Am Acad Audiol 2019 Aug 12;
    • [PubMed ID: 31429402]
    • Asymmetric temporal envelope encoding: Implications for within- and across-ear envelope comparison.
    • Anderson SR, Kan A, Litovsky RY
    • J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2019 Aug; 146(2): 1189
    • [PubMed ID: 31472559]
    • Effect of channel separation and interaural mismatch on fusion and lateralization in normal-hearing and cochlear-implant listeners.
    • Kan A, Goupell MJ, Litovsky RY
    • J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2019 Aug; 146(2): 1448
    • [PubMed ID: 31472555]
    • Binaural unmasking with temporal envelope and fine structure in listeners with cochlear implants.
    • Todd AE, Goupell MJ, Litovsky RY
    • J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2019 May; 145(5): 2982
    • [PubMed ID: 31153315]
    • Auditory motion tracking ability of adults with normal hearing and with bilateral cochlear implants.
    • Moua K, Kan A, Jones HG, Misurelli SM, Litovsky RY
    • J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2019 Apr; 145(4): 2498
    • [PubMed ID: 31046310]

All Publications on PubMed