Raymond L. Goldsworthy, PhD

Raymond Goldsworthy, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Research Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (Keck School of Medicine) and director of the Bionic Ear Lab.

Ray received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Kentucky in 1997 and his Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences and Technology from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. After completing his doctoral studies, Ray led development teams at Sensimetrics Corporation to design signal processing strategies for cochlear implants and hearing aids, and to provide auditory rehabilitation software to help people with hearing loss make the most of their hearing. Ray joined the University of Southern California as an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology in January, 2014. Ray is a cochlear implant user and is passionate about the interplay of auditory experience, auditory perception, and medical bionics for improving the lives of people with hearing loss.

Ray’s research combines psychoacoustics, signal processing, and auditory rehabilitation towards improving hearing for the hearing impaired with emphasis on cochlear implant technology. Ray’s research examines relationships between fundamental limits of auditory resolution with speech recognition. This line of research provides a foundation for quantifying auditory capacity, and sets the stage for systematically exploring signal processing solutions to enhance hearing for the impaired. Ray’s signal processing research focuses on strategies that are inspired by the dynamic processes observed in healthy hearing. These strategies range from spatial beamformers modeled after binaural hearing to cochlear implant stimulation strategies inspired by auditory nerve physiology. Combining psychoacoustics and signal processing ultimately requires careful attention to auditory rehabilitation since cochlear implant and hearing aid users generally require dedicated time and training to learn how to use new information provided by enhanced signal processing solutions.

• Musically evoked emotions in cochlear implant users and those with no known hearing loss Hear Res. 2025 Jan 27; 458:109196. . View in PubMed
• The relationship between channel interaction, electrode placement, and speech perception in adult cochlear implant users J Acoust Soc Am. 2024 Dec 01; 156(6):4289-4302. . View in PubMed
• Characterizing the relationship between modulation sensitivity and pitch resolution in cochlear implant users Hear Res. 2024 07; 448:109026. . View in PubMed
• The Relationship of Pitch Discrimination with Segregation of Tonal and Speech Streams for Cochlear Implant Users Trends Hear. 2024 Jan-Dec; 28:23312165241305049. . View in PubMed
• Cochlear Implant Users can Effectively Combine Place and Timing Cues for Pitch Perception Ear Hear. 2023 Nov-Dec 01; 44(6):1410-1422. . View in PubMed
• Perceptions of Vocal Performance Impairment in Singers with and without Hearing LossJ Voice. 2023 Nov; 37(6):972. e1-972. e8. . View in PubMed
• Effect of Realistic Test Conditions on Perception of Speech, Music, and Binaural Cues in Normal-Hearing Listeners Am J Audiol. 2023 Mar; 32(1):170-181. . View in PubMed
• Combining Place and Rate of Stimulation Improves Frequency Discrimination in Cochlear Implant Users Hear Res. 2022 10; 424:108583. . View in PubMed
• FORUM: Remote testing for psychological and physiological acoustics J Acoust Soc Am. 2022 05; 151(5):3116. . View in PubMed
• Advantages of Pulse Rate Compared to Modulation Frequency for Temporal Pitch Perception in Cochlear Implant Users J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2022 02; 23(1):137-150. . View in PubMed
• Audibility emphasis of low-level sounds improves consonant identification while preserving vowel identification for cochlear implant users Speech Commun. 2022 Feb; 137:52-59. . View in PubMed
• Computer-based musical interval training program for Cochlear implant users and listeners with no known hearing loss Front Neurosci. 2022; 16:903924. . View in PubMed
• Computational Modeling of Synchrony in the Auditory Nerve in Response to Acoustic and Electric Stimulation Front Comput Neurosci. 2022; 16:889992. . View in PubMed
• Pleasantness Ratings of Musical Dyads in Cochlear Implant Users Brain Sci. 2021 Dec 28; 12(1). . View in PubMed
• Supporting Equity and Inclusion of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals in Professional Organizations Front Educ (Lausanne). 2021 Oct; 6. . View in PubMed
• Pitch perception is more robust to interference and better resolved when provided by pulse rate than by modulation frequency of cochlear implant stimulation Hear Res. 2021 09 15; 409:108319. . View in PubMed
• Perceptual learning of pitch provided by cochlear implant stimulation rate PLoS One. 2020; 15(12):e0242842. . View in PubMed
• Children With Normal Hearing Are Efficient Users of Fundamental Frequency and Vocal Tract Length Cues for Voice Discrimination Ear Hear. 2020 Jan/Feb; 41(1):182-193. . View in PubMed
• Temporal envelope cues and simulations of cochlear implant signal processing Speech Commun. 2019 May; 109:24-33. . View in PubMed
• Pediatric Hearing Loss and Speech Recognition in Quiet and in Different Types of Background Noise J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2019 03 25; 62(3):758-767. . View in PubMed
• Factors Affecting Speech Reception in Background Noise with a Vocoder Implementation of the FAST Algorithm J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2018 08; 19(4):467-478. . View in PubMed
• Voice Discrimination by Adults with Cochlear Implants: the Benefits of Early Implantation for Vocal-Tract Length Perception J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2018 04; 19(2):193-209. . View in PubMed
• Adaptive spatial filtering improves speech reception in noise while preserving binaural cues J Acoust Soc Am. 2017 09; 142(3):1441. . View in PubMed
• Community network for deaf scientists Science. 2017 04 28; 356(6336):386-387. . View in PubMed
• Correlations Between Pitch and Phoneme Perception in Cochlear Implant Users and Their Normal Hearing Peers J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2015 Dec; 16(6):797-809. . View in PubMed
• Two-microphone spatial filtering improves speech reception for cochlear-implant users in reverberant conditions with multiple noise sources Trends Hear. 2014 Oct 20; 18. . View in PubMed
• Two-microphone spatial filtering provides speech reception benefits for cochlear implant users in difficult acoustic environments J Acoust Soc Am. 2014 Aug; 136(2):867-76. . View in PubMed
• Training improves cochlear implant rate discrimination on a psychophysical task J Acoust Soc Am. 2014 Jan; 135(1):334-41. . View in PubMed
• Psychoacoustic and phoneme identification measures in cochlear-implant and normal-hearing listeners Trends Amplif. 2013 Mar; 17(1):27-44. . View in PubMed
• Analysis of speech-based Speech Transmission Index methods with implications for nonlinear operations J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 Dec; 116(6):3679-89. . View in PubMed

• Eisenberg, Laurie
• Oghalai, John
• Narayanan, Shrikanth
• Choi, Janet
• Shera, Christopher
• Friedland, David
• Runge, Christina