## 2 Materials and Methods
### Sentence-in-Noise Test  
Sentence recognition thresholds under noisy conditions (SRTn) were assessed for all participants using a sentence-in-noise test that was recently developed in our lab. This test was specifically chosen to allow the use of either natural or vocoded stimuli. The test consisted of 69 5-word normalized sentences with the same grammatical structure--name-verb-number-noun-adjective--recorded by a female native Hebrew speaker. The order of presentation for the sentences was pseudo-randomized, with a given sentence presented only once within a threshold assessment. The noise was a steady-state speech-shaped noise with a long-term spectrum that matches the long-term spectrum of the sentences. Sentences were presented at a fixed sound pressure level (SPL) of 65 dB, and the signal-to-noise ratio \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Subject ID**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Gender**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Etiology**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Age at Identification**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Age at**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Age at Testing**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Implant**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Vocation**} \\  & & & **(Years,Months)** & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI1} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Genetic— & \multirow{2}{*}{0,01} & 1,00 (R) & 20,04 & Cochlear Nucleus (Both—Nucleus 6) & \multirow{2}{*}{Student} \\  & & connexin & 26 & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI2} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Genetic— & \multirow{2}{*}{0,01} & 1,01 (L) & 20,01 & Cochlear Nucleus (R—Freedom, L—Nucleus 5) & Unemployed \\  & & connexin & 26 & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI3} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & \multirow{2}{*}{Unknown} & 0,08 & 2,00 (R) & 23,06 & Cochlear Nucleus (Both Nucleus 7) & Student \\  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI4} & \multirow{2}{*}{M} & \multirow{2}{*}{CMV} & 0,03 & 2,00 (L) & 22,05 & Cochlear nucleus (R—Nucleus 24, L—Freedom) & \multirow{2}{*}{Student} \\  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI5} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & CMV at & \multirow{2}{*}{1,00} & 2,05 (R) & 26,01 & Cochlear Nucleus (R—Nucleus 5, L—Nucleus 6) & \multirow{2}{*}{National service} \\  & & pregnancy & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI6} & \multirow{2}{*}{M} & Genetic— & \multirow{2}{*}{0,10} & 3,00 (L) & 28,10 & Cochlear Nucleus (R—Nucleus 7, L—Nucleus 6) & \multirow{2}{*}{Social worker} \\  & & 26 & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI7} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Unknown & 4,06 & 14,00 (R) & 24 & Both: AB-260 & Student \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI8} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Genetic & \multirow{2}{*}{0,08} & 25,11 (R) & 35,05 & Med-El (R—Concerto, L—Synchroni & \multirow{2}{*}{Teacher} \\  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI9} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Waardenburg & \multirow{2}{*}{0,01} & 3,00 (L) & 31,01 & Cochlear Nucleus—Espirit 3G & \multirow{2}{*}{Teacher} \\  & & syndrom & & & & 3G \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI10} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Genetic— & \multirow{2}{*}{1,00} & \multirow{2}{*}{4,06 (L)} & 18,04 & Med-El Opus & Student \\  & & connexin & 26 & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI11} & \multirow{2}{*}{M} & \multirow{2}{*}{Rubella in pregnancy} & \multirow{2}{*}{0,03} & 5,00 (L) & 30,10 & Cochlear—Nucleus 6 & \multirow{2}{*}{Technician} \\  & & & & & & 6 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI12} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Unknown & 0:06 & 24,00 (L) & 20,10 & Med-El Combi40+ & \multirow{2}{*}{National service} \\  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI13} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Genetic & \multirow{2}{*}{3,00} & 31,01 (L) & 33,04 & Cochlear-Kenso & \multirow{2}{*}{Assistant to kindergarten teacher} \\  & & & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{CI4} & \multirow{2}{*}{F} & Ear & \multirow{2}{*}{infections} & 5,06 & 34,00 (R) & 40 & AB Phonac & \multirow{2}{*}{Kindergarten teacher} \\  & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Background information of the CI participants. CMV = cytomegalovirus. (SNR) ranged from +15 dB to \(-\)10 dB. Initially, a sentence was presented with an SNR of 15 dB.