Collaborative Research: Studies of Binaural Processing

9309263强生双耳(双耳)听力在检测和定位声源以及在嘈杂背景下理解语音方面比只有一只耳朵(单耳)要好得多。在哺乳动物的大脑中，在脑干中有一个被称为上橄榄复合体的结构，它是听觉通路中的第一个位置，直接参与双耳听力背后的神经处理。这个复合体包含形成称为细胞核的神经细胞群。其中两个是外侧上橄榄核(LSO)和斜方体体的内侧核。这两个都是神经网络LSO网络的一部分，LSO网络专门涉及1.5 kHz以上的中高频声音的双耳处理。这项工作是一位感觉神经生理学家和一位信号处理理论家使用跨学科方法合作完成的。LSO网络中神经元的反应被记录为受控声刺激，这接近于正常的自由场双耳条件，计算模型描述了这些反应如何发展成双耳信号的神经表示。还将使用信号阵列处理技术来确定LSO网络对双耳感知的后续贡献。这项工作将产生影响，从听觉神经科学到一般的感觉处理，到网络的计算模型，以及用于辅助或增强听力的设备。***

9309263 Johnson DH Hearing with two ears (binaural) is much better than with just one (monaural) for detecting and locating sound sources, and understanding speech in a noisy background. Within the mammalian brain, in the brainstem, there is a structure called the superior olivary complex that is the first place in the auditory pathway directly involved in the neural processing that underlies binaural hearing. This complex contains nerve cells formed into groups called nuclei. Two of these are the lateral superior olive nucleus (LSO), and the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body. Both are part of a neural network, the LSO network, that is specifically involved in binaural processing of mid- to high-frequency sounds, those above 1.5kHz. This work is a collaboration between a sensory neurophysiologist and a signal-processing theorist using an interdisciplinary approach. Responses of neurons in the LSO network are recorded for controlled acoustic stimuli which approximate normal "free-field" binaural conditions, and computational models describe how these responses devleop the neural representation of binaural signals. Signal array processing techniques also will be used to determine the consequent contributions of the LSO network to binaural perception. This work will have impact beyond auditory neuroscience to sensory processing in general, to computational modelling of networks, and to devices for aiding or enhancing hearing capabilities. ***