The contributions of interaurally correlated signals and interaurally symmetric place of stimulation for the binaural auditory system

项目总结/摘要 双耳听力在复杂的听力环境中提供了实质性的好处，提高了 理解语音并提供定位声音的能力。然而，为了利用双耳 提示，来自两个耳朵的声音需要被整合（双耳整合）。双耳集成不 对于某些听众群体，例如耳蜗植入（CI）用户，完全发生。是否，以及 双耳集成的发生取决于声学信号的两个方面。一个方面是统计 左耳和右耳中的波形之间的相似性（耳间相关性）。二是对称性 在两耳中的刺激位置方面（物理耳间对称性）。我们的总体 假设是耳间相关性和耳间对称性都在双耳整合中起作用， 耳间相关性也驱动适应，改变功能性耳间不对称性以抵消影响 物理上的双耳对称性。 拟议的研究将操纵信号的耳间相关性和耳间对称性， 信号被传递到的耳蜗区域。这些实验将提供洞察力， 听觉系统的功能和开发器械程控时要考虑的关键因素 技术为双边CI用户（具体目标1）。在适应的同时，减少物理性耳间干扰的影响， 不对称性，已经很好地记录了音高匹配任务，我们假设，耳间相关 信号驱动整个双耳听觉系统的适应，但是 效果在不同的双耳线索上不同。这些实验将提供关键的洞察力， 耳间相关和物理耳间对称信号对于驾驶适应的重要性。他们 还将提供关键的指导，说明何时必须解决双边CI用户 在耳间非对称位置长期接收耳间相关信号（具体目标2）。 这些研究将为双耳听觉系统如何组合信号提供基本的见解 从两只耳朵。本研究还将提供洞察因素，将影响双边CI用户的 双耳能力，无论是直接激活后，并随着时间的推移。这将为范式转变奠定基础 临床医生如何以及何时对双侧CI用户的设备进行编程以最大化双耳益处。

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Binaural hearing provides substantial benefits in complex listening environments, improving the ability to understand speech and providing the ability to localize sounds. However, in order to take advantage of binaural cues, sounds from the two ears need to be integrated (binaural integration). Binaural integration does not fully occur for some populations of listeners, such as cochlear implant (CI) users. Whether, and the degree to which, binaural integration occurs depends on two aspects of the acoustic signal. One aspect is the statistical similarity between the waveforms in the left and right ear (interaural correlation). The second is the symmetry in terms of the place of stimulation in the two ears (physical interaural symmetry). Our overarching hypothesis is that interaural correlation and interaural symmetry both play a role in binaural integration, with interaural correlation also driving adaptation, altering the functional interaural asymmetry to counter the effects of the physical interaural symmetry. The proposed study will manipulate the interaural correlation and interaural symmetry of the signal as well as the cochlear region to which the signals are delivered. These experiments will provide insight into both the functioning of the auditory system and the critical factors to consider when developing device programming techniques for bilateral CI users (Specific Aim 1). While adaptation, reducing the effects of physical interaural asymmetry, has been well documented for pitch-matching tasks, we hypothesize that interaurally correlated signals drive adaptation across the entire binaural auditory system, but the magnitude and/or time-course of the effects differ across different binaural cues. These experiments will provide critical insight into the relative importance of interaurally correlated and physically interaurally symmetric signals for driving adaptation. They will also provide critical guidance as to when it is crucial to address the common issue that bilateral CI users chronically receive interaurally correlated signals at interaurally asymmetric locations (Specific Aim 2). The proposed studies will provide fundamental insight in to how the binaural auditory system combines signals from the two ears. This research will also provide insight into the factors that will influence bilateral CI users’ binaural abilities, both directly after activation, and over time. This will lay the groundwork for a paradigm shift in terms of how and when clinicians program bilateral CI users’ devices to maximize binaural benefits.