SPECTRAL CUES FOR SOUND LOCALIZATION

用于声音定位的频谱提示

• 批准号: 3461789
• 负责人: BRADFORD J MAY
• 金额: $ 10.98万
• 依托单位: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-12-01 至 1995-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3461789
• 关键词: acoustic nerve; auditory discrimination; auditory nuclei; biological signal transduction; cats; cues; external ear; hearing; neural information processing; psychoacoustics; sound frequency; space perception

Our long-term objective is to understand mechanisms of directional hearing that involve the auditory processing of complex sounds. The spectra of complex acoustic stimuli are filtered by the external ear as part of the process of transduction in the auditory system. These filtering effects are manifested as peaks and notches in the amplitude spectrum of a broadband stimulus. Because the frequency regions that exhibit spectral features are influenced by stimulus location, this acoustic information is presumed to aid in sound localization. We prepose to describe the directionally-dependent acoustic properties of the mammalian pinna that shape the spectra of complex sounds. We also will isolate spectral features that arise from pinna-filtering properties to examine their functional significance in directional hearing. Finally, we will evaluate the role of neural networks within the dorsal cochlear nucleus for processing spectral features that convey meaningful information about sound location. Cats will be used as experimental animals in these studies because the acoustic properties of a cat's pinna have been investigated extensively, and because a wealth of physiological data exist on the neural basis of directional hearing in the species. Our behavioral experiments will assess the funcUonal significance of that acoustic and physiological evidence in animals that have been deafened in one ear. Unilaterally deafened animals must depend on monaural spectral cues to locate sounds in space. Once these experiments establish how spectral features contribute to monaural sound localization processes, cats with normal binaural hearing will be evaluated in future studies. Behavioral experiments using animal subjects will provide new insight into the neural processing of complex sounds in the auditory nerve and cochlear nucleus. This information could contribute toward the design of prosthetic devices for hearing unpaired individuals.

我们的长期目标是了解定向听觉的机制 涉及复杂声音的听觉处理。的光谱 复杂的声刺激被外耳过滤， 听觉系统中的传导过程。这些过滤效果是 表现为宽带的幅度谱中的峰和凹口 刺激。因为表现出频谱特征的频率区域是 受刺激位置的影响，该声学信息被假定为 帮助声音定位。我们的目的是描述 哺乳动物耳廓的方向依赖性声学特性， 塑造复杂声音的频谱。我们还将分离光谱特征 从羽片过滤特性产生，以检查其功能 方向性听力的重要性。最后，我们将评估 耳蜗背核内用于处理光谱的神经网络 这些特征传达有关声音位置的有意义的信息。 在这些研究中，猫将被用作实验动物， 猫耳廓的声学特性已经被广泛研究， 因为大量的生理数据存在于神经基础上， 方向性听觉的能力。我们的行为实验将评估 听觉和生理学证据功能意义 一只耳朵被割掉的动物。单侧睾丸切除动物 必须依靠单声道的频谱线索来定位空间中的声音。一旦这些 实验确定了频谱特征如何有助于单声道声音 定位过程中，将评估双耳听力正常的猫 在未来的研究中。以动物为对象的行为实验将 提供了新的见解复杂的声音在神经处理 听神经和耳蜗核。这些信息可能有助于 设计出了一种用于听力残疾人的假肢。