Neural Representation of Acoustic Elements of Speech

描述(申请人提供)：这项研究的总体重点是了解语音在大脑中是如何呈现的，以及这种呈现与在安静和噪声中对言语的有意识感知是如何联系的。为了解决这些问题，声学-语音实验范式应运而生。在这种方法中，在同一实验对象中测量行为言语知觉和对语音信号的神经生理反应，以确定听觉与其神经底物之间的关系。为了更明确地描述听觉系统对语音信号的反应，还在动物模型中测量了语音诱发的颅内反应。具体地说，将研究听觉中脑、丘脑和皮质以及左脑专门化的相对作用。 除了了解正常的语音处理外，该项目还专注于了解听觉学习障碍和注意力缺陷障碍的病理基础，这两种疾病是学龄儿童最常见的障碍之一。通常，这些儿童在感知细粒度语音信号和噪声中的语音方面存在困难。另一系列实验将评估语音知觉学习所涉及的神经生物学过程。其目标是影响训练方案的设计，这些方案可能会帮助这些有语音感知困难的人。 总体而言，该项目的结果将进一步了解语音是如何中性呈现的，以及正常和受损的听觉系统如何在安静和具有挑战性的倾听环境中对语音做出反应。此外，研究结果将描述神经同步性在言语知觉中的作用，并提出可能改善听力受损个体言语知觉的训练方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall focus of this research isto understand how speech sounds are represented in the brain and how that representation is related to the conscious perception of speech in quiet and in noise. In order to address those questions, an acoustic-phonetic experimental paradigm has been developed. In this approach, behavioral speech perception and neurophysiologic responses to speech signals are measured in the same experimental subject in order to determine relationships between hearing and its neural substrates. Speech-evoked intracranial responses also are measured in an animal model in order to more definitively characterize the auditory system's response to speech signals. Specifically, the relative roles of auditory midbrain, thalamus and cortex as well as left-brain specialization will be examined. In addition to understanding normal speech processing, the project focuses on understanding the pathologies underlying auditory learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders, which are among the most common disorders found in school-aged children. Typically, these children have difficulty perceiving fine-grained speech signals and speech in noise. Another series of experiments will evaluate the neurobiological processes involved in the perceptual learning of speech sounds. The goal is to impact the design of training regimens that may assist these individuals who have difficulty perceiving speech sounds. Overall, the results of this project will further understanding of how speech is represented neutrally and how the normal and impaired auditory systems respond to speech in quiet and in challenging listening environments. Furthermore, the results will delineate the role of neural synchrony in speech perception, and suggest training protocols that may improve speech perception in individuals with impaired hearing mechanisms.