Hearing Loss and The Perception of Complex Sound

项目摘要 感音神经性耳聋患者在听懂语言方面有困难。 嘈杂的环境，可能很难将目标声音从众多声音中分离出来 说话者，以及太空中的本地化声音。所有这些赤字都可以归因于 耳蜗结构损伤的功能影响，包括听力损失 敏感度、响度知觉的改变以及光谱和时间的损害 在听觉系统中进行处理。在这个研究项目中，行为 心理声学方法和电生理方法被用来研究 与频率和时间分析有关的受损耳蜗病患者，以及 这些缺陷对语言的清晰理解和享受能力的影响 音乐。在接下来的资助期间，本研究的重点将是时间研究。 听力受损的人对复杂声音的处理。包括的研究包括 谐和非谐复和非周期波纹产生的复音高 噪声，以及对细微结构和包络的感知能力的研究 时间波形。此外，实验将包括测量诱发的 对具有各种时间特征的刺激的反应。这些研究有他们的 目的评价高等听觉中时间信息的表征 大脑中的中枢，当这些中枢的输入来自受损的人 外周听觉系统。希望对这种方式的理解 这些研究确定，时间信息被扭曲或丢失将有助于 了解听障人士在日常生活中的功能缺陷 日常生活。

Project Summary People with sensorineural hearing loss experience difficulties understanding speech in noisy environments, and may have difficulty separating a target voice from among many talkers, and localizing sounds in space. All of these deficits may be attributed to the functional effects of damage to cochlear structures, which include a loss of auditory sensitivity, alterations in loudness perception, and impairments of spectral and temporal processing in the auditory system. In this program of research, behavioral psychoacoustic methodologies and electrophysiological methods are used to study the deficits associated with frequency and time analysis in the impaired cochlea, and the impact of those deficits on the clear understanding of speech and the ability to enjoy music. For the next grant period, the focus of this research will be the study of temporal processing of complex sounds by people with hearing loss. Included are studies of complex pitch produced by harmonic and inharmonic complexes and aperiodic rippled noises, and studies of the ability to perceive the fine structure and envelopes in temporal waveforms. In addition, experiments will include measurement of evoked responses to stimuli with various temporal characteristics. The studies have as their goal the evaluation of the representation of temporal information in the higher auditory centers within the brain, when the inputs to those centers come from an impaired peripheral auditory system. It is hoped that an understanding of the manner in which the temporal information is distorted or lost, as determined by these studies, will help in understanding the functional deficits experienced by hearing-impaired people in their everyday lives.