Speech Perception with Combined Electric and Acoustic Stimulation

描述（由申请人提供）：电声联合刺激（EAS）对语音和音高感知的好处已经在许多先前的研究中得到证实。在某些情况下，即使人工耳蜗（CI）患者在未植入耳蜗的耳朵中有非常有限的残余听力和语言感知能力，EAS也有益处。迄今为止，感觉输入、语言语境和认知功能的个体差异如何影响EAS提供的益处程度尚不清楚，也不清楚典型的EAS患者是否最大限度地利用了他们的残余听力。这些不确定性限制了临床医生和患者对第二耳植入术做出正确决定的能力。在本研究中，我们试图确定影响EAS受益的因素，并研究可能增强EAS用户残余听力益处的方法。与大多数先前研究采用的描述性方法不同，我们将采用一种更全面的、基于模型的方法，该方法考虑了自底向上和自顶向下的过程，这些过程有助于EAS用户的多源语音感知。目的1将确定听者如何利用和最佳地权衡呈现给CI和残听耳的语音线索，从而影响EAS的益处。目标2将研究自下而上的低频声学线索和自上而下的处理（如语言语境的使用和填补缺失语音信息的能力）如何相互作用，以提高EAS用户的语音可理解性。最后，Aim 3将开发和测试语音增强算法，这些算法可能会改善EAS用户的语音感知。总的来说，这项研究应该大大增加我们对以下方面的理解：1)EAS中低频残余听力的预期受益程度；2)EAS受益的机制和导致个体差异的因素；3)可能增强EAS用户语音感知的信号处理算法的性质。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The benefit of combined electric and acoustic stimulation (EAS) for speech and pitch perception has been demonstrated in a number of previous studies. In some cases, EAS benefit has been documented even when cochlear-implant (CI) patients have very limited residual hearing and speech perception ability in the non-implanted ear. To date, it is still unclear how individual differences in sensory inputs, linguisti context, and cognitive functions influence the degree of benefit provided by EAS, and it is not known whether the typical EAS patient utilizes their residual hearing to its greatest potential. These uncertainties limit clinicians' and patients' ability to make good decisions related to second-ear implantation. In this research, we seek to identify factors that underlie EAS benefit and to investigate methods that could potentially enhance the benefits of residual hearing in EAS users. Unlike the descriptive approach employed by most previous studies, we will take a more comprehensive, model-based approach that considers both the bottom-up and top-down processes that contribute to multi-source speech perception in EAS users. Aim 1 will determine how EAS benefit is influenced by listeners' ability to utilize and optimally weight speech cues presented to the CI and residual hearing ears. Aim 2 will investigate how bottom-up low-frequency acoustic cues and top-down processing (such as the use of linguistic context and the ability to fill in missing speech information) interact to improve speech intelligibility in EAS usrs. Finally, Aim 3 will develop and test speech-enhancement algorithms that are likely to improve speech perception by EAS users. Overall, this research should add substantially to our understanding of 1) the degree of benefit that can be expected from low-frequency residual hearing in EAS, 2) the mechanisms responsible for EAS benefit and the factors that account for its variability across individuals, and 3) the nature of signal-processing algorithms that may enhance speech perception in EAS users.