Hearing Loss and the Perception of Complex Sound

描述（由申请人提供）：患有感音神经性听力损失的人在嘈杂的环境中难以理解言语，并且经常抱怨音乐听起来失真或令人不快。这两种缺陷都可能归因于耳蜗结构损伤的功能影响，包括听觉敏感性的丧失、响度感知的改变以及听觉系统中频谱和时间处理的损害。在该研究计划中，行为心理声学方法用于研究受损耳蜗中与频率和时间分析相关的缺陷，以及这些缺陷对清晰理解言语和欣赏音乐的能力的影响。在下一个资助期内，这项研究的重点将是研究受损耳蜗中复杂声音的精细时间处理。其中包括对和声和非和谐复合体以及非周期性波纹噪声产生的复杂音调的研究，对音调对和和声复合体对的和谐和不和谐判断的研究，以及感知时间波形中精细结构的能力的研究。这些研究的目标是评估大脑高级听觉中枢的时间间隔信息的表示，当这些中心的输入来自受损的外周听觉系统时。希望了解这些研究确定的时间信息扭曲或丢失的方式将有助于理解听力障碍者在日常生活中经历的功能缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): People with sensorineural hearing loss experience difficulties understanding speech in noisy environments and often complain that music sounds distorted or unpleasant. Both 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 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 fine temporal processing of complex sounds in the damaged cochlea. Included are studies of complex pitch produced by harmonic and inharmonic complexes and aperiodic rippled noises, studies of the judged consonance and dissonance of pairs of tones and pairs of harmonic complexes, and studies of the ability to perceive the fine structure in temporal waveforms. The studies have as their goal the evaluation of the representation of temporal interval information in the higher auditory centers within the brain, when the inputs to those centers comes 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.