Spectral and Temporal Resolution in Infants with Cochlear Implants

项目摘要 这个K23应用程序的长期目标是提高我们对听觉能力如何驱动的理解 使用人工耳蜗术的聋儿的言语和语言发展。作为一名儿科医生 耳鼻咽喉科医生和CI外科医生，应聘者非常清楚临床结果的广泛差异性 这一人群以及对更精确的临床工具的需求，以评估受益和预测言语和 脑梗塞婴儿的语言结果。作为第一步，这项研究计划将调查CI婴儿的早期习得 使用行为学方法的听觉频谱和时间分辨率。光谱波纹识别(SRD) 和调幅检测是语音感知的两个独立预测指标 患有顺位的成年人的技能。这个应用的中心假设是光谱和时间分辨率将 在脑梗塞婴儿植入后的头7个月内，每一个都会达到成熟，并将限制随后的 获得言语感知和语言技能。这一假说的基础是光谱和 正常听觉系统的时间分辨率在生命的第一年成熟，反映在早期 耳蜗神经和脑干神经机制的发展。有证据表明，这些早期发育 脑梗塞婴儿在植入后的第一年内结构也会迅速成熟。 这项拟议研究的基本原理是，提高我们对光谱和时间的理解 CI婴儿出现的与口语习得相关的技能将使临床发展成为可能 脑梗死儿的听觉能力测定。本K23中描述的婴儿心理声学方法 应用程序将形成一个正在进行的研究计划的核心，以研究CI婴儿的听觉发育。本地 在听力发展、言语和语言发展领域的课程工作和培训经验， 电生理学将使PI能够继续建立必要的技能集来翻译BASIC 心理声学研究成果转化为临床可行的措施。这个事业的发展和研究 计划，在非常支持和培养的学术环境中进行，将为候选人奠定基础 作为一名可持续资助的研究人员，监督这项与临床相关的研究计划，取得成功。

Project Summary The long-term goal of this K23 application is to improve our understanding of how auditory capacity drives speech and language development in deaf infants who use cochlear implants (CIs). As a pediatric otolaryngologist and CI surgeon, the candidate is intimately aware of the wide variability in clinical outcomes in this population and the need for more precise clinical tools for assessing benefit and predicting speech and language outcomes in CI infants. As a first step, this research plan will investigate CI infants' early acquisition of auditory spectral and temporal resolution using behavioral methods. Spectral ripple discrimination (SRD) and amplitude modulation detection are two measures that are independent predictors of speech perception skills in adults with CIs. The central hypothesis of this application is that spectral and temporal resolution will each reach maturity in CI infants over the first 7 months after implantation and will constrain subsequent acquisition of speech perception and language skills. The basis for this hypothesis is that spectral and temporal resolution of the normal auditory system mature during the first year of life, reflecting early development of cochlear and brainstem neural mechanisms. Evidence suggests that these early developing structures also mature rapidly in CI infants during the first post-implant year. The rationale for the proposed research is that improving our understanding of how spectral and temporal skills emerge and relate to spoken-language acquisition in CI infants will enable the development of clinical measures of auditory capacity in CI infants. The infant psychoacoustic methods described in this K23 application will form the core an ongoing research program to study auditory development in CI infants. Local coursework and training experiences in the fields of auditory development, speech and language development, and electrophysiology will enable the PI to continue to build the skill set necessary to translate basic psychoacoustic research findings into clinically feasible measures. This career development and research plan, conducted within an extremely supportive and nurturing academic environment will set the candidate up to succeed as a sustainably funded investigator overseeing this clinically relevant program of research.