Developing and Testing Models of the Auditory System with and without Hearing Loss

开发和测试有或没有听力损失的听觉系统模型

• 批准号: 9045165
• 负责人: Laurel H. Carney
• 金额: $ 32.62万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-12-01 至 2020-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9045165
• 关键词: Acoustic Nerve; Acoustics; Address; Auditory; Auditory system; Binaural; Brain; Code; Communication; Complex; Computer Simulation; Cues; Detection; Development; Discrimination; Ear; Environment; Frequencies; Functional disorder; Hearing; Individual; Knowledge; Location; Masks; Measurement; Midbrain structure; Mining; Modeling; Nerve Fibers; Neurons; Noise; Oryctolagus cuniculus; Outer Hair Cells; Performance; Peripheral; Physiological; Process; Psychophysics; Reporting; Role; Sensorineural Hearing Loss; Speech; Stimulus; Structure; Testing; Time; Work; awake; base; coping; external ear auricle; hearing impairment; insight; notch protein; novel; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; research study; response; sound; tool

This proposal presents plans to develop and test a new model for the processing of acoustic cues in both psychophysical tasks and real-world hearing. Masking paradigms are typically interpreted in the context of two models: The power-spectrum model is based on energy in the responses of one or more band-pass filters that represent peripheral tuning. The envelope-power-spectrum model is based on the responses of a bank of modulation filters. These popular models, however, fail to explain robust performance in a number of psychophysical tasks, especially roving- or equalized-level, and roving- or equalized-envelope-energy tasks. The continued use of these models is largely due to a lack of viable alternatives. Here, we propose a new, alternative model for masked detection and spectral coding that provides a mechanistic explanation for a number of psychophysical results, for listeners with or without hearing loss. Building upon our recent studies of envelope-related cues in masked detection, our proposal focuses on the role of neural-fluctuation cues in the responses of auditory-nerve fibers, and ultimately on how these cues are represented by modulation-tuned neurons in the midbrain. These cues are robust in the healthy ear but, because they are strongly dependent upon peripheral nonlinearities, they are substantially degraded in most common types of hearing loss. We will make detailed measurements on the use of envelope vs. energy cues by individual listeners as a function of frequency and hearing thresholds. These results will provide individualized models that will be used to predict thresholds in specific masking and discrimination tasks. We will use computational, physiological and psychophysical tools to test a diotic model of masked detection, focusing on two classic paradigms: notched-noise and forward-masking tasks. These psychophysical tools have been used extensively to characterize tuning bandwidth, compression, and temporal processing in listeners with and without hearing loss. We will re-examine these tasks with neural fluctuation- based representations. Our preliminary results show that the contrast in fluctuations across peripheral channels establishes a representation of stimulus features at the level of the midbrain that is robust in noise across a wide range of levels, thus addressing the primary challenges of roving-parameter paradigms. These cues are particularly strong near spectral slopes, and thus warrant consideration for other stimulus features with sharp spectral slopes, such as fricative consonants and pinna cues. We therefore also propose to extend our dichotic model based on interaural differences in neural fluctuations to the spectral slopes of pinna cues, which code sound location and externalization. Our preliminary work indicates that neural-fluctuation cues associated with the diotic and dichotic stimuli occur in the modulation frequency range where the majority of midbrain neurons are tuned. Consideration of these tasks and stimuli in the framework of neural-fluctuation cues provides a novel and general understanding for coding stimulus spectra by the normal and impaired ear.

该提案提出了开发和测试用于处理声学线索的新模型的计划 心理物理任务和现实世界的听力。掩码范式通常在以下背景下解释： 两种模型：功率谱模型基于一个或多个带通滤波器响应中的能量 代表外围调整。包络功率谱模型基于一组响应 调制滤波器。然而，这些流行的模型无法解释许多领域的稳健性能 心理物理任务，特别是流动或均衡水平，以及流动或均衡包络能量任务。 这些模型的持续使用很大程度上是由于缺乏可行的替代方案。在这里，我们提出一个新的， 掩蔽检测和光谱编码的替代模型，为 对于有或没有听力损失的听众来说，心理物理结果的数量。 基于我们最近对屏蔽检测中与信封相关的线索的研究，我们的提案重点关注 关于神经波动线索在听觉神经纤维反应中的作用，以及最终这些线索如何 线索由中脑中调节调节的神经元表示。这些提示在健康的耳朵中是强有力的 但是，由于它们强烈依赖于外围非线性，因此它们在 最常见的听力损失类型。我们将对包络线与能量的使用进行详细的测量 个别听众的提示作为频率和听力阈值的函数。这些结果将提供 个性化模型将用于预测特定掩蔽和区分任务中的阈值。 我们将使用计算、生理和心理物理工具来测试蒙面的愚蠢模型 检测，重点关注两个经典范例：缺口噪声和前向掩蔽任务。这些 心理物理学工具已被广泛用于表征调谐带宽、压缩和时间 有或没有听力损失的听众的处理。我们将用神经波动重新审视这些任务—— 为基础的表示。我们的初步结果表明，周边地区波动的对比 通道在中脑水平建立了对噪声具有鲁棒性的刺激特征的表示 跨越广泛的层面，从而解决流动参数范式的主要挑战。这些 线索在光谱斜率附近特别强烈，因此值得考虑其他刺激特征 具有尖锐的频谱斜率，例如摩擦辅音和耳廓提示。因此，我们还建议延长 我们的二分模型基于耳廓频谱斜率的神经波动的耳间差异 线索，编码声音位置和外化。我们的初步工作表明神经波动 与双耳和双耳刺激相关的线索发生在调制频率范围内，其中大多数 的中脑神经元被调整。在神经波动框架内考虑这些任务和刺激 线索为正常和受损耳朵编码刺激频谱提供了新颖且普遍的理解。