Measurement and Applications of Speech-evoked Auditory Brainstem Responses (sABRs)

言语诱发听觉脑干反应（sABR）的测量和应用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05118
• 负责人: Dajani, Hilmi
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=636969
• 关键词: Measurement; Applications; Speech; evoked; Auditory

When sound reaches the ear, tiny electrical pulses propagate through the different auditory centers in the brain, resulting in the sensation of hearing. Although much about this process remains a mystery, by taping surface electrodes to the scalp we can non-invasively record the electrical activity in these auditory centers. In particular, it is possible to record auditory brainstem responses, which are generated deep within the brain. These responses allow clinicians to diagnose hearing problems and locate their origin in the brain. The sound that clinicians most commonly use for this test is a brief loud click, which has the benefit of being a simple stimulus with a well-defined evoked response. However, a click does not provide sufficient information to allow us to assess the ability to hear speech. As a result, there is increasing interest in developing tests that record the brain's electrical response to speech. Recently, our group has recorded Speech-evoked Auditory Brainstem Responses (sABRs) with natural and synthetic speech stimuli, and we have shown that these responses can provide an important window into auditory processing of speech in normal and hearing impaired individuals. For example, we have shown that the sABR closely follows the fine variations in the pitch of a vowel. In fact, this brain signal is so similar to the speech waveform, if it is converted to a sound and played back, it is perceived as intelligible speech. This means that it allows us to "listen in" on the internal representation of speech within the brain.One impediment to progress in this field has been that excessive recording times are often required. The proposed research program aims to develop more efficient methods to detect the sABR that are inspired by speech enhancement algorithms developed for noisy communication environments. Moreover, because the sABR has been recorded in response to a limited set of speech stimuli, experimental and theoretical work will be performed to clarify the basic properties of the responses, with a diverse set of speech samples and in different acoustic environments. The measurement of sABRs will also be used to determine the impact of hearing aids on the internal representation of the speech signal. This is expected to provide a powerful objective tool for improving hearing aid fitting, which is important for optimising hearing aid performance.The proposed research program is expected to have a significant impact in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Audiology. Novel techniques for the assessment and treatment of hearing impairment - an important health problem in Canada - will be developed, including improved models of human auditory processing of speech, new signal processing algorithms for speech-evoked responses, and instrumentation for measuring these responses and applying them for hearing aid fitting. Moreover, Doctoral and Master’s students will be trained in interdisciplinary research spanning engineering and audiology, and will develop skills of value to the Canadian biomedical and hearing assistive devices industries, healthcare, and the hearing and speech research communities.

当声音到达耳朵时，微小的电脉冲通过大脑中不同的听觉中心传播，从而产生听觉。尽管这个过程的很多内容仍然是个谜，但通过将表面电极贴在头皮上，我们可以非侵入性地记录这些听觉中心的电活动。特别是，可以记录大脑深处产生的听觉脑干反应。这些反应使临床医生能够诊断听力问题并确定其根源在大脑中。临床医生在该测试中最常使用的声音是短暂的响亮的咔哒声，其优点是简单的刺激具有明确的诱发反应。然而，点击并不能提供足够的信息来让我们评估听到语音的能力。因此，人们越来越有兴趣开发记录大脑对语音的电反应的测试。最近，我们的小组用自然和合成的言语刺激记录了言语诱发的听觉脑干反应（sABR），并且我们证明这些反应可以为正常人和听力受损个体的言语听觉处理提供一个重要的窗口。例如，我们已经证明 sABR 密切关注元音音高的细微变化。事实上，这种大脑信号与语音波形非常相似，如果将其转换为声音并回放，它就会被感知为可理解的语音。这意味着它使我们能够“聆听”大脑中语音的内部表征。这一领域取得进展的一个障碍是通常需要过多的录音时间。拟议的研究计划旨在开发更有效的方法来检测 sABR，这些方法的灵感来自于针对噪声通信环境开发的语音增强算法。此外，由于 sABR 是针对一组有限的语音刺激进行记录的，因此将使用一组不同的语音样本和在不同的声学环境中进行实验和理论工作，以阐明响应的基本属性。 sABR 的测量还将用于确定助听器对语音信号内部表示的影响。这有望为改善助听器验配提供强大的客观工具，这对于优化助听器性能非常重要。所提出的研究计划预计将在生物医学工程和听力学领域产生重大影响。将开发评估和治疗听力障碍（加拿大的一个重要健康问题）的新技术，包括改进的人类语音听觉处理模型、用于语音诱发反应的新信号处理算法，以及测量这些反应并将其应用于助听器验配的仪器。此外，博士生和硕士生将接受工程和听力学等跨学科研究的培训，并将培养对加拿大生物医学和听力辅助设备行业、医疗保健以及听力和言语研究界有价值的技能。