A new laboratory to study brain dynamics of soundscape in virtual environment

我们的听觉环境由许多声源组成(例如，风吹着附近树叶的沙沙声，狗叫，汽车驶过)。我们周围环境中每个声源的声能加在一起，形成一个进入耳朵的声波。大脑是如何理解这个单一的复合波的，这样我们就可以解构它，感知和识别这三个独立的听觉对象？借鉴格式塔心理学的一个重要理论是听觉场景分析：在音高和位置上相似的声音，以及一起“移动”的声音，很可能来自同一个物理对象。虽然这一理论在实验室中很好地预测了非常简单的声音的结果，但它还没有在更复杂和真实的声音环境中进行测试。先前的知识已被证明有助于在不利的嘈杂环境中感知和识别熟悉的声音或旋律。先验知识如何影响基于声音提示的分组？在听觉场景分析过程中，先验知识、注意力和自动过程是如何相互作用的？回答这些问题将推进听觉感知理论和培训计划，以提高在不利听力条件下的听力技能，特别是对听力有困难的人群。 我们希望通过使用更多生态上有效的刺激来收集数据，来测试当前听觉感知理论的局限性。要做到这一点，我们需要一个可以操作多个音频通道的工作站，允许用户混合不同的环境声音，并以数字方式创建特定环境(例如多伦多的城市环境音景)的不同声波(即音景)的混合。该工作站将允许Baycrest中心的大脑健康和衰老专家在受控良好的实验室环境中使用身临其境的虚拟技术，以拼凑大脑如何识别音景。 这种能够创造受控但更具生态有效性的听觉环境的新型工作站将(1)进一步增强Baycrest中心的听觉认知研究的势头；(2)支持目前和未来在听觉场景分析领域的合作；以及(3)最终促进我们对听力与我们如何理解和与环境互动之间的联系的理解。这项新兴的新技术将为学生提供独特的培训机会。在实验室工作的学员将获得一套适用于认知神经科学和实验心理学等领域的学术职业或私营部门职业生涯的市场技能(如编码、批判性思维、写作、公开演讲)，如声音工程和虚拟/增强现实。

Our auditory environment is comprised of many sound sources (such as the wind rustling the leaves of the trees nearby, a dog barking, and a car driving by). Acoustic energy from every sound source in our surroundings sum together to form a single soundwave that enters the ear. How does the brain manage to make sense of that single composite wave, such that we can deconstruct it and perceive and identify these three separate auditory objects? One prominent theory borrowed from Gestalt psychology is that of auditory scene analysis: sounds that are similar in pitch and location, and that “move” together, are likely to originate from the same physical object. While this theory works reasonably well in predicting the outcome of very simple sounds in the laboratory, it has not been tested in more complex and real-world sound settings. Prior knowledge has been shown to facilitate the perception and recognition of a familiar voice or melody in adverse noisy environments. How does prior knowledge impact the grouping based on acoustic cues? How does prior knowledge, attention, and automatic processes interact with one another during auditory scene analysis? Answering these questions will advance theories of auditory perception and training programs for improving listening skills in adverse listening conditions, especially for populations with hearing difficulties. We want to test the limits of current theories of auditory perception by collecting data using more ecologically valid stimuli. To accomplish this, we need a workstation that can operate several audio channels, allowing users to mix different environmental sounds and to digitally create a mixture of different soundwaves (i.e., soundscapes) of a particular environment (e.g., ambient city soundscapes in Toronto). This workstation will allow brain health and aging experts at Baycrest Centre to use immersive virtual technology in a well-controlled lab setting to piece together how the brain figures out soundscapes. Such a novel workstation capable of creating controlled yet more ecologically valid auditory environments will (1) further enhance the momentum of auditory cognitive research at Baycrest Centre; (2) support ongoing and future collaborations in the area of auditory scene analysis, and (3) ultimately advance our understanding of links between hearing and how we understand and interact with our environment. This new and emerging technology will provide exceptional and unique training opportunities for students. Trainees working in the lab will gain a set of marketable skills (such as coding, critical thinking, writing, public speaking) applicable for academic careers in fields such as cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology, or careers in the private sector such as in sound engineering and virtual/augmented reality.