Exploring the use of temporal cues for the optimization of speech processing, perception, and comprehension

在老龄化人口中，大多数人都患有听力障碍，助听器通常用于通过放大声音来改善沟通。虽然这种方法使声音足够大，但它不能使声音清晰，特别是在嘈杂的环境中。目前的放大算法在很大程度上忽略了老龄化人口的认知能力下降。认知能力可以通过测量听觉时间来评估，听觉时间是理解言语的重要组成部分。它对所有强度水平下的语音的时间包络和精细结构的感知至关重要。研究表明，对于严重听力损失的人和认知能力较低的人来说，在上下文线索较低的情况下，时间包络会影响语言的可理解性。目前，助听器使用听力图的听力阈值来确定个人听力损失所需的必要增益或放大。然而，对于放大的开始/偏移，没有单独的规定方法，称为压缩时间。压气机的发作时间（发作时间）是助听器放大一个声音所需要的时间，偏置时间（释放时间）是恢复到原来声级的时间长度。研究表明，攻击和释放时间的长短会对认知能力较低的人的言语得分产生影响。本研究计划旨在首次开发可用于规划助听器压缩时间的听觉时序的个体脑电图测量。这项研究计划的长期目标是制定一个更具包容性的标准，用于开发考虑认知障碍的放大算法。这将通过对与年龄相关的认知能力下降的老年人进行研究，使用脑电图测量沉默和噪音中的听觉时间来实现。利用这些措施，压缩系统的激活开始（即攻击和释放时间）将被修改为一系列助听器和皮层语音处理将被分析在噪声中的语音任务。这些研究的结果将导致使用单词识别任务和将这些算法应用于各种设备（如各种型号的助听器（即耳后，耳内接收器，customs，耳内接收器，耳内等），人工耳蜗和骨锚定助听器）的噪音中语音性能的进一步工作。这项研究将对助听器技术产生重大影响，因为它为使用听觉时序来解释助听器用户的认知差异开辟了新的视角。开发适合认知障碍的更具包容性的助听器将使数百万加拿大老年人受益，减少他们的社会孤立，提高他们的认知健康和生活质量。

In the aging population, most individuals suffer from hearing impairment where hearing aids are commonly used to improve communication by amplifying sounds. Although this method makes speech audible, by making it sufficiently loud, it does not make it clear especially in noisy environments. It is known that aging populations have increasing cognitive decline which is largely ignored by the current amplification algorithms. Cognitive capacity can be evaluated by measuring auditory timing which is an essential part of understanding speech. It is critical for the perception of the temporal envelope and fine structures of speech sounds at all intensity levels. Research has shown that the temporal envelope affects speech intelligibility in situations where the contextual cues are low, for people with severe hearing loss and for those with lower cognition. Currently, hearing aids use hearing thresholds of the audiogram to determine the necessary gain or amplification needed for an individuals hearing loss. However, there are no individual prescriptive methods for the onset/offset of amplification, known as compression time. The onset of the compressor (attack time) is the time it takes for the hearing aid to amplify a sound, and the offset time (release time) is the length of time to return to the original sound level. Studies have shown that the length of attack and release time can have an impact on the speech scores of those with lower cognitive capacities. This research program aims to develop, for the first time, individual EEG measures of auditory timing which can be used to program hearing aid compression time. The longterm goal of this research program is to develop a more inclusive standard for developing amplification algorithms that take into account cognitive impairment. This will be achieved by conducting studies on aging individuals, with age-related cognitive decline, using EEG measures of auditory timing in silence and in noise. Using these measures, the activation onset of compression systems will be modified (i.e. the attack and release times) for a series of hearing aids and cortical speech processing will be analyzed for a speech-in-noise task. Results from these studies will lead to further work in speech-in-noise performance using word recognition tasks and by applying these algorithms to a variety of devices such as various models of hearing aids (i.e. behind-the-ear, receiver-in-the-canal, customs, in-the-canal, in-the-ear etc.), cochlear implants, and bone-anchored hearing aids. This research will have a major impact on hearing aid technologies as it opens a new perspective on using auditory timing to account for cognitive differences in hearing aid users. Developing more inclusive hearing aids that are suitable for cognitive impairment will benefit millions of aging Canadians by decreasing their social isolation and increasing their cognitive health and quality of life.