Effects of hearing acuity on visual perception and cognitive function

神经科学和心理学的一个基本问题是，感觉敏度（例如，使用视觉、听觉、触觉等的能力）如何塑造我们用来理解世界并在其中行动的行为、适应和认知过程。该计划通过研究一种感官适应的形式来解决这个问题，这种适应发生在一种感官的敏锐度下降时，从而迫使大脑使用其他感官或认知策略来补偿。例如，当听力损失降低了听觉敏锐度，声音信息不那么清晰时，一个人就会更多地依靠视觉来交流和感知环境。虽然这证明了我们卓越的适应能力，但它也提供了宝贵的机会来了解偏向视觉的感觉系统如何影响多感官感知、学习和认知灵活性。该项目将使用听力下降作为一个自然模型来更好地理解健康感觉系统的特性，并解决三个未解决的问题：(1)依赖视觉信息如何促进多感官认知？(2)增强视觉的“大脑状态”能帮助一个人更优地学习视觉信息吗？(3)长期依赖视觉是否减轻了听觉感知所需的认知资源负担？为了解决这些问题，该项目将培养一支高素质人才（HQP）的多元化团队，并使用感知和认知测试以及使用尖端方法分析的大脑测量。所描述的研究将使用生态上有效的音频和视听信号，如自然的人类语言，作为研究视觉感知偏差和多感官相互作用的基础，以扩大研究结果的普遍性和可用性。该项目的培训环境为学生提供了发展心理学和神经科学原理知识的高价值机会，并教授他们沟通、批判性思维、统计建模、编程和数字信号处理方面的基本技能。该项目有望对听觉、视觉和整体大脑功能和行为之间的关系产生新的理论见解。所获得的知识在感觉工程（例如，听觉假体，如助听器和人工耳蜗）、优化感觉学习和临床环境中有很多应用。HQP将学习宝贵的自然科学和工程技能，这将帮助他们成为下一代的研究人员、科学家和专业领袖。

A fundamental question in neuroscience and psychology is how sensory acuity (e.g., the ability to use vision, hearing, touch, etc.) shapes behaviours, adaptations, and cognitive processes that we use to understand our world and act within it. The proposed program takes innovative steps to tackle this question by investigating a form of sensory adaptation that occurs when acuity in one sense declines, thereby forcing the brain to use other senses or cognitive strategies to compensate. For example, when hearing loss reduces auditory acuity and sound information is less clear, an individual relies more on vision to communicate and sense the environment. While this demonstrates our remarkable ability to adapt, it also opens valuable opportunities to learn how sensory systems biased toward vision affect multisensory perception, learning, and cognitive flexibility. The program will use hearing decline as a natural model to better understand properties of healthy sensory systems, and addresses three unanswered questions: (1) How does a reliance on visual information facilitate multisensory cognition? (2) Do "brain states" that are primed for enhanced vision help a person learn visual information more optimally? (3) Does a long-term reliance on vision ease the burden on cognitive resources that are needed for auditory perception? To address these questions, this program will train a diverse team of highly qualified personnel (HQP), and uses perceptual and cognitive testing alongside brain measurements that are analyzed using cutting-edge methods. The studies described will use ecologically valid audio and audiovisual signals, such as natural human speech, as a basis for studying visual perceptual bias and multisensory interactions in order to amplify the generalizability and usability of findings. The training environment that houses the program affords high-value opportunities for students to develop their knowledge of psychology and neuroscience principles, and teaches them essential skills in communication, critical thinking, statistical modeling, programming, and digital signal processing. This program is expected to generate new theoretical insights into the relationship between hearing, vision, and overall brain function and behaviour. The knowledge gained is useful for several applications in sensory engineering (e.g., auditory prostheses such as hearing aids and cochlear implants), optimized sensory learning, and clinical contexts. HQP will learn valuable natural science and engineering skills that will help them become the next generation of researchers, scientists, and professional leaders.