Career: Cognitive Auditory Systems for Processing of Complex Acoustic Scenes

对大脑如何处理和感知声音有了更深入的了解和认识，听力系统和语音技术的性能将大大受益。虽然大多数当前的系统调用类似于外围听觉系统的操作，但它们没有将中枢听觉系统的有前途的能力纳入其中，最重要的是它能够适应不断变化的声学环境的需求。最近的生理学发现正在修正听觉皮层加工的现有教条；用一种更“活跃”、更有延展性、能迅速适应行为任务和听力条件的映射，取代传统的感觉皮层“静态”处理的观点。因此，基于认知和适应过程的声音处理新架构有望为听力和语音技术开辟一个革命性的前沿。PI将进行一项为期五年的CAREER奖研究，旨在开发有效的算法实现，以解决现实生态环境中具有挑战性的声音和语音处理问题。本研究旨在为实验设计提供一个严谨的框架，以测试听觉系统中主动和认知适应的作用和机制。这项跨学科的研究将整合神经生理学、心理物理学、计算神经科学和工程学的技术。计划的研究将集中在：(i)利用动态系统技术（如自适应和卡尔曼滤波）开发适应性和认知听觉处理的计算模型；（ii）通过一系列人类实验（使用心理声学和脑磁图- meg -）进一步了解皮层可塑性在听觉感知中的作用，旨在探索这些适应性过程的神经关联、时间过程和作用；（iii）评估一系列工程应用的计算和实验结果；(4)探索高级皮质处理能力在助听器中的整合。这项研究工作还辅以一项教育计划，旨在通过开发新的本科和研究生课程，引入新的教育和评估工具来改善和监测学生的成绩，以及开展外展活动来吸引有才华的个人进入认知工程领域，从而促进适应性和认知听力领域的教育。该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。

Performance of hearing systems and speech technologies can benefit greatly from a deeper appreciation and knowledge of how the brain processes and perceives sounds. While most current systems invoke operations akin to the peripheral auditory system, they stop shy of incorporating promising capabilities of the central auditory system, most importantly its ability to adapt to the demands of an ever-changing acoustic environment. Recent physiological findings are amending existing dogmas of processing in auditory cortex; replacing conventional views of "static" processing in sensory cortex with a more "active" and malleable mapping that rapidly adapts to behavioral tasks and listening conditions. Hence, a new architecture for sound processing based on cognitive and adaptive processes promises to open a revolutionary frontier for hearing and speech technologies.The PI will conduct a five year CAREER award study aimed at developing effective algorithmic implementations to tackle challenging sound and speech processing problems in real ecological environments. This research aims at providing a rigorous framework for designing experiments that test the role and mechanisms of active and cognitive adaptation in the auditory system. This interdisciplinary effort will integrate techniques from neurophysiology, psychophysics, computational neuroscience and engineering. The planned research will focus on: (i) developing a computational model for adaptive and cognitive auditory processing using dynamic systems techniques such as adaptive and kalman filtering; (ii) furthering understanding of the role of cortical plasticity in auditory perception with a series of experiments with human subjects (using psychoacoustics and Magnetoencephalography -MEG-) aimed atexploring the neural correlates, time course and role of these adaptive processes; (iii) assessing the computational and experimental findings in a range of engineering applications; and (iv) exploring the integration of higher cortical processing capabilities in hearing prostheses.This research effort is complemented by an educational plan aimed at promoting education in the field of adaptive and cognitive audition, through the development of new undergraduate and graduate curricula, introduction of new educational and assessment tools for improving and monitoring student achievements, as well as outreach activities to attract talented individuals to the field of cognitive engineering.This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).