COMPLEX SOUND ANALYSIS IN NORMAL AND IMPAIRED EARS

描述（由申请人提供）：大多数日常听力环境由多种声音组成，其中许多声音的水平随时间而波动。大脑将这种声学复合体筛选成其组成声源的方式被称为听觉感知组织。这个项目的根本兴趣在于理解时间处理在感知组织中的作用，以及受损的听觉系统如何损害这种能力。该项目进行了两方面的调查。第一项研究旨在确定可能在衰老过程中相对较早发生的时间处理变化，并将这些变化与耳蜗听力损失的影响区分开来。第二项研究考察了植入人工耳蜗的听者的知觉组织。该项目结合了心理物理和电生理两种范式。共有75名听众将参与一系列实验。数据将使用描述性统计、相关性检验和方差分析进行分析。该项目将使人们更清楚地了解复杂的声音是如何在声学和电听觉中感知组织的，以及听觉系统因年龄和听力损失而发生的变化如何影响这种能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Most everyday listening environments consist of a multitude of sounds, many of which are fluctuating in level over time. The way in which the brain sifts apart this acoustic complex into its constituent sound sources is referred to as auditory perceptual organization. The root interest of this project is in understanding the role that temporal processing play in perceptual organization, and how impaired auditory systems can compromise this ability. The project pursues two lines of investigation. The first seeks to identify changes in temporal processing that may occur relatively early in the aging process, and to differentiate these from effects of cochlear hearing loss. The second line of investigation examines perceptual organization in listeners with cochlear implants. The project incorporates both psychophysical land electrophysiological paradigms. A total of 75 listeners will participate across a spectrum of experiments. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, tests of correlation, and analyses of variance. The project will lead to a clearer understanding of how complex sounds are perceptually organized in both acoustic and electric hearing, and how changes in the auditory system due to age and hearing loss may affect this ability.