CENTRAL AUDITORY FUNCTION IN ADULTS WITH HEARING LOSS

描述：(申请人提供)我们研究的长期目标是 要了解具有以下特征的人在言语感知上的广泛差异 听力损失是助听器或人工耳蜗术的候选对象，以及 临床医生面临的重要挑战。我们知道言语感知是 反映在听觉通路生理学上。在听觉皮质中，计时， 强度和频率线索由皮质神经活动和 最终与知觉表现联系在一起。尽管我们可以评估 对声音的感知，对其潜在的神经生理学知之甚少 中枢听觉系统。具体地说，本研究中的实验是 用来检验音调不同的假设 中枢听觉的组织和不对称激活模式 系统在言语知觉方面有好有坏。 为了完成我们的研究，我们将使用多学科方法， 结合结果、神经生理学和功能磁共振成像 (FMRI)在正常听者和听力损失患者中。诸如以下措施 固有地依赖于神经同步性的诱发电位允许 美国评估神经编码的关键组件。神经成像 功能磁共振成像等技术可以产生与以下各项对应的明显定位图像 听觉皮质激活。最后，使用功能磁共振成像，我们将调查 声调组织模式可以被识别并与语音相关 无磁人工耳蜗术后人工耳蜗术后患者的认知 系统。 总体而言，这项研究不仅将有助于更好地理解 听觉皮质的生理学，还能更好地理解 正位组织和大脑半球差异的功能意义 无论是听力正常的听者还是听力损失的人。

DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) The long-term objective of our research is to understand the wide variation in speech perception of individuals with hearing loss who are candidates for hearing aids or cochlear implants, an important challenge that confronts clinicians. We know that speech perception is reflected in auditory pathway physiology. In the auditory cortex, timing, intensity and frequency cues are represented by cortical neural activity and ultimately linked to perceptual performance. Although we can assess the perception of sounds, much less is known about the underlying neurophysiology of the central auditory system. Specifically, the experiments in this study are designed to test the hypotheses that there are differences in the tonotopic organization and the asymmetric activation patterns of the central auditory system in good and poor perceivers of speech. To accomplish our research, we will use a multidisciplinary approach that combines outcome, neurophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in normal listeners and individuals with hearing loss. Measures such as evoked potentials, which are inherently dependent upon neural synchrony, allow us to evaluate the critical components of neural encoding. Neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI, can produce distinct localized images corresponding to auditory cortex activation. Finally, using fMRI, we will investigate whether tonotopic organizational patterns can be identified and relate to speech perception for cochlear implant recipients with a magnetless cochlear implant system. Overall, this research will not only result in a better understanding of the physiology of the auditory cortex, but also a better understanding of the functional significance of tonotopic organization and hemispheric differences in both normal hearing listeners and those with hearing loss.