Optimizing Temporal Resolution and Speech Recognition with Amplification

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究项目的目标是建立助听器研究中时间分辨率数据的使用，最终用于助听器配件。听力损失的成年人表现出比正常听力成年人更差的语音识别的一个原因可能是电流放大可能并不总是提供足够的访问语音中的时间线索。目前的助听器装配方法试图最大化语音清晰度、语音可听度或恢复正常响度，但可能达不到这些目标。 提高时间分辨率的措施可能会导致改进的语音识别。为了便于在助听器验配中使用时间分辨率数据，本项目将首先获得放大条件下的时间分辨率测量。这些数据将与正常听力灵敏度的听众获得的时间分辨率的措施进行比较。这种方法将使我们能够测试当前助听器装配方法提供时间线索和恢复正常时间分辨率的能力。第二个目标将评估恢复正常的时间分辨率优化句子识别的有效性。我们的目标是深入了解什么措施的时间分辨率可以用来优化语音理解。通过了解这些信息，可以优化助听器配件，以提供对时间信息的访问;可能会改善听力损失听众的语音识别。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this research project is to establish the use of temporal resolution data in hearing-aid research for eventual use in hearing-aid fittings. One reason adults with hearing loss exhibit poorer speech recognition than normal hearing adults might be that current amplification may not always provide sufficient access to the temporal cues in speech. Current hearing-aid fitting methods attempt to maximize speech intelligibility, speech audibility, or restore normal loudness but might fall short of those goals. Incorporating measures of temporal resolution could lead to improved speech recognition. To facilitate the use of temporal-resolution data in the fitting of hearing aids, this project will obain measures of temporal resolution under conditions of amplification for the first aim. These data will be compared to measures of temporal resolution obtained for listeners with normal-hearing sensitivity. This methodology will allow us to test the ability of current hearing-aid fitting methds to provide access to temporal cues and to restore normal temporal resolution. The second aim will evaluate the effectiveness of restoring normal temporal resolution to optimize sentence recognition. The objective is to gain insight into what measures of temporal resolution can be used to optimize speech understanding. By knowing this information, hearing-aid fittings could be optimized to provide access to temporal information; possibly leading to improved speech recognition for listeners with hearing loss.