Adaptation to frequency-place functions in cochlear implant users

项目总结 人类的听觉大脑是非常可塑性的，但我们仍然不知道它的可塑性有多大，特别是当它 涉及更高的认知功能，如言语感知和音乐享受。这些都是人类独有的 在动物模型中很难(如果不是不可能)研究的技能。语言后听力障碍的人工耳蜗术 植入物(CI)使用者为研究听觉刺激的可塑性提供了一个非常有趣的平台 发送到非标准外设频点功能。这是因为频率-位置函数 CI对每个人施加的影响是不同的(由于耳蜗大小、电极位置和 神经存活模式)，可以与“自然”的生理频率-位置功能有很大的不同。 这项建议旨在调查传统的语言后听力受损CI使用者的听觉可塑性 (目标1和2)以及在未植入耳朵听力正常的CI使用者的新人群中 (目标3和4)。这种新的单侧耳聋(CI-SSD)CI使用者临床人群是理想的研究对象 适应频率位置函数，而不会使结果的解释复杂化 部分或完全失聪的听众。 在目标1中，我们将研究使用电极选择和听者选择频率的组合效果 语言后听障CI使用者的分配表(FAT)。有迹象表明这两个人 干预(两者都以不同的方式影响频率-位置功能)可能会提高言语能力 感知和音质。在目标2中，我们将测试基于智能手机的应用程序的使用，以促进 在真实世界中而不是在声控中选择定制的频率-位置函数 实验室或诊所的环境。在目标3中，我们将使用三种适应频率的行为测试- CI-SSD患者的位置功能。来自这些测试之一的数据将使我们能够实现一个重要的子目标： 评估现有人工耳蜗声学模型的有效性，并创建改进的声学模型 其音质和语音清晰度与CI获得的模型相似的模型。最后，在目标4中 我们将研究用户选择的频率-地点函数对双边音乐音质和双边的影响 去掩蔽，也适用于CI-SSD患者。 拟议的实验将产生关于语言后听力受损的新的和独特的信息 人类适应了修改后的频率-位置函数，这将为研究做出重要贡献 人类的基本听觉功能。我们认为，拟议的研究也具有重要的翻译意义 可能会影响临床实践以及CI用户研究的影响。

PROJECT SUMMARY The human auditory brain is remarkably plastic but we still do not know just how plastic it is, particularly when it comes to higher cognitive functions like speech perception and music enjoyment. These are uniquely human skills which are difficult (if not impossible) to study in animal models. Post-lingually hearing impaired cochlear implant (CI) users have provided a very interesting platform to study plasticity in response to auditory stimuli sent to a non-standard peripheral frequency-place function. This is because the frequency-place function imposed by a CI is different for each individual (due to differences in cochlear size, electrode location, and neural survival patterns) and can be quite different from the “natural”, physiological frequency-place function. This proposal seeks to investigate auditory plasticity in traditional post-lingually hearing impaired CI users (Aims 1 and 2) as well as in a novel population of CI users who have normal hearing in the unimplanted ear (Aims 3 and 4). This new clinical population of CI users with single-sided deafness (CI-SSD) is ideal to study adaptation to frequency-place functions without the confounds that complicate interpretation of results in listeners with partial or complete deafness. In Aim 1 we will study the combined effect of using electrode selection and listener-selected frequency allocation tables (FATs) in postlingually hearing impaired CI users. There are indications that these two interventions (both of which affect the frequency-place function in different ways) may enhance speech perception and sound quality. In Aim 2 we will test the use of a smartphone-based app to facilitate the selection of customized frequency-place functions in the real world rather than in the acoustically controlled environment of a laboratory or a clinic. In Aim 3 we will use three behavioral tests of adaptation to frequency- place functions in CI-SSD patients. Data from one of these tests will allow us to meet an important sub-aim: to assess the validity of existing acoustic models of cochlear implantation, and to create improved acoustic models whose sound quality and speech intelligibility are similar to those obtained with a CI. Lastly, in Aim 4 we will study the effect of user-selected frequency-place functions on bilateral music sound quality and bilateral unmasking, also in CI-SSD patients. The proposed experiments will yield novel and unique information about how postlingually hearing impaired humans adapt to modified frequency-place functions, and thus will make an important contribution to studying basic auditory function in humans. We believe that the proposed research also has important translational implications that are likely to influence clinical practice as well as research with CI users.