Efferent Auditory Measurements during Continuous Attended Speech in Normal Hearing Listeners With and Without Speech-in-Noise Deficits

有或没有噪声中言语缺陷的正常听力听众连续听讲讲话时的传出听觉测量

• 批准号: 10516624
• 负责人: Spencer Smith
• 金额: $ 19.1万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10516624
• 关键词: Academic achievement; Acoustic Nerve; Active Listening; Adult; Algorithms; Amplifiers; Animals; Attention; Auditory; Auditory system; Biological Assay; Biophysics; Brain; Brain Stem; Clinical; Clinical assessments; Cochlea; Cochlear Implants; Cognitive; Communication impairment; Contralateral; Development; Frequencies; Glean; Goals; Hearing Aids; Hearing Tests; Human; Impairment; Individual; Labyrinth; Lesion; Light; Measurement; Measures; Mechanics; Medial; Methods; Modeling; Nervous system structure; Neurobiology; Noise; Outcomes Research; Outer Hair Cells; Patients; Perception; Performance; Physiological; Play; Proxy; Reflex action; Research; Research Project Grants; Role; Signal Transduction; Site; Speech; Speech Perception; Statistical Models; Stimulus; Structure of tractus olivocochlearis; System; Time; Withdrawal; Work; attentional modulation; auditory pathway; base; brain computer interface; experimental study; improved; neural circuit; neurophysiology; noise perception; normal hearing; otoacoustic emission; personalized diagnostics; predictive test; relating to nervous system; response; social; speech in noise; speech processing; standard measure; targeted treatment; treatment strategy

PROJECT SUMMARY Audiologists frequently encounter patients who complain of speech-in-noise perception difficulties despite having normal hearing sensitivity. The neurobiological bases of such deficits are currently debated and remain unknown, which limits development of precision diagnostics and targeted treatment strategies to help these patients. As a consequence, many may suffer untreated and debilitating communication impairments in real world situations, causing social withdrawal, limiting academic achievement, and/or constraining vocational opportunities. Limited evidence suggests that the efferent auditory pathway, which descends from the brain to the inner ears and putatively filters out noise before it enters the nervous system, may be impaired in some of these patients. This research project investigates relationships between inner ear efferent activity and subcortical processing of speech-in-noise during active listening in audiometrically-normal adults with and without clinically-documented speech-in-noise deficits. Specifically, we have developed a method for simultaneously measuring pre-neural (i.e., otoacoustic emissions; OAE) and neural (i.e., frequency following responses) biophysical responses evoked by naturalistic continuous speech. This approach makes it possible, for the first time, to directly study the influence of cochlear efferent effects on neural processing and perception of speech-in-noise. We hypothesize that: 1) “traditional” passive assays of cochlear efferent activity (i.e., OAE inhibition with contralateral noise) underestimate efferent modulation of cochlear mechanics during active listening to speech-in-noise; 2) attentional modulation of cochlear activity predicts attentional modulation of subcortical neural activity; and 3) cochlear and neural attention modulation effects can be used to statistically model speech-in-noise perceptual performance. The outcomes of this research will clarify the role of the efferent system in naturalistic speech-in- noise processing and may elucidate “sites of lesion” responsible for speech-in-noise deficits in audiometrically- normal listeners. Further, our findings may inform development of assistive listening devices and/or brain- computer interfaces that are inspired by typical neurophysiologic auditory function to aid listeners with speech- in-noise deficits.

项目摘要 听力学家经常遇到那些抱怨毫无言语的患者，尽管 正常的听力灵敏度。此类缺陷的神经生物学基础当前是辩论的，并且仍然未知， 这限制了精确诊断和有针对性的治疗策略来帮助这些患者。作为 结果，许多人可能遭受现实世界中未经治疗和使人衰弱的沟通障碍， 引起社交戒断，限制学术成就和/或限制选民机会。有限的 证据表明，有效的听觉途径从大脑降到内耳， 推定的噪音在进入神经系统之前会过滤噪音，其中一些患者可能会受到损害。这 研究项目调查内耳有效活动与皮质下处理之间的关系 在有和没有临床文献记载的有效成年人中，主动聆听期间的语音噪声 毫无疑问，我们已经开发了一种简单测量神经前的方法 （即，耳声排放； OAE）和神经（即频率以下响应）生物物理反应引起了 由自然主义的连续言论。这种方法使得第一次可以直接研究 人工耳蜗对神经加工的影响和对语音中的感知的影响。我们假设 那：1）“传统”被动测定有效活性的“传统”被动测定（即，对侧噪声的OAE抑制作用） 在主动聆听语音中，低估了对耳蜗力学的有效调制； 2） 人工耳蜗活动预测的注意调制下皮质神经活动的注意调制； 3） 人工耳蜗和神经注意调制效应可用于统计地对噪声的语音进行统计模型 表现。这项研究的结果将阐明有效体系在自然主义言语中的作用 噪声处理，并可能阐明负责语音中的“病变部位”在视听中定义 普通的听众。此外，我们的发现可能会为开发辅助聆听设备和/或大脑的开发提供信息。 受典型神经生理听觉功能启发的计算机接口，以帮助听众用语音 毫无意义的缺陷。