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期间的传出听觉测量

• 批准号: 10651887
• 负责人: Spencer Smith
• 金额: $ 19.08万
• 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/10651887
• 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; 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; Vocation; Withdrawal; Work; attentional modulation; auditory pathway; base; brain computer interface; experimental study; improved; neural; neural circuit; neurophysiology; noise perception; normal hearing; otoacoustic emission; outcome disparities; personalized diagnostics; predictive test; 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.

项目概要 听力学家经常遇到抱怨噪音中言语感知困难的患者，尽管他们有 正常的听力敏感性。这种缺陷的神经生物学基础目前存在争议并且仍然未知， 这限制了精确诊断和有针对性的治疗策略的发展来帮助这些患者。 结果，许多人在现实世界中可能会遭受未经治疗且令人衰弱的沟通障碍， 限制导致社交退缩、限制学业成就和/或限制职业机会。 有证据表明，传出听觉通路从大脑下降到内耳， 据推测，在噪音进入神经系统之前将其过滤掉，其中一些患者可能会受到损害。 研究项目调查内耳传出活动与皮质下处理之间的关系 有或没有临床记录的听力正常的成年人在积极倾听时的噪声中言语 具体来说，我们开发了一种同时测量前神经元的方法。 （即耳声发射；OAE）和神经（即响应频率）引起的生物物理反应 这种方法第一次使得直接研究语言成为可能。 耳蜗传出效应对噪声中语音的神经处理和感知的影响。 1) 耳蜗传出活动的“传统”被动测定（即，用对侧噪声抑制 OAE） 主动聆听噪音中的语音时，低估了耳蜗力学的传出调制； 耳蜗活动的注意力调节可预测皮层下神经活动的注意力调节；3) 耳蜗和神经注意调制效应可用于对噪声中的语音感知进行统计建模 这项研究的结果将阐明传出系统在自然语言中的作用。 噪声处理，并可能阐明导致听力测定中噪声中语音缺陷的“病变部位” 此外，我们的研究结果可能有助于辅助听力设备和/或大脑的开发。 受典型神经生理学审计功能启发的计算机界面，可帮助听众进行语音- 噪声内的赤字。