Mechanisms of auditory selective attention for speech and non-speech stimuli

对言语和非言语刺激的听觉选择性注意机制

• 批准号: 10535232
• 负责人: Sahil Luthra
• 金额: $ 6.72万
• 依托单位: CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10535232
• 关键词: Acoustics; Animal Experimentation; Animal Model; Animals; Attention; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Auditory; Behavior; Behavioral; Biological Assay; Biomedical Engineering; Child; Cognition; Cognitive; Coupling; Diagnostic; Dimensions; Discrimination; Disease; Electroencephalography; Electrophysiology (science); Environment; Explosion; Exposure to; Frequencies; Friends; Goals; Grain; Hearing Aids; Human; Impairment; Individual; Language Development Disorders; Learning; Link; Literature; Loudness; Measures; Modeling; Monitor; Neurobiology; Noise; Perception; Performance; Phase; Population; Psychophysics; Regimen; Research; Scientist; Shapes; Signal Transduction; Source; Speech; Speech Perception; Speech Sound; Stimulus; Techniques; Testing; Time; Training; Veterans; Voice; Weight; Work; base; directed attention; experience; experimental study; human model; improved; indexing; insight; interest; neuromechanism; relating to nervous system; remediation; response; selective attention; speech processing; tool

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT In ecological listening environments, individuals must direct attention toward a specific source (e.g., the voice of a friend) while ignoring simultaneous background noise (e.g., other patrons in a café). Moreover, listeners must direct attention toward specific dimensions within an auditory source (e.g., frequencies useful for distinguishing between different speech sounds). A widely held but untested assumption is that these source-based and dimension-based forms of auditory selective attention are supported by common mechanisms. Human studies have historically focused on source-based attention using speech stimuli, while nonhuman animal studies have primarily investigated dimension-based attention with non-speech stimuli; there is thus an empirical gap between these literatures, making it unclear how well the animal studies can model human behavior. More generally, the mechanisms that support auditory selective attention remain underspecified. For instance, extant research suggests that selective attention involves enhancing representations of key information, but it is unclear whether selective attention also involves actively suppressing irrelevant information. Thus, the goal of the proposed project is to clarify the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support auditory selective attention. The first aim is to determine whether auditory selective attention involves suppression of irrelevant information. The key scientific premise is to use training as a tool for triangulating mechanism. That is, if selective attention involves suppression of irrelevant auditory dimensions, then training that improves a listener’s ability to suppress irrelevant auditory information should be associated with concomitant gains in auditory selective attention. Listeners will receive eight days of auditory training that either will require them to perform increasingly fine- grained processing in a target frequency band (promoting enriched representations of target dimensions) or will place increasing demands on the extent to which they must suppress irrelevant auditory dimensions (e.g., a non- target frequency band). Of interest is whether training is associated with improved auditory selective attention, as measured through classic behavioral and electrophysiological indices of attention. The second aim is to determine whether different forms of auditory selective attention (e.g., source-based and dimension-based) are supported by common mechanisms. If they are, then training that leads to improvements in one type of auditory selective attention (e.g., dimension-based) should generalize to another (e.g., source-based). Listeners will complete tests of generalization before, midway through, and after the training regimen. Of interest is whether an improved ability to attend to target auditory dimensions is associated with an improved ability to direct attention toward a specific source. Tests will also assess whether training with non-speech stimuli generalizes to speech. The results will provide insight into the extent to which different forms of auditory selective attention are supported by common mechanisms. Overall, the proposed work will clarify the mechanisms supporting auditory selective attention and provide a vital missing link between the nonhuman animal and human literatures.

项目概要/摘要 在生态聆听环境中，个人必须将注意力集中在特定来源（例如，声音） 朋友），同时忽略同时存在的背景噪音（例如咖啡馆中的其他顾客）。 直接关注听觉源内的特定维度（例如，可用于区分的频率） 一个广泛持有但未经检验的假设是这些基于源的和 基于维度的听觉选择性注意形式得到了共同机制的支持。 历史上一直专注于使用言语刺激的基于来源的注意力，而非人类动物研究则 主要研究了基于维度的注意力与非言语刺激；因此，两者之间存在经验差距； 这些文献，使得我们不清楚动物研究能否很好地模拟人类行为。 例如，现有的研究尚未明确支持听觉选择性注意的机制。 表明选择性注意涉及增强关键信息的表征，但尚不清楚是否 选择性注意还涉及主动抑制不相关信息，因此，这是所提出的目标。 项目的第一个目标是阐明支持听觉选择性注意的认知和神经机制。 是判断听觉选择性注意是否涉及无关信息抑制的关键。 科学前提是使用训练作为三角测量机制的工具，也就是说，如果涉及选择性注意。 抑制不相关的听觉维度，然后进行训练以提高听众的抑制能力 不相关的听觉信息应该与听觉选择性注意的伴随收益相关联。 听众将接受八天的听觉训练，这要么要求他们表现得越来越好—— 在目标频段进行粒度处理（促进目标维度的丰富表示）或将 对他们必须抑制不相关的听觉维度（例如，非相关听觉维度）的程度提出了越来越高的要求。 感兴趣的是训练是否与改善听觉选择性注意力有关， 通过经典的行为和电生理学注意力指数来衡量。 确定不同形式的听觉选择性注意（例如，基于来源和基于维度）是否 如果它们是由共同机制支持的，那么训练会导致一种听觉的改善。 选择性注意（例如，基于维度的）应该推广到另一个（例如，基于来源的）。 感兴趣的是是否在训练方案之前、中间和之后完成泛化测试。 关注目标听觉维度的能力的提高与指导能力的提高相关 测试还将评估非言语刺激的训练是否具有普遍性。 研究结果将深入了解不同形式的听觉选择性注意的程度。 总体而言，拟议的工作将阐明支持机制。 听觉选择性注意，并在非人类动物和人类文献之间提供了一个重要的缺失环节。