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The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility

We have previously identified neurons tuned to spectral contrast of wideband sounds in auditory cortex of awake marmoset monkeys. Because additive noise alters the spectral contrast of speech, contrast-tuned neurons, if present in human auditory cortex, may aid in extracting speech from noise. Given...

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Autores principales: Killian, Nathan J., Watkins, Paul V., Davidson, Lisa S., Barbour, Dennis L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4977316/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27555826
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01145
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author Killian, Nathan J.
Watkins, Paul V.
Davidson, Lisa S.
Barbour, Dennis L.
author_facet Killian, Nathan J.
Watkins, Paul V.
Davidson, Lisa S.
Barbour, Dennis L.
author_sort Killian, Nathan J.
collection PubMed
description We have previously identified neurons tuned to spectral contrast of wideband sounds in auditory cortex of awake marmoset monkeys. Because additive noise alters the spectral contrast of speech, contrast-tuned neurons, if present in human auditory cortex, may aid in extracting speech from noise. Given that this cortical function may be underdeveloped in individuals with sensorineural hearing loss, incorporating biologically-inspired algorithms into external signal processing devices could provide speech enhancement benefits to cochlear implantees. In this study we first constructed a computational signal processing algorithm to mimic auditory cortex contrast tuning. We then manipulated the shape of contrast channels and evaluated the intelligibility of reconstructed noisy speech using a metric to predict cochlear implant user perception. Candidate speech enhancement strategies were then tested in cochlear implantees with a hearing-in-noise test. Accentuation of intermediate contrast values or all contrast values improved computed intelligibility. Cochlear implant subjects showed significant improvement in noisy speech intelligibility with a contrast shaping procedure.
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spelling pubmed-49773162016-08-23 The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility Killian, Nathan J. Watkins, Paul V. Davidson, Lisa S. Barbour, Dennis L. Front Psychol Psychology We have previously identified neurons tuned to spectral contrast of wideband sounds in auditory cortex of awake marmoset monkeys. Because additive noise alters the spectral contrast of speech, contrast-tuned neurons, if present in human auditory cortex, may aid in extracting speech from noise. Given that this cortical function may be underdeveloped in individuals with sensorineural hearing loss, incorporating biologically-inspired algorithms into external signal processing devices could provide speech enhancement benefits to cochlear implantees. In this study we first constructed a computational signal processing algorithm to mimic auditory cortex contrast tuning. We then manipulated the shape of contrast channels and evaluated the intelligibility of reconstructed noisy speech using a metric to predict cochlear implant user perception. Candidate speech enhancement strategies were then tested in cochlear implantees with a hearing-in-noise test. Accentuation of intermediate contrast values or all contrast values improved computed intelligibility. Cochlear implant subjects showed significant improvement in noisy speech intelligibility with a contrast shaping procedure. Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-08-09 /pmc/articles/PMC4977316/ /pubmed/27555826 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01145 Text en Copyright © 2016 Killian, Watkins, Davidson and Barbour. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Killian, Nathan J.
Watkins, Paul V.
Davidson, Lisa S.
Barbour, Dennis L.
The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility
title The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility
title_full The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility
title_fullStr The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility
title_short The Effects of Auditory Contrast Tuning upon Speech Intelligibility
title_sort effects of auditory contrast tuning upon speech intelligibility
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4977316/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27555826
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01145
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