Auditory prostheses not only bring a high level of functional hearing to deafened patients, but can also be a powerful tool for auditory neuroscience. Given the minimal and distorted cues provided by these devices, what factors allow some patients to recognize speech while others cannot? This proposal achieves leverage on this question by comparing psychophysical and speech performance across patient etiologies, patient performance levels, and across implant locations: cochlea, cochlear nucleus (CN), and inferior colliculus (IC). The long-term goal of this proposal is to utilize prosthetic activation of different stages in the human auditory system to understand how different levels of auditory processing contribute to speech pattern recognition. Our primary hypothesis is that speech pattern recognition depends strongly on specific peripheral processing, and that damage to these peripheral elements degrades speech recognition even when most other perceptual elements appear to be normal. A secondary hypothesis is that psychophysical performance with simple stimuli is not a good predictor of speech performance with electric hearing;psychophysical measures with complex stimuli may utilize similar perceptual mechanisms used for speech recognition, and thereby better predict patient outcomes.
The specific aims are: 1. To quantify perceptual measures that may reflect biophysics from electrical stimulation of surface and penetrating electrodes in the cochlea, cochlear nucleus, and inferior colliculus in deaf patients. 2. To compare performance on simple and complex psychophysical tasks in patients with surface and penetrating electrodes in the cochlea, CN, and IC. 3. To use the results from Aims 1 and 2 to develop a profile that distinguishes patients with good speech recognition from those with poorer levels of recognition. The psychophysical tasks that correlate with speech recognition, obtained from electrical stimulation at three different levels of the auditory periphery, may help to define the perceptual characteristics of the putative peripheral damage. In addition, comparison of speech recognition and profiles of psychophysical performance will suggest links between basic perceptual capabilities and more complex auditory pattern recognition.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC001526-19
Application #
8246477
Study Section
Auditory System Study Section (AUD)
Program Officer
Miller, Roger
Project Start
1992-05-01
Project End
2013-09-30
Budget Start
2012-04-01
Budget End
2013-09-30
Support Year
19
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$115,253
Indirect Cost
$53,289
Name
House Research Institute
Department
Type
DUNS #
062076989
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90057
Stelmach, Julia; Landsberger, David M; Padilla, Monica et al. (2017) Determining the minimum number of electrodes that need to be pitch matched to accurately estimate pitch matches across the array. Int J Audiol 56:894-899
Aronoff, Justin M; Stelmach, Julia; Padilla, Monica et al. (2016) Interleaved Processors Improve Cochlear Implant Patients' Spectral Resolution. Ear Hear 37:e85-90
Shannon, Robert V (2015) Auditory implant research at the House Ear Institute 1989-2013. Hear Res 322:57-66
Aronoff, Justin M; Padilla, Monica; Fu, Qian-Jie et al. (2015) Contralateral masking in bilateral cochlear implant patients: a model of medial olivocochlear function loss. PLoS One 10:e0121591
Colletti, Liliana; Shannon, Robert V; Colletti, Vittorio (2014) The development of auditory perception in children after auditory brainstem implantation. Audiol Neurootol 19:386-94
Goldsworthy, Raymond L; Shannon, Robert V (2014) Training improves cochlear implant rate discrimination on a psychophysical task. J Acoust Soc Am 135:334-41
Srinivasan, Arthi G; Padilla, Monica; Shannon, Robert V et al. (2013) Improving speech perception in noise with current focusing in cochlear implant users. Hear Res 299:29-36
Aronoff, Justin M; Landsberger, David M (2013) The development of a modified spectral ripple test. J Acoust Soc Am 134:EL217-22
Saoji, Aniket A; Landsberger, David M; Padilla, Monica et al. (2013) Masking patterns for monopolar and phantom electrode stimulation in cochlear implants. Hear Res 298:109-16
Shannon, Robert V (2012) Advances in auditory prostheses. Curr Opin Neurol 25:61-6

Showing the most recent 10 out of 43 publications