The overarching goal is to better understand auditory processes underlying perception of speech and other complex sounds. One current goal is to continue development of signal processing algorithms for spectral enhancement. The focus is upon improvement of speech recognition in the face of extreme context-sensitivity resulting from co articulation. This effort is directed toward incorporation in facilitative devices such as hearing aids. The algorithm, currently successful with normal hearing listeners with simulated hearing loss, will be further improved, and testing will be extended to a population of listeners with hearing impairment. ? ? The second major goal is to describe and model processes by which the auditory system maintains perceptual constancy despite variations commonly encountered across sound sources (such as different talkers) and across different sound environments. More specifically, reveal auditory mechanisms that serve to compensate for reliable spectral and temporal characteristics of a sound source and of the ambient environment more generally. The primary focus is to further understand perception of speech, and the manner in which these auditory processes explain how listeners understand speech across variations in characteristics of individual talkers, as well as their speaking rate and rhythm. If possible, these new findings will be incorporated into development of the spectral enhancement algorithm for clinical application. Finally, behavioral studies using a nonhuman mammal (chinchilla) will be conducted in order to establish a nonhuman model of auditory perceptual constancy that can be used in efforts to better understand the underlying physiology of spectral and temporal processing of complex sounds. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC004072-09
Application #
7366995
Study Section
Auditory System Study Section (AUD)
Program Officer
Shekim, Lana O
Project Start
2000-04-01
Project End
2010-02-28
Budget Start
2008-03-01
Budget End
2010-02-28
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$307,843
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
Stilp, Christian E; Goupell, Matthew J; Kluender, Keith R (2013) Speech perception in simulated electric hearing exploits information-bearing acoustic change. J Acoust Soc Am 133:EL136-41
Stilp, Christian E; Kluender, Keith R (2012) Efficient coding and statistically optimal weighting of covariance among acoustic attributes in novel sounds. PLoS One 7:e30845
Alexander, Joshua M; Jenison, Rick L; Kluender, Keith R (2011) Real-time contrast enhancement to improve speech recognition. PLoS One 6:e24630
Alexander, Joshua M; Kluender, Keith R (2010) Temporal properties of perceptual calibration to local and broad spectral characteristics of a listening context. J Acoust Soc Am 128:3597-13
Stilp, Christian E; Alexander, Joshua M; Kiefte, Michael et al. (2010) Auditory color constancy: calibration to reliable spectral properties across nonspeech context and targets. Atten Percept Psychophys 72:470-80
Coady, Jeffry; Evans, Julia L; Kluender, Keith R (2010) Role of phonotactic frequency in nonword repetition by children with specific language impairments. Int J Lang Commun Disord 45:494-509
Stilp, Christian E; Rogers, Timothy T; Kluender, Keith R (2010) Rapid efficient coding of correlated complex acoustic properties. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:21914-9
Stilp, Christian E; Kluender, Keith R (2010) Cochlea-scaled entropy, not consonants, vowels, or time, best predicts speech intelligibility. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:12387-92
Stilp, Christian E; Kiefte, Michael; Alexander, Joshua M et al. (2010) Cochlea-scaled spectral entropy predicts rate-invariant intelligibility of temporally distorted sentences. J Acoust Soc Am 128:2112-26
Coady, Jeffry A; Evans, Julia L; Kluender, Keith R (2010) The role of phonotactic frequency in sentence repetition by children with specific language impairment. J Speech Lang Hear Res 53:1401-15

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