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Perception of speech in context by listeners with healthy and impaired hearing

Award Number: R01DC020303
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/22/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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Perception of speech in context by listeners with healthy and impaired hearing - Project Summary / Abstract Perceptual systems operate in context: perception of a given object/event is influenced by the objects/events that surround it. Speech perception operates in the same way, where perception of speech sounds is heavily influenced by the acoustic properties of contextual sounds that surround them. These acoustic context effects are critically important to perception because they help maintain perceptual constancy in the face of considerable variability in speech acoustics and listening environments. Despite this importance, there is a poor understanding of how acoustic context shapes speech perception. The well-established ways of measuring speech perception routinely present stimuli without any context, or when they do, it is to study a single context effect in quiet for listeners with normal hearing (NH). These approaches severely impede understanding of speech perception in everyday listening conditions (in context, amidst background noise) and for listeners with hearing difficulties. The long-term goal of this project is to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying these acoustic context effects in speech perception in normal and impaired auditory systems. This goal is addressed through three specific aims. The first aim is to define the unifying relationships between different context effects in speech perception by NH and hearing-impaired (HI) populations. Experiments in the first aim utilize an individual differences approach to explore auditory context effects as a unified system rather than individual isolated effects. The second aim is to study the impact of background noise on these context effects for NH and HI populations. Experiments in the second aim will test competing predictions regarding whether noise diminishes the influence of context via masking or enhances the influence of context via streaming. The third aim is to investigate context effects in speech perception by cochlear implant (CI) users. Experiments in the third aim with real- and simulated-CI listening will elucidate mechanisms underlying context effects and the impacts of different aspects of CI processing. These aims are supplemented by computational modeling of neural responses to the speech stimuli in order to clarify peripheral versus central mechanisms underlying these context effects. Overall, the results will provide new insights into how NH, HI, and CI populations perceive sounds in the context of other sounds and in background noise. These efforts will produce better understanding of auditory perception with the realistic and prominent constraint of contextual influence, and will help to provide a neural and behavioral framework for translational applications.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $29,125 )
2025	2024	UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE	2301 S 3RD ST	LOUISVILLE	KY	40208	JEFFERSON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	6/17/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$350,939
2025	2024	MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY	313 N 13TH ST	MILWAUKEE	WI	53233	MILWAUKEE	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	4	6/18/2025	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$380,064
														Subtotal = $29,125

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $350,940 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE	2301 S 3RD ST	LOUISVILLE	KY	40208	JEFFERSON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	7/25/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$350,940
														Subtotal = $350,940

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $312,302 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE	2301 S 3RD ST	LOUISVILLE	KY	40208	JEFFERSON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	7/26/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$312,302
														Subtotal = $312,302

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $287,358 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE	2301 S 3RD ST	LOUISVILLE	KY	40208	JEFFERSON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	9/21/2022	NEW	$287,358
														Subtotal = $287,358

Grand Total All Awards = $979,725

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Perception of speech in context by listeners with healthy and impaired hearing

Award Number: R01DC020303

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/22/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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