Monday, December 29, 2025 12/29/2025

Nonlinear wave interactions in the cochlea and their application to sound processing

Award Number: R21DC019712
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: 03/01/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Nonlinear wave interactions in the cochlea and their application to sound processing - Project Abstract/Summary The mammalian cochlea achieves its outstanding performance characteristics by including a physiologically vul- nerable active process that strategically ampliﬁes waves as they propagate through the cochlear spiral. As a result of this spatially coordinated and nonlinear wave ampliﬁcation, the cochlear response at one characteristic- frequency location largely depends upon the physiological status and the response in more basal regions. In response to complex sounds, waves of different frequency nonlinearly interact along the cochlea, mutually sup- pressing one with the other. In contrast to a bank of independently operating ﬁlters commonly used to depict cochlear function, the responses of distinct “cochlear ﬁlters are strongly coupled by nonlinear wave interactions. Although nonlinear wave interactions play a major role for the cochlea response, their role for encoding complex sounds in the auditory periphery—and consequently their contribution to central auditory mechanisms—is poorly understood and largely ignored. Understanding nonlinear wave interactions is hence essential to establish how the cochlea encodes eco- logically relevant sounds and the role of the auditory periphery for sound perception. Because nonlinear wave interactions depend upon the health of the ear, understanding these interactions is fundamental also to establish how cochlear impairment affects the peripheral representation of complex sounds. Further, because even mild sensorineural hearing loss greatly degrades behavioral performance in acoustically challenging situations, it is likely that nonlinear wave interactions underlie unexplored mechanisms for the outstanding performance of the healthy ear. My project will tackle these issues by: (i) deriving from the experimental data a cochlear model that reproduces accurately nonlinear wave interactions in laboratory animals (Aim 1.a) and humans (Aim 1.b); (ii) testing the hypothesis that nonlinear wave interactions underly beneﬁcial mechanisms to encode sounds in acoustically adverse situations (Aim 2.a), and (iii) determining how and with what limitations the effects of nonlinear wave interactions elucidated in this project are accounted for by popular computer models of the auditory periphery (Aim 2.b). The results of this project will not only challenge and improve the current understanding of cochlear function for hearing, but will also ﬁnd natural application in improving models of hearing impairment, and in determining novel cochlear-inspired strategies to improve the performance of assistive hearing technology.


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: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2024	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90033	LOS ANGELES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	12/4/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2025	2024	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90033	LOS ANGELES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	12/20/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $206,250 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	3	5/2/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$20,625
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	1/31/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$185,625
														Subtotal = $206,250

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $206,250 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	2/17/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$206,250
														Subtotal = $206,250

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $206,250 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	2/21/2022	NEW	$206,250
														Subtotal = $206,250

Grand Total All Awards = $618,750

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Nonlinear wave interactions in the cochlea and their application to sound processing

Award Number: R21DC019712

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: 03/01/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer