Biomedical subjects

Robert V Shannon

Publications and source records attributed to Robert V Shannon.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Holes in hearing.

Previous experiments have demonstrated that the correct tonotopic representation of spectral information is important for speech recognition. However, in prosthetic devices, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, there may be a frequency/place mismatch due in part to the signal processing of the device and in part to the pathology that caused the hearing loss. Local regions of damaged neurons may create a "hole" in the tonotopic representation of spectral information, further distorting the frequency-to-place mapping. The present experiment was performed to quantitatively assess the impact of spectral holes on speech recognition. Speech was processed by a 20-band processor: SPEAK for cochlear implant (CI) listeners, and a 20-band noise processor for normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Holes in the tonotopic representation (from 1.5 to 6 mm in extent) were created by eliminating electrodes or noise carrier bands in the basal, middle, or apical regions of the cochlea. Vowel, consonant, and sentence recognition were measured as a function of the location and size of the hole. In addition, the spectral information that would normally be represented in the hole region was either: (1) dropped, (2) assigned to the apical side of the hole, (3) assigned to the basal side of the hole, or (4) split evenly to both sides of the hole. In general, speech features that are highly dependent on spectral cues (consonant place, vowel identity) were more affected by the presence of tonotopic holes than temporal features (consonant voicing and manner). Holes in the apical region were more damaging than holes in the basal or middle regions. A similar pattern of performance was observed for NH and CI listeners, suggesting that the loss of spectral information was the primary cause of the effects. The Speech Intelligibility Index was able to account for both NH and CI listeners' results. No significant differences were observed among the four conditions that redistributed the spectral information around the hole, suggesting that rerouting spectral information around a hole was no better than simply dropping it.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Frequency mapping in cochlear implants.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the short-term ("acute") effects of parametric variations to the frequency-to-electrode mapping on phoneme identification by Nucleus-22 cochlear implant listeners. METHODS: Phoneme recognition was measured in five Nucleus-22 cochlear implant listeners using custom four-channel continuous interleaved sampler (CIS) processors. For the four-channel processors, speech signals were band-pass filtered into four broad frequency bands. The temporal envelope in each band was extracted by half-wave rectification and low-pass filtering at 160 Hz. The extracted envelope was then transformed to electric currents by a power function with an exponent of 0.2. The resulting electric currents were delivered to four electrode pairs (18,22), (13,17), (8,12), (3,7). The effect of frequency-to-electrode mapping was investigated by systematically varying the parameters of band-pass filters while fixing the electrode locations. Experiment 1 measured phoneme recognition as a function of the slope of band-pass filters. The slope of band-pass filters varied from 48 dB/octave to 6 dB/octave; the corner frequencies of band-pass filters were not varied. Experiment 2 measured phoneme recognition as a function of the distribution of band-pass filters across a fixed overall frequency range. The frequency divisions of a fixed overall frequency range were systematically varied from a logarithmic to a linear distribution. Experiment 3 measured phoneme recognition as a function of the bandwidth of the band-pass filters. The bandwidth of each filter varied from 0.2 to 2 octaves; the center frequencies for each band were not varied. No practice or feedback was provided for subjects in all experiments. RESULTS: The slope of the band-pass filters had little effect on both vowel and consonant recognition. A slight performance drop was observed for only the shallowest slope condition (6 dB/octave). In contrast, the distribution of the band-pass filters had a strong effect on vowel recognition but a weak effect on consonant recognition. Best performance was achieved when a logarithmic or near-logarithmic frequency distribution was used to divide the overall frequency range. The bandwidth of the band-pass filters had a moderate effect on both vowel and consonant recognition. Vowel scores dropped significantly when the bandwidth of filters was too broad, whereas consonant scores dropped significantly when a narrower bandwidth was used. CONCLUSION: Under "acute" testing conditions, phoneme recognition with a four-channel CIS strategy seems to be only mildly affected by the slope of the band-pass filters, but can be significantly affected by the distribution of filters as well as the bandwidth of the filters. Optimal or near-optimal performance can be achieved with a logarithmic frequency distribution. Vowels are more susceptible to broad bandwidths, whereas consonants are more susceptible to narrow bandwidths.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Perceptual learning following changes in the frequency-to-electrode assignment with the Nucleus-22 cochlear implant.

The goal of the present study was to investigate the time course of adaptation by experienced cochlear implant users to a shifted frequency-to-electrode assignment in their speech processors. Speech recognition performance of three Nucleus-22 cochlear implant users was measured over a 3-month period, during which the implant listeners continuously wore "experimental" speech processors that were purposely shifted by 2-4 mm in terms of the frequency-to-electrode assignment relative to their normal processor. Baseline speech performance was measured with each subject's clinically assigned speech processor just prior to implementation of the experimental processor. Baseline speech performance was measured again after the 3-month test period, immediately following the reinstallation of the clinically assigned processor settings. Speech performance with the experimental processor was measured four times during the first week, and weekly thereafter over the 3-month period. Results showed that the experimental processor produced significantly lower performance on all measures of speech recognition immediately following implementation. Over the 3-month test period, consonant and HINT sentence recognition with the experimental processors gradually approached a performance level comparable to but still significantly below the baseline and postexperiment measures made with the clinically assigned processor. However, vowel and TIMIT sentence recognition with the experimental processors remained far below the level of the baseline measures even at the end of the 3-month experimental period. There was no significant change in performance with the clinically assigned processor before or after fitting with the experimental processor. The results suggest that a long-time exposure to a new pattern of stimulation may not be able to compensate for the deficit in performance caused by a 2-4-mm shift in the tonotopic location of stimulation, at least within a 3-month period.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Multichannel auditory brainstem implant: update on performance in 61 patients.

OBJECT: Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2) has typically resulted in deafness after surgical removal of bilateral vestibular schwannomas (VSs). Cochlear implants are generally ineffective for this kind of deafness because of the loss of continuity in the auditory nerve after tumor removal. The first auditory brainstem implant (ABI) in such a patient was performed in 1979 at the House Ear Institute, and this individual continues to benefit from electrical stimulation of the cochlear nucleus complex. In 1992, an advanced multichannel ABI was developed and a series of patients with NF2 received this implant to study the safety and efficacy of the device. METHODS: At the time of first- or second-side VS removal, patients received an eight-electrode array applied to the surface of the cochlear nucleus within the confines of the lateral recess of the fourth ventricle. The device was activated approximately 6 weeks after implantation. and patients were tested every 3 months for the 1st year after the initial stimulation, and annually thereafter. The protocol included a comprehensive battery of psychophysical and speech perception tests. CONCLUSIONS: The multichannel ABI proved to be effective and safe in providing useful auditory sensations in most patients with NF2. The ABI improved patients' ability to communicate compared with the lipreading-only condition, it allowed the detection and recognition of many environmental sounds, and in some cases it provided significant ability to understand speech by using just the sound from the ABI (with no lipreading cues). Its performance in most patients has continued to improve for up to 8 years after implantation.

Adolescent↗