Other Projects

Remote auditory testing

Pure-tone audiometry is the gold-standard measure of hearing, yet many adults who present with the same audiogram often report different perceptions of their hearing abilities. In this case, suprathreshold auditory tests that measure the perception of sounds audible to individuals can help in differential diagnosis. The portability of these tools allows for access to reliable, efficient testing in populations where visits to a laboratory or clinic may not be feasible. 

Peng, Z. E., et al. [23 other authors]. (2022). Remote testing for psychological and physiological acoustics: Initial report of the P&P Task Force on Remote Testing. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151(5), 3116-3128. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0010422

Lelo de Larrea-Mancera, E. S., Stavropoulos, T., Hoover, E. C., Eddins, D. E., Gallun, F. J., & Seitz, A. (2020). Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) for auditory assessment: Validation in a young adult normal-hearing population. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 148(4), 1831-1851. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0002108

Effect of dynamic signal processing on speech perception

In order to provide amplification for people with hearing loss, hearing aids and related devices employ dynamic signal processing algorithms. These algorithms, including amplitude compression, noise reduction, and adaptive directionality, selectively reduce the gain of the devices for sounds that may be too loud or unwanted. Changing the gain over time can introduce distortion that degrades the quality and information in the signal. We evaluate how listeners with hearing loss are able to understand speech in simulated real-world environments while listening through the devices. This research will allow us to improve the implementation and fitting of current devices and to develop novel algorithms for speech processing systems.

Ozmeral, E. J., Hoover, E. C., Wasserman, L., Gabbidon, P., & Eddins, D. A. (2020). Development of the Continuous Number Identification Test (CNIT): Feasibility of dynamic assessment of speech intelligibility. International Journal of Audiology, 59(6):434-442. doi:10.1080/14992027.2020.1718782

Perception of change over time

Information in signals is transmitted in the changes that occur over time to different aspects of the signal. The perception of these changes is dependent on the rate of change over time, or modulation frequency. In a series of studies, we are evaluating the role of modulation in the perception of information in speech and other signals. The goal is to use our understanding of how we perceive modulation to improve the fitting of hearing aids and related devices.

Palandrani, K. N., Hoover, E.C., Stavropoulos, T., Seitz, A., Isarangura, S., Gallun, F. J., & Eddins, D. A. (2021). Temporal integration of monaural and dichotic frequency modulation. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 150(2), 745-758. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0005729

Stavropoulos, T., Isarangura, S., Hoover, E. C., Eddins, D. E., Seitz, A., & Gallun, F. J. (2021). Exponential spectro-temporal modulation generation. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 149(3), 1434-1443. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0003604

Hoover, E. C., Kinney, B., Bell, K., Gallun, F. J., & Eddins, D. A. (2019). A comparison of behavioral methods for indexing the auditory processing of temporal fine structure cues. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(6), 2018-2034. https://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-H-18-0217