EFFECTS OF SIGNAL PROCESSING ON SPEECH UNDERSTANDING IN QUIET AND INNOISE NIH GUIDE, Volume 23, Number 3, January 21, 1994 PA NUMBER: PA-94-030 P.T. 34 Keywords: Communicative Disorders, Speech Hearing Prosthetic Device, Hearing National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders PURPOSE The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) invites applications for support of research addressing the effects of signal processing on speech understanding in quiet and in noise. The goal of this Program Announcement (PA) is to stimulate basic research in a wide range of scientific disciplines to increase our understanding of normal and impaired auditory systems' responses to speech sounds that are processed through hearing aids, especially in the presence of background noise. This information will ultimately help to guide the development of improved hearing aids. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This PA, Effects of Signal Processing on Speech Understanding in Quiet and in Noise, is related to the priority area of diabetes and chronic disabling diseases. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-11474-0) or "Healthy People 2000" (Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-11473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign for-profit and non-profit organizations, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of state or local governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply for the First Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) (R29) award. Applications from minority individuals and women are encouraged. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT Support mechanisms appropriate for this announcement include the individual research project grant (R01) and the FIRST (R29) award. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Background Hearing aids continue to be the principal management of choice for most people with sensorineural hearing loss. Unfortunately, hearing aids often provide limited benefit, especially in noisy conditions. Progress in the miniaturization of circuits and transducers now allows a wide range of signal processing functions to be incorporated into very small devices. Many of these processing functions may improve the understanding of speech in noisy environments. However, the increased signal processing potential of hearing aids may soon surpass, or has already surpassed, the basic understanding of audition required to utilize the technology optimally. For example, the information-bearing acoustic parameters and units of speech are not yet fully understood. Nor is it known how the characteristics of hearing impairment (e.g., reduced or altered spectral and temporal processing abilities, increased linearity of the auditory system) affect the perception of various speech parameters. Even less well understood is how both normal and impaired auditory systems perform under the conditions imposed by the signal processing technologies of hearing aids (e.g., listening at high intensity levels, increased masking, temporal and spectral changes in signals). Studies designed to investigate the problem of hearing in noise date back to the early development of hearing aids. Numerous studies have confirmed that, in contrast to individuals with normal hearing, hearing-impaired subjects perform poorly on speech intelligibility tasks in noisy conditions. The cause of that poor performance has yet to be defined adequately. Early studies have shown that both frequency and temporal resolution are poorer in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss than in listeners with normal hearing. These differences are attributed to such factors as abnormal spread of masking, broader peripheral filtering, and longer time constants for recovery from forward masking. However, some recent studies also support the possibility that the effects attributed to deficits in frequency selectivity and temporal processing in hearing-impaired listeners may in fact result from abnormal rates of growth of response to acoustic stimuli in the impaired ear. In this view, underlying properties of auditory filters and time constants remain unaltered in the impaired ear, and recruitment becomes the primary phenomenon in abnormal suprathreshold response. Additionally, some data suggest that the hearing-impaired subjects' poor performance can be explained largely on the basis of differences in audibility due to decreased hearing sensitivity, masking effects, and/or speech presentation level. Few studies have examined the effects of signal processing by hearing aids on audition using either normal or hearing-impaired subjects. It is probable that the difficulties in speech understanding experienced by individuals with sensorineural hearing losses, which are often associated with auditory processing abnormalities in addition to a loss of sensitivity, may be exacerbated by the high intensities of sound processed through hearing aids. It is proving to be difficult to predict how a given signal processing strategy or circuit, with high presentation levels and many changes in temporal and spectral characteristics, will process continually changing speech signals. Furthermore, the interaction of the processed acoustic signal with the remaining capabilities of the impaired auditory system has never been systematically explored. A more thorough understanding of the effects of signal processing on audition is needed in order to guide the development of and to allow the proper utilization of improved hearing aids. Similarly there is need for a better understanding of the theoretical and practical issues of the physiologic, perceptual and communicative processes of hearing-impaired persons under conditions relevant to the use of hearing aids. Research Goals and Scope Studies are encouraged that are designed to assess the response of individuals with normal and impaired auditory systems to sounds that are processed through hearing aids, in the conditions normally encountered by hearing aid users. Noises and other experimental variables representative of real listening environments should be used when possible. The use of experimental designs that minimize the confounding effects of threshold and presentation levels on estimates of subject performance are desirable. Areas of research that would be responsive to this PA include, but are not limited to: o studies of the influences of processing speech through hearing aids (e.g., high presentation levels, changes in temporal and spectral characteristics) on the understanding of speech sounds in quiet and in noise for normal and impaired auditory systems; o studies in quiet and in noise designed to assess the interaction between the processed acoustic signal and the impaired auditory system having such features as reduced frequency selectivity, limited dynamic range, and abnormal growth of loudness; o studies of methods of predicting speech recognition with hearing aids in quiet and in noise for normal and impaired auditory systems; o studies designed to examine the relationship between optimal speech spectrum audibility and loudness tolerance under conditions relevant to hearing aid use in normal and impaired auditory systems in quiet and in noise; o studies of the effects of reverberation on speech recognition under conditions relevant to hearing aid use by normal and impaired auditory systems in quiet and in noise; o studies of changes in speech recognition performance as a function of intensity level with consideration of the factors involved in audibility in quiet and in noise in normal and impaired auditory systems; o studies of psychoacoustic performance measures (e.g., discrimination of spectral contrast, frequency resolution, sensitivity to subtle temporal factors within complex sounds) under conditions relevant to hearing aid use in normal and impaired auditory systems in quiet and in noise. STUDY POPULATIONS SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF NIH POLICIES CONCERNING INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDY POPULATIONS NIH policy is that applicants for NIH clinical research grants and cooperative agreements are required to include minorities and women in study populations so that research findings can be of benefit to all persons at risk of the disease, disorder or condition under study; special emphasis must be placed on the need for inclusion of minorities and women in studies of diseases, disorders and conditions which disproportionately affect them. This policy is intended to apply to males and females of all ages. If women or minorities are excluded or inadequately represented in clinical research, particularly in proposed population-based studies, a clear compelling rationale must be provided. The composition of the proposed study population must be described in terms of gender and racial/ethnic group. In addition, gender and racial/ethnic issues must be addressed in developing a research design and sample size appropriate for the scientific objectives of the study. This information must be included in the form PHS 398 in Sections 1-4 of the Research Plan AND summarized in Section 5, Human Subjects. Applicants are urged to assess carefully the feasibility of including the broadest possible representation of minority groups. However, NIH recognizes that it may not be feasible or appropriate in all research projects to include representation of the full array of United States racial/ethnic minority populations (i.e., Native Americans [including American Indians or Alaskan Natives], Asian/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics). The rationale for studies on single minority population groups should be provided. For the purpose of this policy, clinical research is defined as human biomedical and behavioral studies of etiology, epidemiology, prevention (and preventive strategies), diagnosis, or treatment of diseases, disorders or conditions, including but not limited to clinical trials. The usual NIH policies concerning research on human subjects also apply. Basic research or clinical studies in which human tissues cannot be identified or linked to individuals are excluded. However, every effort should be made to include human tissues from women and racial/ethnic minorities when it is important to apply the results of the study broadly, and this should be addressed by applicants. For foreign awards, the policy on inclusion of women applies fully; since the definition of minority differs in other countries, the applicant must discuss the relevance of research involving foreign population groups to the United States' populations, including minorities. If the required information is not contained within the application, the application will be returned. Peer reviewers will address specifically whether the research plan in the application conforms to these policies. If the representation of women or minorities in a study design is inadequate to answer the scientific questions(s) addressed AND the justification for the selected study population is inadequate, it will be considered a scientific weakness or deficiency in the study design and reflected in assigning the priority score to the application. All applications for clinical research submitted to NIH are required to address these policies. NIH funding components will not award grants or cooperative agreements that do not comply with these policies. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91) and will be accepted at the standard application deadlines as indicated in the application kit. The receipt dates for applications for AIDS-related research are found in the PHS 398 instructions. Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301/594-7250. The title and number of the announcement must be typed in Section 2a on the face page of the application. Applications for the FIRST Award (R29) must include at least three sealed letters of reference attached to the face page of the original application. FIRST Award (R29) applications submitted without the required number of references letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned without review. The completed original application and five legible copies must be sent or delivered to: Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health Westwood Building, Room 240 Bethesda, MD 20892** REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications will be reviewed for scientific and technical merit by study sections of the Division of Research Grants, NIH, in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. Following scientific-technical review, the applications will receive a second-level review by the appropriate national advisory council. AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for available funds with all other approved applications. The following will be considered as funding decisions are made: o quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review, o availability of funds, and o program balance among research areas of the announcement. INQUIRIES Written and telephone inquiries concerning this PA are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Inquiries regarding programmatic issues may be addressed to: Amy M. Donahue, Ph.D. or Lynn E. Huerta, Ph.D. Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Executive Plaza South, Suite 400-C 6120 Executive Boulevard Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 402-3458 FAX: (301) 402-6251 Inquiries regarding fiscal matters may be addressed to: Sharon Hunt Division of Extramural Activities National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Executive Plaza South, Suite 400-B 6120 Executive Boulevard Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 402-0909 FAX: (301) 402-1758 AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.173. Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. .
Return to NIH Guide Main Index
Office of Extramural Research (OER) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
||||||||
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files. |