MARCH 29 2012 03:25h Inner ear study may help cochlear devices
Researchers at Purdue University analyzed how sounds picked up
by normal-hearing ears are understood by the brain, and how
varying speed components of sound waves each contribute to
speech perception. "Sound can be divided into fast and slow
components, and today's cochlear implants provide only the slow
varying components that help people with profound hearing loss
hear conversations in quiet rooms, but don't allow them to hear
as well in busy restaurants," Michael G. Heinz, a professor of
speech, language and hearing sciences, said. "It has been
thought that the fast varying sound components -- which can't be
provided with current cochlear implant technology -- help to
hear in noisy environments." However, the study did not bear
this out, he said. "We found that slowly varying neural
components actually play the primary role in helping the brain
understand speech in noisy environments," Heinz said. "The
critical fast varying acoustic components