Auditory nerve representation of naturally-produced vowels with variable acoustics

Hanna E Stevens; Robert E Wickesberg

doi:10.1016/j.heares.2005.02.008

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Auditory nerve representation of naturally-produced vowels with variable acoustics

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Auditory nerve representation of naturally-produced vowels with variable acoustics

Hanna E Stevens and Robert E Wickesberg

Hearing research, Vol.205(1-2), pp.21-34

07/2005

DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2005.02.008

PMID: 15953512

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Abstract

This investigation compared the encoding of naturally-produced, whispered and normally-voiced vowels by auditory nerve fibers. Speech syllables containing the vowels /open o/ and /ae/ were produced by two female speakers and presented at three intensities to ketamine-anesthetized chinchillas. Six different representations of the spectral components in the vowels in the responses of the auditory nerve fibers were evaluated. For both normal and whispered vowels over a 30 dB range, the formant peaks in the vowel were best displayed using rate-place representations. The spectral detail in the vowel was revealed by average localized synchronized rates (ALSR) and autocorrelations of individual peristimulus time histograms. The average localized interval rates (ALIR), autocorrelations of ensemble responses, and autocorrelations of individual spike trains demonstrated poor representations of vowel spectra, although the frequency components of normally-voiced vowels had better representations than those of whispered vowels. These analyses suggest that rate-based and synchronization-based measures yields two very different pieces of information, but only a normalized rate-based measure consistently identified the formants of both the whispered and normally-voiced vowels.

Acoustic Stimulation - instrumentation

Humans

Male

Reaction Time

Auditory Perception - physiology

Chinchilla

Cochlear Nerve - physiology

Animals

Nerve Fibers - physiology

Sound Spectrography

Auditory Threshold - physiology

Phonetics

Cochlear Microphonic Potentials - physiology

Female

Details

Title: Subtitle: Auditory nerve representation of naturally-produced vowels with variable acoustics
Creators: Hanna E Stevens - Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. hesteven@uiuc.edu
Robert E Wickesberg
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Hearing research, Vol.205(1-2), pp.21-34
DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2005.02.008
PMID: 15953512
NLM abbreviation: Hear Res
ISSN: 0378-5955
eISSN: 1878-5891
Publisher: Netherlands
Grant note: DC05014 / NIDCD NIH HHS DC02819 / NIDCD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 07/2005
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Stead Family Department of Pediatrics; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984004096802771

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