Cognitive hearing science
Encyclopedia
Cognitive hearing science is an interdisciplinary science field concerned with the physiological and cognitive basis of hearing and its interplay with signal processing
in hearing aid
s. The field includes genetics
, physiology
, medical and technical audiology
, cognitive neuroscience
, cognitive psychology
, linguistics
and social psychology
.
Theoretically the research in cognitive hearing science combines a physiological model for the information transfer from the outer auditory
organ to the auditory cerebral cortex
, and a cognitive model for how language comprehension is influenced by the interplay between the incoming language signal and the individual's cognitive
skills, especially the long-term memory
and the working memory
.
Researchers examine the interplay between type of hearing impairment
or deafness, type of signal processing in different hearing aid
s, type of listening environment and the individual's cognitive skills.
Research in cognitive hearing science has importance for the knowledge about different types of hearing impairment and its effects, as for the possibilities to determine which individuals can make use of certain type of signal processing in hearing aid or cochlear implant
and thereby adapt hearing aid to the individual.
Cognitive hearing science has been introduced by researchers at the Linköping University
research centre Linnaeus Centre HEAD (HEaring And Deafness) in Sweden, created in 2008 with a major 10-year grant from the Swedish Research Council.
Signal processing
Signal processing is an area of systems engineering, electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with operations on or analysis of signals, in either discrete or continuous time...
in hearing aid
Hearing aid
A hearing aid is an electroacoustic device which typically fits in or behind the wearer's ear, and is designed to amplify and modulate sound for the wearer. Earlier devices, known as "ear trumpets" or "ear horns", were passive funnel-like amplification cones designed to gather sound energy and...
s. The field includes genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
, physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
, medical and technical audiology
Audiology
Audiology is the branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Its practitioners, who treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage are audiologists. Employing various testing strategies Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , -logia) is...
, cognitive neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
, cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
.
Theoretically the research in cognitive hearing science combines a physiological model for the information transfer from the outer auditory
Ear
The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....
organ to the auditory cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
, and a cognitive model for how language comprehension is influenced by the interplay between the incoming language signal and the individual's cognitive
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
skills, especially the long-term memory
Long-term memory
Long-term memory is memory in which associations among items are stored, as part of the theory of a dual-store memory model. According to the theory, long term memory differs structurally and functionally from working memory or short-term memory, which ostensibly stores items for only around 20–30...
and the working memory
Working memory
Working memory has been defined as the system which actively holds information in the mind to do verbal and nonverbal tasks such as reasoning and comprehension, and to make it available for further information processing...
.
Researchers examine the interplay between type of hearing impairment
Hearing impairment
-Definition:Deafness is the inability for the ear to interpret certain or all frequencies of sound.-Environmental Situations:Deafness can be caused by environmental situations such as noise, trauma, or other ear defections...
or deafness, type of signal processing in different hearing aid
Hearing aid
A hearing aid is an electroacoustic device which typically fits in or behind the wearer's ear, and is designed to amplify and modulate sound for the wearer. Earlier devices, known as "ear trumpets" or "ear horns", were passive funnel-like amplification cones designed to gather sound energy and...
s, type of listening environment and the individual's cognitive skills.
Research in cognitive hearing science has importance for the knowledge about different types of hearing impairment and its effects, as for the possibilities to determine which individuals can make use of certain type of signal processing in hearing aid or cochlear implant
Cochlear implant
A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing...
and thereby adapt hearing aid to the individual.
Cognitive hearing science has been introduced by researchers at the Linköping University
Linköping University
Linköping University is a state university in Linköping, Sweden. Linköping University was granted full university status in 1975 and is now one of Sweden's larger academic institutions. Education, research and PhD training are the mission of four faculties: Arts and Sciences, Educational...
research centre Linnaeus Centre HEAD (HEaring And Deafness) in Sweden, created in 2008 with a major 10-year grant from the Swedish Research Council.