The role of perceived spatial separation in the unmasking of speech

1999 ◽  
Vol 106 (6) ◽  
pp. 3578-3588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Freyman ◽  
Karen S. Helfer ◽  
Daniel D. McCall ◽  
Rachel K. Clifton
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Perceived Spatial Separation

scholarly journals Common Brain Substrates Underlying Auditory Speech Priming and Perceived Spatial Separation

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junxian Wang ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Xiaodong Yang ◽  
Lei Liu ◽  
Chao Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Motor Representation ◽  
Auditory Speech ◽  
Perceived Spatial Separation

Under a “cocktail party” environment, listeners can utilize prior knowledge of the content and voice of the target speech [i.e., auditory speech priming (ASP)] and perceived spatial separation to improve recognition of the target speech among masking speech. Previous studies suggest that these two unmasking cues are not processed independently. However, it is unclear whether the unmasking effects of these two cues are supported by common neural bases. In the current study, we aimed to first confirm that ASP and perceived spatial separation contribute to the improvement of speech recognition interactively in a multitalker condition and further investigate whether there exist intersectant brain substrates underlying both unmasking effects, by introducing these two unmasking cues in a unified paradigm and using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results showed that neural activations by the unmasking effects of ASP and perceived separation partly overlapped in brain areas: the left pars triangularis (TriIFG) and orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left supramarginal gyrus, and bilateral putamen, all of which are involved in the sensorimotor integration and the speech production. The activations of the left TriIFG were correlated with behavioral improvements caused by ASP and perceived separation. Meanwhile, ASP and perceived separation also enhanced the functional connectivity between the left IFG and brain areas related to the suppression of distractive speech signals: the anterior cingulate cortex and the left middle frontal gyrus, respectively. Therefore, these findings suggest that the motor representation of speech is important for both the unmasking effects of ASP and perceived separation and highlight the critical role of the left IFG in these unmasking effects in “cocktail party” environments.

scholarly journals Spatial Release from Masking Using Clinical Corpora: Sentence Recognition in a Colocated or Spatially Separated Speech Masker

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (04) ◽  
pp. 271-276
Author(s):  
Grant King ◽  
Nicole E. Corbin ◽  
Lori J. Leibold ◽  
Emily Buss
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Speech Corpus ◽  
Sentence Recognition ◽  
Spatial Release ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Release From Masking ◽  
Perceived Spatial Separation ◽  
Separation Conditions

Abstract Background Speech recognition in complex multisource environments is challenging, particularly for listeners with hearing loss. One source of difficulty is the reduced ability of listeners with hearing loss to benefit from spatial separation of the target and masker, an effect called spatial release from masking (SRM). Despite the prevalence of complex multisource environments in everyday life, SRM is not routinely evaluated in the audiology clinic. Purpose The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of assessing SRM in adults using widely available tests of speech-in-speech recognition that can be conducted using standard clinical equipment. Research Design Participants were 22 young adults with normal hearing. The task was masked sentence recognition, using each of five clinically available corpora with speech maskers. The target always sounded like it originated from directly in front of the listener, and the masker either sounded like it originated from the front (colocated with the target) or from the side (separated from the target). In the real spatial manipulation conditions, source location was manipulated by routing the target and masker to either a single speaker or to two speakers: one directly in front of the participant, and one mounted in an adjacent corner, 90° to the right. In the perceived spatial separation conditions, the target and masker were presented from both speakers with delays that made them sound as if they were either colocated or separated. Results With real spatial manipulations, the mean SRM ranged from 7.1 to 11.4 dB, depending on the speech corpus. With perceived spatial manipulations, the mean SRM ranged from 1.8 to 3.1 dB. Whereas real separation improves the signal-to-noise ratio in the ear contralateral to the masker, SRM in the perceived spatial separation conditions is based solely on interaural timing cues. Conclusions The finding of robust SRM with widely available speech corpora supports the feasibility of measuring this important aspect of hearing in the audiology clinic. The finding of a small but significant SRM in the perceived spatial separation conditions suggests that modified materials could be used to evaluate the use of interaural timing cues specifically.

scholarly journals Energetic and Informational Components of Speech-on-Speech Masking in Binaural Speech Intelligibility and Perceived Listening Effort

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 233121651985459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Rennies ◽  
Virginia Best ◽  
Elin Roverud ◽  
Gerald Kidd
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Complex Sound ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Sound Fields ◽  
Energetic Masking

Speech perception in complex sound fields can greatly benefit from different unmasking cues to segregate the target from interfering voices. This study investigated the role of three unmasking cues (spatial separation, gender differences, and masker time reversal) on speech intelligibility and perceived listening effort in normal-hearing listeners. Speech intelligibility and categorically scaled listening effort were measured for a female target talker masked by two competing talkers with no unmasking cues or one to three unmasking cues. In addition to natural stimuli, all measurements were also conducted with glimpsed speech—which was created by removing the time–frequency tiles of the speech mixture in which the maskers dominated the mixture—to estimate the relative amounts of informational and energetic masking as well as the effort associated with source segregation. The results showed that all unmasking cues as well as glimpsing improved intelligibility and reduced listening effort and that providing more than one cue was beneficial in overcoming informational masking. The reduction in listening effort due to glimpsing corresponded to increases in signal-to-noise ratio of 8 to 18 dB, indicating that a significant amount of listening effort was devoted to segregating the target from the maskers. Furthermore, the benefit in listening effort for all unmasking cues extended well into the range of positive signal-to-noise ratios at which speech intelligibility was at ceiling, suggesting that listening effort is a useful tool for evaluating speech-on-speech masking conditions at typical conversational levels.

Industrial Restructuring and the Spatial Division of Labor: The Case of the Seoul Metropolitan Region, the Republic of Korea

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
S O Park
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Industrial Restructuring ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Regional Characteristics ◽  
Seoul Metropolitan Region

This paper is an overview of an industrial restructuring and spatial division of labor in the Seoul metropolitan region, with a focus on the role of the Korean government, corporate strategy, and regional characteristics in controlling labor and capital. The spatial division of labor that appeared in the 1970s was related mainly to the Korean government's promotion of the rise of large enterprises to institutionalize heavy and chemical industrial development. Since the 1980s, in addition to the role of the state, corporate strategy and regional characteristics have been regarded as important factors for understanding the undergoing industrial restructuring. Concentration and development of high-tech industries in the Seoul metropolitan region during the 1980s have progressed with evolving intensified spatial division of labor beyond the spatial separation of headquarters and production units. The evolution of intensified spatial division of labor is the result of corporate strategy which regionally separates technical workers from production workers on the one hand, and corporate strategy in utilizing regional characteristics from the government's decentralization policy on the other hand.

The Role of Target Salience in Crowding

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5206 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 823-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima M Felisberti ◽  
Joshua A Solomon ◽  
Michael J Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Orientation Discrimination ◽  
Crowding Effect ◽  
Improved Performance

We studied ‘crowding’ in the parafovea using orientation identification of a Gabor target as the task, and flanking Gabors on an isoeccentric circle as distractors. Orientation-discrimination thresholds were raised by nearby flanking distractors. This crowding effect was increased by the number of distractors and decreased by the spatial separation between target and distractors. Crowding was greatest when the target was in the centre of the distractor array and smallest when the target was on the edge of the array. A cue indicating the position of the target improved performance when the position was otherwise unknown and the spatial separation between target and distractors was large, but the cue had no significant effect when separation was small. Increasing the contrast of the target relative to the distractors reduced crowding, but targets of smaller contrast than that of the distractors are even harder to identify than those of the same contrast. Putting the target and distractors in different depth planes decreased crowding for some observers, but there were qualitative individual differences. A large (say, 45°) difference in orientation between target and distractors caused the target to ‘pop out’ in a presence/absence task, despite the evidence from other studies that crowding is still found in these conditions. We conclude that salience has, at best, modest effects on crowding.

Silicon Oxycarbide Microcrystalline Layers Produced by Spatial Separation Techniques

1994 ◽  
Vol 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Martins ◽  
I. Ferreira ◽  
E. Fortunato ◽  
M. Vieira
Keyword(s):  
Band Gap ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Wide Band ◽  
Silicon Oxycarbide ◽  
Wide Band Gap ◽  
Deposition Chamber ◽  
Optical Gap ◽  
Composition Structure ◽  
Partial Oxygen

ABSTRACTSilicon oxycarbide microcrystalline layers, n- and p-doped, highly conductive and highly transparent have been produced using a Two Consecutive Decomposition and Deposition Chamber (TCDDC) system. The films exhibit suitable properties for optoelectronic applications where wide band gap materials with required conductivity and stability are needed. In this paper we present the role of partial oxygen pressure (po2) in controlling the composition, structure and transport properties (conductivity, σd and optical gap, Eop) of silicon oxycarbide microcrystalline layers.

scholarly journals Molecular Beacons: Powerful Tools for Imaging RNA in Living Cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Monroy-Contreras ◽  
Luis Vaca
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Molecular Beacons ◽  
Cell Physiology ◽  
Complementary Sequence ◽  
Stem Loop ◽  
Recent Advances

Recent advances in RNA functional studies highlights the pivotal role of these molecules in cell physiology. Diverse methods have been implemented to measure the expression levels of various RNA species, using either purified RNA or fixed cells. Despite the fact that fixed cells offer the possibility to observe the spatial distribution of RNA, assays with capability to real-time monitoring RNA transport into living cells are needed to further understand the role of RNA dynamics in cellular functions. Molecular beacons (MBs) are stem-loop hairpin-structured oligonucleotides equipped with a fluorescence quencher at one end and a fluorescent dye (also called reporter or fluorophore) at the opposite end. This structure permits that MB in the absence of their target complementary sequence do not fluoresce. Upon binding to targets, MBs emit fluorescence, due to the spatial separation of the quencher and the reporter. Molecular beacons are promising probes for the development of RNA imaging techniques; nevertheless much work remains to be done in order to obtain a robust technology for imaging various RNA molecules together in real time and in living cells. The present work concentrates on the different requirements needed to use successfully MB for cellular studies, summarizing recent advances in this area.

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