Improved auditory spatial tuning in blind humans.

Despite reports of improved auditory discrimination capabilities in blind humans and visually deprived animals, there is no general agreement as to the nature or pervasiveness of such compensatory sensory enhancements. Neuroimaging studies have pointed out differences in cerebral organization between blind and sighted humans, but the relationship between these altered cortical activation patterns and auditory sensory acuity remains unclear. Here we compare behavioural and electrophysiological indices of spatial tuning within central and peripheral auditory space in congenitally blind and normally sighted but blindfolded adults to test the hypothesis (raised by earlier studies of the effects of auditory deprivation on visual processing) that the effects of visual deprivation might be more pronounced for processing peripheral sounds. We find that blind participants displayed localization abilities that were superior to those of sighted controls, but only when attending to sounds in peripheral auditory space. Electrophysiological recordings obtained at the same time revealed sharper tuning of early spatial attention mechanisms in the blind subjects. Differences in the scalp distribution of brain electrical activity between the two groups suggest a compensatory reorganization of brain areas in the blind that may contribute to the improved spatial resolution for peripheral sound sources.     

The neuronal representation of pitch in primate auditory cortex

Pitch perception is critical for identifying and segregating auditory objects, especially in the context of music and speech. The perception of pitch is not unique to humans and has been experimentally demonstrated in several animal species. Pitch is the subjective attribute of a sound's fundamental frequency (f(0)) that is determined by both the temporal regularity and average repetition rate of its acoustic waveform. Spectrally dissimilar sounds can have the same pitch if they share a common f(0). Even when the acoustic energy at f(0) is removed ('missing fundamental') the same pitch is still perceived. Despite its importance for hearing, how pitch is represented in the cerebral cortex is unknown. Here we show the existence of neurons in the auditory cortex of marmoset monkeys that respond to both pure tones and missing fundamental harmonic complex sounds with the same f(0), providing a neural correlate for pitch constancy. These pitch-selective neurons are located in a restricted low-frequency cortical region near the anterolateral border of the primary auditory cortex, and is consistent with the location of a pitch-selective area identified in recent imaging studies in humans.     

Neural substrates of vocalization feedback monitoring in primate auditory cortex

Vocal communication involves both speaking and hearing, often taking place concurrently. Vocal production, including human speech and animal vocalization, poses a number of unique challenges for the auditory system. It is important for the auditory system to monitor external sounds continuously from the acoustic environment during speaking despite the potential for sensory masking by self-generated sounds. It is also essential for the auditory system to monitor feedback of one's own voice. This self-monitoring may play a part in distinguishing between self-generated or externally generatedauditory inputs and in detecting errors in our vocal production. Previous work in humans and other animals has demonstrated that the auditory cortex is largely suppressed during speaking or vocalizing. Despite the importance of self-monitoring, the underlying neural mechanisms in the mammalian brain, in particular the role of vocalization-induced suppression, remain virtually unknown. Here we show that neurons in the auditory cortex of marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) are sensitive to auditory feedback during vocal production, and that changes in the feedback alter the coding properties of these neurons. Furthermore, we found that the previously described cortical suppression during vocalization actually increased the sensitivity of these neurons to vocal feedback. This heightened sensitivity to vocal feedback suggests that these neurons may have an important role in auditory self-monitoring.     

LabVIEW在心音信号研究中的应用

心音信号是人体重要的生理信号之一,它可以直接反应人体的生理病理信息。在本文中利用LabVIEW对心音信号进行采集、去噪,并利用功率谱估计对心音信号进行分析处理,可以明显的区分出正常与异常的心音信号,为正确诊断心血管疾病提供一定的帮助。     

Linear processing of spatial cues in primary auditory cortex.

To determine the direction of a sound source in space, animals must process a variety of auditory spatial cues, including interaural level and time differences, as well as changes in the sound spectrum caused by the direction-dependent filtering of sound by the outer ear. Behavioural deficits observed when primary auditory cortex (A1) is damaged have led to the widespread view that A1 may have an essential role in this complex computational task. Here we show, however, that the spatial selectivity exhibited by the large majority of A1 neurons is well predicted by a simple linear model, which assumes that neurons additively integrate sound levels in each frequency band and ear. The success of this linear model is surprising, given that computing sound source direction is a necessarily nonlinear operation. However, because linear operations preserve information, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that A1 may also form a gateway to higher, more specialized cortical areas.     

Complex auditory behaviour emerges from simple reactive steering

The recognition and localization of sound signals is fundamental to acoustic communication. Complex neural mechanisms are thought to underlie the processing of species-specific sound patterns even in animals with simple auditory pathways. In female crickets, which orient towards the male's calling song, current models propose pattern recognition mechanisms based on the temporal structure of the song. Furthermore, it is thought that localization is achieved by comparing the output of the left and right recognition networks, which then directs the female to the pattern that most closely resembles the species-specific song. Here we show, using a highly sensitive method for measuring the movements of female crickets, that when walking and flying each sound pulse of the communication signal releases a rapid steering response. Thus auditory orientation emerges from reactive motor responses to individual sound pulses. Although the reactive motor responses are not based on the song structure, a pattern recognition process may modulate the gain of the responses on a longer timescale. These findings are relevant to concepts of insect auditory behaviour and to the development of biologically inspired robots performing cricket-like auditory orientation.     

基于单导肺音信号的呼吸气相识别

为进行不用测量气流的自动肺音识别,提出了一种基于单导肺音信号的呼吸气相检测算法。在肺音平均功率谱上定位出吸气顶点和呼吸气相切换点。通过吸气顶点,来判断气相模式,为肺音特征分析提供时域定位标准。经37例实验数据验证,结果表明:全自动模式下正常肺音分相准确率为85.7%,半自动模式下的准确率达92.3%。该算法可有效地识别呼吸气相,可简化肺音研究。     

Ultra-fine frequency tuning revealed in single neurons of human auditory cortex

Just-noticeable differences of physical parameters are often limited by the resolution of the peripheral sensory apparatus. Thus, two-point discrimination in vision is limited by the size of individual photoreceptors. Frequency selectivity is a basic property of neurons in the mammalian auditory pathway. However, just-noticeable differences of frequency are substantially smaller than the bandwidth of the peripheral sensors. Here we report that frequency tuning in single neurons recorded from human auditory cortex in response to random-chord stimuli is far narrower than that typically described in any other mammalian species (besides bats), and substantially exceeds that attributed to the human auditory periphery. Interestingly, simple spectral filter models failed to predict the neuronal responses to natural stimuli, including speech and music. Thus, natural sounds engage additional processing mechanisms beyond the exquisite frequency tuning probed by the random-chord stimuli.     

基于LabVIEW的心音多功能分析仪

基于LabVIEW开发了一种集心音的采集、多功能处理和心音信号发生器于一体的心音分析仪。该仪器是在普通PC机上开发,使用自制的无线心音采集装置和心音信号采集子系统配合提取心音信号,然后利用小波去噪子系统清除背景噪声,最后可利用时域分析子系统和频域分析子系统对心音信号进行各种分析。心音信号发生器子系统可以根据需要产生一种合成心音信号,供用户学习使用。为使仪器达到最佳使用效果,已经为每一个功能模块中的参数寻找到最佳值并设为默认值,而且每一个参数都是可调节的。实际使用效果证明该仪器能够采集到清晰的心音信号,能有效去除干扰噪声,快速准确地计算出心音的各个特征值,能根据用户参数设置快速生成相应的心音信号并播放。     

Optimal neural population coding of an auditory spatial cue

A sound, depending on the position of its source, can take more time to reach one ear than the other. This interaural (between the ears) time difference (ITD) provides a major cue for determining the source location. Many auditory neurons are sensitive to ITDs, but the means by which such neurons represent ITD is a contentious issue. Recent studies question whether the classical general model (the Jeffress model) applies across species. Here we show that ITD coding strategies of different species can be explained by a unifying principle: that the ITDs an animal naturally encounters should be coded with maximal accuracy. Using statistical techniques and a stochastic neural model, we demonstrate that the optimal coding strategy for ITD depends critically on head size and sound frequency. For small head sizes and/or low-frequency sounds, the optimal coding strategy tends towards two distinct sub-populations tuned to ITDs outside the range created by the head. This is consistent with recent observations in small mammals. For large head sizes and/or high frequencies, the optimal strategy is a homogeneous distribution of ITD tunings within the range created by the head. This is consistent with observations in the barn owl. For humans, the optimal strategy to code ITDs from an acoustically measured distribution depends on frequency; above 400 Hz a homogeneous distribution is optimal, and below 400 Hz distinct sub-populations are optimal.     

基于听觉感知特征的环境声分类

大多数环境声是不和谐的,比语声和乐声更加不平稳。针对传统时频分析的不足,提出一种基于听觉感知的环境声特征提取方法。针对研究的小样本问题,采用支持向量机(Support Vector Machine,SVM)作为分类算法,对环境声进行分类。仿真结果表明所用特征及方法是有效的。     

脑对双耳听觉信息整合的神经机制

综述近60 a来有关脑对双耳听觉信息整合的神经机制的研究进展.首先介绍了脑处理双耳信息的神经解剖学基础，双耳神经元的分类及其生理特性，以及双耳神经元在听觉系统的拓扑学分布研究；然后对脑处理双耳听觉信息研究的热点领域进行了重点探讨，综述了上橄榄复合体、下丘和听皮层双耳神经元对双耳时间差和双耳强度差的编码方式，以及脑通过对这些参数的编码来分析声源方位的神经生理学研究进展；最后对该领域未来研究方向作展望.     

电子心音听诊器的研制

提出了一种改进传统听诊器功能的可行方案.首先,采用Matlab来处理心音数据(由蒙特利尔研究院提供),包括数字滤波、陷波和频谱分析.然后,根据心音的特点(振幅小和波段宽),设计心音传感器、放大和滤波电路.最终,研制了一款电子心音听诊器,既能实时播放心音,又能在LCD上同步显示心音波形,同时也能存储与回放心音信号.     

Neuropsychology: pitch discrimination in the early blind

Do blind people develop superior abilities in auditory perception to compensate for their lack of vision? They are known to be better than sighted people at orientating themselves by sound, but it is not clear whether this enhanced awareness extends to other auditory domains, such as listening to music or to voices. Here we show that blind people are better than sighted controls at judging the direction of pitch change between sounds, even when the speed of change is ten times faster than that perceived by the controls--but only if they became blind at an early age. The younger the onset of blindness, the better is the performance, which is in line with cerebral plasticity being optimal during the early years.     

Precise inhibition is essential for microsecond interaural time difference coding

Microsecond differences in the arrival time of a sound at the two ears (interaural time differences, ITDs) are the main cue for localizing low-frequency sounds in space. Traditionally, ITDs are thought to be encoded by an array of coincidence-detector neurons, receiving excitatory inputs from the two ears via axons of variable length ('delay lines'), to create a topographic map of azimuthal auditory space. Compelling evidence for the existence of such a map in the mammalian lTD detector, the medial superior olive (MSO), however, is lacking. Equally puzzling is the role of a--temporally very precise glycine--mediated inhibitory input to MSO neurons. Using in vivo recordings from the MSO of the Mongolian gerbil, we found the responses of ITD-sensitive neurons to be inconsistent with the idea of a topographic map of auditory space. Moreover, local application of glycine and its antagonist strychnine by iontophoresis (through glass pipette electrodes, by means of an electric current) revealed that precisely timed glycine-controlled inhibition is a critical part of the mechanism by which the physiologically relevant range of ITDs is encoded in the MSO. A computer model, simulating the response of a coincidence-detector neuron with bilateral excitatory inputs and a temporally precise contralateral inhibitory input, supports this conclusion.     

Sustained firing in auditory cortex evoked by preferred stimuli

It has been well documented that neurons in the auditory cortex of anaesthetized animals generally display transient responses to acoustic stimulation, and typically respond to a brief stimulus with one or fewer action potentials. The number of action potentials evoked by each stimulus usually does not increase with increasing stimulus duration. Such observations have long puzzled researchers across disciplines and raised serious questions regarding the role of the auditory cortex in encoding ongoing acoustic signals. Contrary to these long-held views, here we show that single neurons in both primary (area A1) and lateral belt areas of the auditory cortex of awake marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) are capable of firing in a sustained manner over a prolonged period of time, especially when they are driven by their preferred stimuli. In contrast, responses become more transient or phasic when auditory cortex neurons respond to non-preferred stimuli. These findings suggest that when the auditory cortex is stimulated by a sound, a particular population of neurons fire maximally throughout the duration of the sound. Responses of other, less optimally driven neurons fade away quickly after stimulus onset. This results in a selective representation of the sound across both neuronal population and time.     

心音信号分析方法及应用性研究

阐述了心音信号的产生机理、组成成分以及人体微弱心音信号检测的关键技术,介绍了心音信号处理技术在心血管疾病无创诊断中的意义,结合应用分析了经典心音信号谱分析方法的局限性,对现代心音分析中的常用的时频分析方法的特点进行了探讨,并展望了心音信号识别技术的应用与发展前景.     

动态阈值谱法语音增强

根据人耳能从噪声中提取有用信息的听觉特征，并结合语音信号的基本特征，提出并研究了一个适合于语音增强的听党内模型；实验结果表明，这个方法不仅在提高语音信噪比方面，而且在减小语音失真度方面均有较好的改善。     

家鸽前脑声反应神经元的分布及其特性的研究

实验在61只家鸽上完成。动物用三碘季胺酚麻痹,记录了前脑36个神经元的电活动。实验结果表明,对短声刺激具有反应的前脑神经元分散地分布在旧纹状体、上纹状体以及新纹状体内,但是大多数听神经元集聚在相当于Karten和Hodos氏鸽脑立体定位图谱P_(1-3),L或R_(1-3)以及H_(2-6)的坐标范围之内。这些对声刺激有反应的听神经元的潜伏期为5～42msec。在正常情况下,神经元的潜伏期很少变化。前脑听神经元既可以接受对侧耳的信息,也可以接受同侧耳的信息。在旧纹状体内来自双耳信息的聚合可能引起相互抑制的结果。