Academic Journal
From spikes to speech: NeuroVoc - A biologically plausible vocoder framework for auditory perception and cochlear implant simulation.
| Τίτλος: | From spikes to speech: NeuroVoc - A biologically plausible vocoder framework for auditory perception and cochlear implant simulation. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | de Nobel J; Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Niels Bohrweg 1, Leiden, Netherlands. Electronic address: nobeljpde1@liacs.leidenuniv.nl., Briaire JJ; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden, Netherlands., Bäck THW; Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Niels Bohrweg 1, Leiden, Netherlands., Kononova AV; Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Niels Bohrweg 1, Leiden, Netherlands., Frijns JHM; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden, Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden, Netherlands; Bioelectronics group, EEMCS, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 4, Delft, Netherlands. |
| Πηγή: | Hearing research [Hear Res] 2026 Jan; Vol. 469, pp. 109469. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Nov 11. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7900445 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1878-5891 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03785955 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Hear Res Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Cochlear Implantation*/instrumentation , Cochlear Nerve*/physiopathology , Cochlear Nerve*/physiology , Persons with Hearing Disabilities*/rehabilitation , Persons with Hearing Disabilities*/psychology , Cochlear Implants* , Speech Perception* , Computer Simulation* , Models, Neurological* , Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted* , Auditory Perception*, Noise/adverse effects ; Humans ; Acoustic Stimulation ; Speech Intelligibility ; Perceptual Masking ; Fourier Analysis ; Electric Stimulation ; Male ; Adult ; Female ; Time Factors ; Middle Aged ; Auditory Threshold |
| Περίληψη: | We present NeuroVoc, a flexible model-agnostic vocoder framework that reconstructs acoustic waveforms from simulated neural activity patterns using an inverse Fourier transform. The system applies straightforward signal processing to neurogram representations, time-frequency binned outputs from auditory nerve fiber models. Crucially, the model architecture is modular, allowing for easy substitution or modification of the underlying auditory models. This flexibility eliminates the need for speech-coding-strategy-specific vocoder implementations when simulating auditory perception in cochlear implant (CI) users. It also allows direct comparisons between normal hearing (NH) and electrical hearing (EH) models, as demonstrated in this study. The vocoder preserves distinctive features of each model; for example, the NH model retains harmonic structure more faithfully than the EH model. We evaluated perceptual intelligibility in noise using an online Digits-in-Noise (DIN) test, where participants completed three test conditions: one with standard speech, and two with vocoded speech using the NH and EH models. Both the standard DIN test and the EH-vocoded groups were statistically equivalent to clinically reported data for NH and CI listeners. On average, the NH and EH vocoded groups increased SRT compared to the standard test by 2.4 dB and 7.1 dB, respectively. These findings show that, although some degradation occurs, the vocoder can reconstruct intelligible speech under both hearing models and accurately reflects the reduced speech-in-noise performance experienced by CI users. (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Auditory nerve; Auditory perception; Auditory periphery; Cochlear implants; Hearing loss; Neural decoding; Neural model; Phenomenological model; Signal processing; Vocoder |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20251115 Date Completed: 20251225 Latest Revision: 20260724 |
| Update Code: | 20260724 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.heares.2025.109469 |
| PMID: | 41240815 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1878-5891 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.heares.2025.109469 |