# Weighting of auditory information

> **NIH NIH K01** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2020 · $128,007

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The proposed work investigates possible consequences of sensorineural hearing loss and age in the weighting
of complex auditory information, which is in line with NIDCD's mission and strategic plan of providing new
insights into the consequences of disordered hearing. Most of the sounds in our environment are complex in
that they contain information across many frequencies simultaneously (e.g., speech). In a given perceptual
task, listeners may weight certain frequencies more than others for efficiency. Typically, listeners with hearing
loss display greater high-frequency hearing loss than low-frequency hearing loss, which some studies suggest
may impact how listeners weight frequency information. However, these studies are inconsistent regarding
whether HI listeners weight information in regions of greater hearing loss more or less than other regions. The
experiments in Aim 1 are designed to understand the sources of these discrepant findings by testing the same
hearing-impaired (HI) and normal-hearing (NH, as a referent population) listeners (both younger and older
adults) in a sampling of cross-frequency weighting tasks. Another important consideration is that most sounds
are not only spectrally complex, but also change over time. Some previous studies have suggested that
spectral weights might be quite flexible, but none have charted the time course of this presumed adaptability.
The experiments in Aim 2 examine the adaptability of spectral weights over time for NH and HI younger adults
and older adults. The tasks require the listener to place maximal weight at a particular frequency. The target
frequency is then changed across trials to determine how rapidly listeners make a corresponding change in
weights. Previous studies have found large intersubject differences in observed weighting patterns for both NH
and HI listeners. The analyses and measures in Aim 3, examining factors related to hearing loss and cognitive
abilities, are intended to understand sources of these individual differences. The PI of this career development
application is an Au.D./Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor at Boston University where this work will be
conducted. The PI's short-term goals are to receive training in the research areas proposed in this application
and other areas beneficial to her future career. These are directly related to the PI's long-term career goal
which is to continue this work independently as an R01-funded, tenure-track faculty member at a university.
The PI does not have prior experience with these weighting methods, analyses, or with research examining the
effects of age. Therefore, the research career development plan involves training with a mentor and
collaborator team consisting of experts in the relevant analyses and in auditory research with older populations
to gain expertise in this areas. Other training objectives include gaining expertise in data interpretation, signal
processing, and objective measures o...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9966946
- **Project number:** 5K01DC016627-03
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Elin Roverud
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $128,007
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9966946

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9966946, Weighting of auditory information (5K01DC016627-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9966946. Licensed CC0.

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