Letter to the Editor Concerning Skuk et al., “Parameter-Specific Morphing Reveals Contributions of Timbre and Fundamental Frequency Cues to the Perception of Voice Gender and Age in Cochlear Implant Users”

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4325-4326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Meister ◽  
Katrin Fuersen ◽  
Barbara Streicher ◽  
Ruth Lang-Roth ◽  
Martin Walger
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Stimulus Type ◽  
Voice Perception ◽  
Letter To The Editor ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
General Influence

Purpose The purpose of this letter is to compare results by Skuk et al. (2020) with Meister et al. (2016) and to point to a potential general influence of stimulus type. Conclusion Our conclusion is that presenting sentences may give cochlear implant recipients the opportunity to use timbre cues for voice perception. This might not be the case when presenting brief and sparse stimuli such as consonant–vowel–consonant or single words, which were applied in the majority of studies.

The Use of Voice Cues for Speaker Gender Recognition in Cochlear Implant Recipients

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 546-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Meister ◽  
Katrin Fürsen ◽  
Barbara Streicher ◽  
Ruth Lang-Roth ◽  
Martin Walger
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Stimulus Type ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Gender Recognition ◽  
Point Rating Scale ◽  
The Voice

PurposeThe focus of this study was to examine the influence of fundamental frequency (F0) and vocal tract length (VTL) modifications on speaker gender recognition in cochlear implant (CI) recipients for different stimulus types.MethodSingle words and sentences were manipulated using isolated or combined F0 and VTL cues. Using an 11-point rating scale, CI recipients and listeners with normal hearing rated the maleness/femaleness of the corresponding voice.ResultsSpeaker gender ratings for combined F0 and VTL modifications were similar across all stimulus types in both CI recipients and listeners with normal hearing, although the CI recipients showed a somewhat larger ambiguity. In contrast to listeners with normal hearing, F0-VTL and F0-only modifications revealed similar ratings in the CI recipients when using words as stimuli. However, when sentences were used, a difference was found between F0-VTL–based and F0-based ratings. Modifying VTL cues alone did not affect ratings in the CI group.ConclusionsWhereas speaker gender ratings by listeners with normal hearing relied on combined VTL and F0 cues, CI recipients made only limited use of VTL cues, which might be one reason behind problems with identifying the speaker on the basis of voice. However, use of the voice cues depended on stimulus type, with the greater information in sentences allowing a more detailed analysis than single words in both listener groups.

Parameter-Specific Morphing Reveals Contributions of Timbre and Fundamental Frequency Cues to the Perception of Voice Gender and Age in Cochlear Implant Users

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 3155-3175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena G. Skuk ◽  
Louisa Kirchen ◽  
Tobias Oberhoffner ◽  
Orlando Guntinas-Lichius ◽  
Christian Dobel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
High Performing ◽  
High Performers ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Voice Morphing ◽  
Female Voices ◽  
Age Perception ◽  
Social Communicative

Purpose Using naturalistic synthesized speech, we determined the relative importance of acoustic cues in voice gender and age perception in cochlear implant (CI) users. Method We investigated 28 CI users' abilities to utilize fundamental frequency (F0) and timbre in perceiving voice gender (Experiment 1) and vocal age (Experiment 2). Parameter-specific voice morphing was used to selectively control acoustic cues (F0; time; timbre, i.e., formant frequencies, spectral-level information, and aperiodicity, as defined in TANDEM-STRAIGHT) in voice stimuli. Individual differences in CI users' performance were quantified via deviations from the mean performance of 19 normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Results CI users' gender perception seemed exclusively based on F0, whereas NH listeners efficiently used timbre. For age perception, timbre was more informative than F0 for both groups, with minor contributions of temporal cues. While a few CI users performed comparable to NH listeners overall, others were at chance. Separate analyses confirmed that even high-performing CI users classified gender almost exclusively based on F0. While high performers could discriminate age in male and female voices, low performers were close to chance overall but used F0 as a misleading cue to age (classifying female voices as young and male voices as old). Satisfaction with CI generally correlated with performance in age perception. Conclusions We confirmed that CI users' gender classification is mainly based on F0. However, high performers could make reasonable usage of timbre cues in age perception. Overall, parameter-specific morphing can serve to objectively assess individual profiles of CI users' abilities to perceive nonverbal social-communicative vocal signals.

The Role of Stimulus Type and Social Signal for Voice Perception in Cochlear Implant Users: Response to the Letter by Meister et al.

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4327-4328
Author(s):  
Stefan R. Schweinberger ◽  
Celina I. von Eiff ◽  
Louisa Kirchen ◽  
Tobias Oberhoffner ◽  
Orlando Guntinas-Lichius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Stimulus Type ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Voice Perception ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
Complex Stimuli ◽  
Social Signal ◽  
Voice Processing

Purpose In their letter, Meister et al. (2020) appropriately point to a potential influence of stimulus type, arguing cochlear implant (CI) users may have the ability to use timbre cues only for complex stimuli such as sentences but not for brief stimuli such as vowel–consonant–vowel or single words. While we cannot exclude this possibility on the basis of Skuk et al. (2020) alone, we hold that there is a strong need to consider type of social signal (e.g., gender, age, emotion, speaker identity) to assess the profile of preserved and impaired aspects of voice processing in CI users. We discuss directions for further research to systematically consider interactive effects of stimulus type and social signal. In our view, this is crucial to understand and enhance nonverbal vocal perception skills that are relevant to successful communication with a CI.

Saliency of Vowel Features in Neural Responses of Cochlear Implant Users

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 388-397
Author(s):  
François Prévost ◽  
Alexandre Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Aural Rehabilitation ◽  
Spectral Components ◽  
Related Potentials

Cochlear implants restore hearing in deaf individuals, but speech perception remains challenging. Poor discrimination of spectral components is thought to account for limitations of speech recognition in cochlear implant users. We investigated how combined variations of spectral components along two orthogonal dimensions can maximize neural discrimination between two vowels, as measured by mismatch negativity. Adult cochlear implant users and matched normal-hearing listeners underwent electroencephalographic event-related potentials recordings in an optimum-1 oddball paradigm. A standard /a/ vowel was delivered in an acoustic free field along with stimuli having a deviant fundamental frequency (+3 and +6 semitones), a deviant first formant making it a /i/ vowel or combined deviant fundamental frequency and first formant (+3 and +6 semitones /i/ vowels). Speech recognition was assessed with a word repetition task. An analysis of variance between both amplitude and latency of mismatch negativity elicited by each deviant vowel was performed. The strength of correlations between these parameters of mismatch negativity and speech recognition as well as participants’ age was assessed. Amplitude of mismatch negativity was weaker in cochlear implant users but was maximized by variations of vowels’ first formant. Latency of mismatch negativity was later in cochlear implant users and was particularly extended by variations of the fundamental frequency. Speech recognition correlated with parameters of mismatch negativity elicited by the specific variation of the first formant. This nonlinear effect of acoustic parameters on neural discrimination of vowels has implications for implant processor programming and aural rehabilitation.

Effects of cochlear implant processing and fundamental frequency on the intelligibility of competing sentences

2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 1069-1078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ginger S. Stickney ◽  
Peter F. Assmann ◽  
Janice Chang ◽  
Fan-Gang Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Fundamental Frequency
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