TY - JOUR
T1 - Auditory scene analysis
T2 - An attention perspective
AU - Sussman, Elyse S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under Awards R13DC003383 and R01DC004263 to E.S.S.. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Purpose: This review article provides a new perspective on the role of attention in auditory scene analysis. Method: A framework for understanding how attention interacts with stimulus-driven processes to facilitate task goals is presented. Previously reported data obtained through behavioral and electrophysiological measures in adults with normal hearing are summarized to demonstrate attention effects on auditory perception—from passive processes that organize unattended input to attention effects that act at different levels of the system. Data will show that attention can sharpen stream organization toward behavioral goals, identify auditory events obscured by noise, and limit passive processing capacity. Conclusions: A model of attention is provided that illustrates how the auditory system performs multilevel analyses that involve interactions between stimulus-driven input and top-down processes. Overall, these studies show that (a) stream segregation occurs automatically and sets the basis for auditory event formation; (b) attention interacts with automatic processing to facilitate task goals; and (c) information about unattended sounds is not lost when selecting one organization over another. Our results support a neural model that allows multiple sound organizations to be held in memory and accessed simultaneously through a balance of automatic and task-specific processes, allowing flexibility for navigating noisy environments with competing sound sources.
AB - Purpose: This review article provides a new perspective on the role of attention in auditory scene analysis. Method: A framework for understanding how attention interacts with stimulus-driven processes to facilitate task goals is presented. Previously reported data obtained through behavioral and electrophysiological measures in adults with normal hearing are summarized to demonstrate attention effects on auditory perception—from passive processes that organize unattended input to attention effects that act at different levels of the system. Data will show that attention can sharpen stream organization toward behavioral goals, identify auditory events obscured by noise, and limit passive processing capacity. Conclusions: A model of attention is provided that illustrates how the auditory system performs multilevel analyses that involve interactions between stimulus-driven input and top-down processes. Overall, these studies show that (a) stream segregation occurs automatically and sets the basis for auditory event formation; (b) attention interacts with automatic processing to facilitate task goals; and (c) information about unattended sounds is not lost when selecting one organization over another. Our results support a neural model that allows multiple sound organizations to be held in memory and accessed simultaneously through a balance of automatic and task-specific processes, allowing flexibility for navigating noisy environments with competing sound sources.
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U2 - 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-17-0041
DO - 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-17-0041
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29049599
AN - SCOPUS:85031930674
VL - 60
SP - 2989
EP - 3000
JO - Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders
JF - Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders
SN - 1092-4388
IS - 10
ER -