Anantha Krishna Chintanpalli

Our research laboratory focuses on understanding why older adults, including those with normal hearing and hearing loss, experience difficulties understanding speech in complex noisy environments. We investigate the neural degradation associated with ageing and hearing loss that may impair the segregation and processing of speech in the presence of multiple speakers. More specifically, we examine how changes in the neural representation of important speech cues, such as fundamental frequency (F0), contribute to reduced auditory scene analysis and difficulty in extracting target speech from competing speakers. By combining behavioural measures, EEG/ERP techniques, and computational modelling, including auditory models and deep neural networks (DNNs), our research aims to identify objective neural markers of these deficits and understand their relationship with the ability to segregate speech based on F0 differences in older adults. The long-term goal is to translate these insights into development of signal-processing strategies for hearing aids to improve the hearing abilities of people with hearing loss.