Research

Amplification and Perception Lab experiment setup

Facility

Located in Room 125 of the Barkley Memorial Center, the AMPLab has an ETS-Lindgren sound booth and an approximately 100-square-foot room with a speaker array.

Technology

  • Audiologic testing is done using a GSI audiometer and tympanometry unit.
  • An Audioscan Verifit 2 is used to assess the electroacoustic performance of hearing aids.
  • Custom hearing-aid software, described in Brennan et al. (2016), is used to simulate different hearing-aid settings.
  • A Knowles Electronic Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) is used to estimate hearing-aid output at the tympanic membrane.
  • A Larson Davis 824 sound level meter is used to measure the sound levels for our experimental paradigms.

Funding Sources

Current

  • Principal Investigator. Restoration of Spectral Resolution with Hearing-Aid Amplification, NIH 421 DC017588 (December 2018 - November 2022). The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect of hearing-aid compression on access to spectral cues. The studies in this project are anticipated to lead to the development of a novel method for setting hearing-aid amplification that can improve speech recognition in background noise for adults with hearing loss.

Previous

  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln startup fund (August 2017 - June 2020)
  • Collaborator. Open Design Tools for Speech Signal Processing, R44 DC015445 (2016 - 2020). The purpose of this project is to develop a platform for hearing-aid research that uses open-source hardware. It is anticipated that this project will spur innovations in hearing-aid design and research.
  • Collaborator. Field Deployable Otoacoustic Emissions Probe for Objective Tracking of Noise Induced Hearing Loss, US Army Medical Research & Material Command @81XWH-16-C-0187 (2016 - 2017).
  • Project Leader. Temporal Resolution in Children with Hearing Loss, NIH P20 GM 109023 (2014 - 2017).
  • Co-Investigator. Complex Listening Skills in School-Age Hard of Hearing Children, NIH R01 DC 013591 (2013 - 2016).
  • Co-Investigator. The Loudness of Broadband Sounds in Listeners with Sensorineural Hearing Loss, NIH R01 DC 011806 (2013 - 2016).
  • Principal Investigator. Optimizing Temporal Resolution and Speech Recognition with Amplification, NIH F32 F32DC012709 (2012 - 2013).
  • Post-doctoral Trainee, National Institute of Health Training Grant, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska, NIH T32 DC000033 (2011 - 2012).
  • Principal Investigator. Relationship Between Psychoacoustic Thresholds and Speech Recognition for Aided Listeners, NIH F31 DC010978 (2010 - 2011).
  • Pre-doctoral Trainee, National Institute of Health Training Grant, Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, NIH T32 DC0003315 (2006 - 2008).

Software

All software is provided as is. Questions? Email me at Marc.Brennan@unl.edu.

Brennan's Super Awesome Program (BSAP)

  • BSAP is hosted on OneDrive via this link.