Ning Zhou - US grants
Affiliations: | University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, Canada |
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The funding information displayed below comes from the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools and the NSF Award Database.The grant data on this page is limited to grants awarded in the United States and is thus partial. It can nonetheless be used to understand how funding patterns influence mentorship networks and vice-versa, which has deep implications on how research is done.
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High-probability grants
According to our matching algorithm, Ning Zhou is the likely recipient of the following grants.| Years | Recipients | Code | Title / Keywords | Matching score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 — 2010 | Zhou, Ning | F31Activity Code Description: To provide predoctoral individuals with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward the research degree (e.g., Ph.D.). |
Music and Tone Perception With Dichotic Stimulations @ Ohio University Athens DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many profoundly deafened people have benefited from cochlear implant in the past twenty years. Speech perception provided by cochlear implants has proven to be quite successful. It is still a challenge, however, to perceive music or lexical tone in tone languages with the current cochlear implant system. That is because the low spectral resolution in the electric stimulation provided by only a few electrodes prevents pitch information from being transmitted. The present research project is proposed to examine the possible benefits that bilateral implantation provides for increasing spectral resolution, hence improving music and tone perception. With a bilateral implant, an input signal can be analyzed with more frequency bands, the number of which equals the total number of electrodes in both implants. The channels are to be dichotically distributed, that is, the odd-index channels are assigned to one ear, and the even-index channel assigned to the other. Each electrode in both implants therefore receives exclusive but twice as refined spectral information. This new strategy doubles spectral resolution in bilateral implants compared to traditional bilateral implants that are assigned with same channels or repeated spectral information. The proposed new strategy will be simulated using a noise-excited vocoder and validated in bilateral implant patients. The specific aims of the study are (1) to evaluate how much music and tone perception benefits from the new strategy that doubles spectral resolution via dichotic stimulation;and (2) to test how well the dichotically presented stimuli fuse under conditions in which the relative position of the two implants is manipulated. For music perception, a traditional familiar melody recognition test will be used. In addition, a modified melody test will be used, in which the listeners are required to detect pitch changes made to particular notes in a melody. For lexical tone perception, a four-alternative forced choice paradigm will be used. Speech tests (i.e., consonant and vowel recognition tests) will also be included in both specific aims. The results of the present study will further our knowledge regarding the mechanisms of spectral fusion of complex signals in both acoustic and electric hearing. The success of this strategy will greatly improve music and tone perception with bilateral implantation, hence considerably improving the life quality of bilateral implant users. |
0.943 |
| 2016 — 2018 | Zhou, Ning | R03Activity Code Description: To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
@ East Carolina University ? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The condition of the auditory nerve is thought to be one of the most important factors that predict the outcome of a cochlear implant (CI). The neural condition varies across the implanted ears and across cochlear regions within an ear. Speech recognition can potentially be improved if the auditory periphery is stimulated in a way that is th most optimal for each individual based on an assessment of the neural condition of the implanted ear across the electrode array. Assessing neural conditions in living human CI users has been possible by the establishment of non-invasive measures that correlate with the density of the spiral ganglion cells in the animal models. The objective of the current proposal is to assess these clinically-applicable measures of neural health for their applications in human CI users and design customized stimulation strategies based on these measures. In implanted guinea pigs, the count of the spiral ganglion cells near tested electrodes correlate with detection thresholds at low pulse rate, as well as the rate of threshold decrease with the increase of pulse rate, known as multipulse integration (MPI). Guinea pigs with lower thresholds and steeper MPI slopes tended to have higher spiral ganglion cell density. Aim 1 evaluates the two psychophysical measures to determine if they can be used to estimate neural density in human CI users. The prediction is that if the slope of the MPI functions, or the low- rate threshold, is dependent on neural density, the measure should predict place specificity of neural excitation (tuning) in humans. Aim 2 tests the hypothesis that the function of the surviving neurons is the underlying mechanism for the steepness of the MPI functions. The rationale for the hypothesis is that, in neomycin- deafened animals, in ears with low neural density, the surviving neurons are likely to also have impaired neural function, such as prolonged neural refractoriness and greater adaptation to stimulation. Both factors could result in a lower-than-expected neural sampling of the high-rate stimulus manifested as insensitivity to pulse rate change (i.e., shallow MPI slopes). The prediction is that if MPI slope is dependent on neural function, shallow MPI functions should predict slower neural recovery from refractoriness and adaptation to stimulation. Aim 3 proposes two customizing mapping strategies based on the proposed neural density and function measures. Strategy one targets stimulation at cochlear regions estimated to have high neural density by deactivating stimulation sites with spread of neural excitation. Strategy two lowers stimulation rate for subjects who show overall low sensitivity to pulse rate change. Speech recognition performance using these new strategies will be compared to that using the subjects' clinical maps. The proposed psychophysical measures for neural health and the customizing mapping strategies are simple and time-efficient and, thus have great potential for clinical use. 1 |
0.939 |
| 2019 — 2021 | Zhou, Ning | R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Using Psychophysical Methods to Understand and Improve Speech Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users @ East Carolina University The long-term goal of the research is using a psychophysical approach to better understand how the auditory system responds to electrical stimulation via a cochlear implant (CI) and how we might use this knowledge to improve speech recognition outcomes with the device. There are three aims in the proposal; each has its clinical implications or applications. Together, they answer the broad question of why research efforts made to improve outcomes with CIs in the past have not produced appreciable or consistent benefits and what the possible solutions are. In aim 1, the central hypothesis is that there is a tradeoff relationship between temporal processing and spatial resolution of neural excitation, in a degenerated auditory system. The hypothesis will explain why focused electrode configuration aiming to improve spatial resolution has not provided consistent benefit. The idea is that the improvement in the spectral domain will impair processing in the temporal domain. Solution to the problem is proposed where focused stimulation should be applied in a subject- and channel- specific manner, such that focused stimulation should be avoided for given patients or given locations on the electrode array. In aim 2, a special CI patient population is studied, i.e., congenitally deafened subjects with no or little prior experience with acoustic hearing. These subjects may suffer from severe neural degeneration as a result of neonatal auditory deprivation. If implanted early, the broad and distorted CI stimulation may drive the naïve auditory system to mature in undesirable ways. Psychophysical evidences for these effects will be provided and alternative stimulation strategies are proposed and tested for this population. In aim 3, site- selection strategies that have been used in the past and produced highly variable outcomes, will be evaluated in the same subject sample. Site-selection strategies deactivate electrodes that are less ?optimal?, based on various criteria. Comparing the selection measures in the same subject sample addresses the question of whether they assess similar attributes of the stimulation sites, and if not, which measure(s) might assess the important factor for speech recognition in electrical stimulation. Aim 3 also evaluates the efficacy of using psychophysical testing as a potential auditory training method. Psychophysical testing offers several advantages over musical training or training with the speech stimulus itself. The proposed experiments, offering explanations and solutions for the existing problems with CIs, have direct and immediate clinical implications. |
0.939 |