| Evidence that we use both eyes and ears to hear | | | | cues to figure out what is being said to them. |
| has been around since the mid 1970s, now a new | | | | Getting a sense of a full picture of how sound is |
| Canadian study out of the University of British | | | | built might prove helpful in the development of |
| Columbia finds that inaudible puffs of air delivered | | | | communication aids for the hearing impaired. In |
| along with certain sounds has an influence on what | | | | fact, Dr. Gick, the leader of the study, plans to |
| subjects thought they were hearing. | | | | work on developing a hearing aid that incorporates |
| According to associate professor of linguistics | | | | these findings. "All we need is a pneumatic device |
| Bryan Gick and graduate student Donald Derrick, | | | | that can produce air puffs aimed at the neck at |
| audio and visual clues are just part of the story | | | | the right times based on acoustic input into the |
| as tactile sensation also affect how sound is | | | | hearing aid, and then a set of experiments to test |
| heard. The work appears in the November 26, | | | | the efficacy." |
| 2009 issue of the journal Nature. | | | | The idea that a small puff of air on the skin could |
| Strange to think we may actually hear with our | | | | help the hearing impaired distinguish consonants |
| skin. | | | | like "b" and "p" or "t" and "d" that have the same |
| Science already knows that visual clues that come | | | | lip pattern fascinated researchers. If more work |
| from a speakers face can enhance (or interfere) | | | | shows the same effect is seen when listening to |
| with how you hear what's being said to you. | | | | everyday speech, then it really could help create |
| Normally when we say words with the letters "p", | | | | better hearing aids. |
| "t" and "k" we produce a puff of air (so small its | | | | It's also quite intriguing that our brains can be |
| rarely felt or noticed), and this is another clue that | | | | affected by a puff of air that most don't hear |
| lets the listener tell the difference between words | | | | and few of us realize we produce when speaking. |
| with these letters from those with similar | | | | Funny how our complex brains can be fooled by |
| sounding letters like "b", "d" and "g". | | | | something as simple, as weightless and unseen as |
| For the current work, the team compared sounds | | | | a whiff of air. |
| accompanied by a small inaudible breath of air - | | | | We know that the eyes can fool the ears due to |
| sounds such as "pa" and "ta" while also using | | | | a particular phenomenon called the McGuirk Effect, |
| sounds that aren't (such as "ba" and "da"). | | | | where subjects can be fooled into thinking they're |
| At the same moment they heard the recorded | | | | hearing "da" when they're truly hearing "ba" as |
| sounds, the subjects were either given, or not, a | | | | they see a face mouthing the syllable "ga". |
| small puff of air to the neck or the back of the | | | | One theory that might explain this illusion is that |
| hand. | | | | the brain goes through a lifetime of learning to put |
| Researchers noticed that "ba" and "da" (known as | | | | together sound and visual information to |
| unaspirated sounds) were heard as the aspirated | | | | understand the spoken word - getting fooled |
| equals "pa" and "ta" when accompanied by the | | | | when the information doesn't match, as we see |
| puff of air. | | | | with the McGuirk Effect. |
| It's the air that distinguished the sounds, and | | | | The research suggests that this integration of |
| though we're used to the hearing side, we're not | | | | different senses in speech may not be something |
| used to feeling that puff of air on our skin. | | | | people learn though experience, but that an |
| This is what suggests to researchers that people | | | | entirely different processes may be going on. |
| use tactile sensory information along with other | | | | |