New research may lead to hearing aids with the ability to select one voice among many

Scientists have developed an artificial hearing system that harnesses the brain's ability to amplify certain sounds while suppressing others. It could lead to better hearing aids. AILSA CHANG, HOST: For people with hearing aids or a cochlear implant, a crowded room can be really overwhelming. (CROSSTALK) CHANG: Lots of voices, but none of them distinct. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on new research that could lead to hearing aids with the ability to select one voice among many. JON HAMILTON, BYLINE: It's called the cocktail party effect. In a room full of speakers, the brain can focus on just one and largely filter out the others. But Nima Mesgarani of Columbia University says that filtering is a lot harder for people who use a hearing device. NIMA MESGARANI: When they go to very crowded places, they usually end up not using them because they just simply amplify everybody. HAMILTON: Mesgarani and a team thought they might be able to solve this problem by harnessing the brain's neck for identifying a particular sound source. He'd shown in a previous study that the key is special brain waves coming from the auditory cortex, which processes sounds. MESGARANI: And when you look at the brain of a listener at the cocktail party, what you see is that these brain waves are tracking only the sound that they are focusing on and not the other sources. HAMILTON: Mesgarani thought the discovery might offer a way to improve hearing aids, cochlear implants and other hearing devices. …