Ruth Litovsky

   Ruth Litovsky
    Associate Professor
    Department of Communicative Disorders

    To learn more about my research visit the Binaural Hearing and Speech Lab


       Postdoc (Neurophysiology) University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (1992-1994)
       Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology) University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (1987-1991)
       M.A. (Psychology) Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1986-1987)
       B.A. (Psychology) Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1983-1986)


Contact Information :

     Waisman Center
     University of Wisconsin - Madison
     1500 Highland Avenue
     Madison, WI 53705

     Phone :     608-262-5045
     Fax :        608-263-2918
     E-mail :    litovsky@waisman.wisc.edu


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Research Interests

         The focus of my research is the ability of humans to function in their environment using sound. Most environments in which we spend time have complicated acoustics, with echoes coming from many directions, and with multiple sounds occurring simultaneously. We are therefore faced with the challenge of interpreting sounds at they reach our ears, learning to ignore echoes and other irrelevant, distracting signals. Some common examples are classrooms, restaurants, playgrounds and "cocktail parties". In order to understand how the brain determines the location and the content of important sounds I study hearing in adults and in children with normal hearing, as well as individuals with impaired hearing.

Research Questions :

(1) How does the brain handle echoes?
         The brain has a special mechanism for suppressing echoes called the Precedence Effect, so that we can attend to the original sound source and avoid confusion in rooms that have hard surfaces, such as walls, furniture, etc. Having two ears (binaural hearing) is important since the auditory system compares sounds arriving at the two ears and uses that information to determine the location of a sound, and to segregate sources, such as in the "cocktail party effect."

(2) How can we understand speech in noisy environments?
         People often complain of not being able to hear well in noisy rooms, which can be quite debilitating in schools, work environments and social settings. Our studies focus on understanding which scenarios are most difficult, whether having binaural hearing is helpful, and the effect of room acoustics. We simulate "complex" environments in our quite, sound-proof room, by measuring speech perception and sound localization in the presence of multiple sounds arriving from varying directions. Some of the important variables are the number and types of sounds, their distance from the "target" speech, and whether the listener is using one or two ears.

(3) What happens with young children in noisy environments?
         Children spend many hours a day in enclosed spaces, where they attempt to understand their teachers and peers, and to do so they must be able to ignore distracting sounds around them. My work has been aimed at understanding how children are able to do so, and what scenarios allow them to do so without straining to hear in a noisy environment. We developed a new test we call the "hearing game" whereby a child identifies words presented from loudspeakers, either in quiet or in the presence of other sounds. Their task is to ignore the other sounds and hear the words that matched the pictures. Our findings show that all children found the noise difficult to ignore, and that most children did much better when the noisy was on the side rather than in front, near the words they were listening for. This improvement comes about from having two ears and being able to use the ear that is farther away from the noise to listen to the words in front. We call this the "better ear effect". Where in the brain does this happen? Do children who have difficulty with attention do worse on this test? These are questions that we are currently working on along with many others.

(4) What are the clinical implications of these effects?
         Recently, we have begun to apply our paradigms to clinical populations. The ultimate goal is to have these tests utilized in clinics in order to assess children's hearing in realistic complex environments, which might help in the fitting process and programming of hearing aids and cochlear implants. We have recently studied a group of young children who were born deaf and had their hearing restored through cochlear implants. We found that for each child there exists an "ideal" listening environment and strategy, which differs in quite and in noisy situation. Through collaborations at the University of Oxford in England we are now also testing children who have experienced prolonged periods of otitis media with effusion (ear infections with "glue ear") and are investigating the extent to which having suffered conductive hearing loss affects the children's ability to benefit from spatial separation of target speech and competing sounds. Ultimately, we would like to investigate the extent to which our hearing tests can also help us to better understand developmental disabilities such as attention deficit disorders, central auditory processing, autism and others.


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Teaching

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Honors and Awards

  • 1987-1988  NIMH training fellowship, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA

  • 1991-1994  NIH NRSA individual post-doctoral fellowship

  • 2004-2005  Professor of the year award, Dept. of Communicative Disorders

  • 2005-2007  Vilas Associate Fellowship, University of Wisconsin

  • University of Wisconsin Hilldale Undergraduate Research Awards

    • 2004-2005  Auditory perception in children in noisy environments, awarded to Ashley Eisen.

    • 2005-2006  Auditory processing in children with specific language impairment, co-mentored with Julia Evans, awarded to Stephanie Pesa.




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Research Support

  • Current External Grant Funding

    • NIH-NIDCD R01  Directional hearing in complex auditory environments
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $2,310,630.  12/1/03 - 11/30/08

    • NIH-NIDCD R21  Functional hearing in children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $394,625.  4/1/04 - 3/31/06

    • NIH-NIDCD F31  (Pre-doctoral award to P. Johnstone) Stimulus uncertainty in a cocktail party environment.
      (Litovsky, Mentor),  Total Award $47,000.  10/1/04-9/30/06

    • NIH-NIDCD F32 Benefits of bilateral cochlear implants in young children
      Applicant: Tina Grieco.  Role: mentor.

    • NIH-NIDCD R03  Bilateral cochlear implants in adults.
      Long, (PI). Role: Co-investigator and sponsor.

  • Prior External Grant Funding

    • NIDCD R21  Binaural hearing in children with complex environments.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award  $145,000.  4/1/02 - 3/31/05

    • NIDCD R29  Directional hearing and the precedence effect.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $543,750.  5/1/98 - 6/31/03

    • National Organization for Hearing Research, Echo suppression in listeners with hearing  impairment.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $5,000.  1/1/01-12/31/02

    • Deafness Research Foundation,  Speech intelligibility and spatial release from masking in young children.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $20,000.  9/1/01-12/31/02

    • National Organization for Hearing Research,  Speech intelligibility and spatial release from masking in young children.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $10,000.  1/1/01-12/31/02

    • NIH-NIDCD R03  Binaural hearing and the precedence effect.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $83,594.  4/1/95-3/31/97

    • NIH-NIDCD F32  Binaural mechanisms involved in spatial hearing.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $116,000.  1/1/1992-12/31/94

  • Internal Funding

    • Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation,  Spatial hearing in complex auditory environments in cochlear implant users.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $28,000.  7/1/03-6/30/04

    • University of Wisconsin University-Technology Innovation Fund,  Validation of auditory perception measures for clinical use.
      Litovsky (PI) ,  Total Award $30,000. 7/1/03-6/30/04

    • University of Wisconsin University-Technology Innovation Fund,   Development of a clinical test for children.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $43,000.  7/1/03-6/30/04

    • Vilas Research Associate Fellowship,  Innovations in bilateral cochlear implants.
      Litovsky (PI),  Total Award $61,000.  6/1/2005-5/31-2007.


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Invited Conference Proceeding (First Author Only)

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (June, 2006). KEYNOTE SPEAKER.
    Cochlear implants in children: What does the future hold?
    New England Audiology Update, University of Massachusetts Medical School.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (May, 2006).
    Cochlear implants in children: Are bilateral implants the wave of the future?
    Conference on Bilateral Cochlear Implants. Beth Israel Medical Center - New York Eye and Ear.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (Mar, 2006).
    Bilateral cochlear implants: Is this the wave of the future?
    Translational research talk, American Auditory Society, Scottsdale, AZ.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (Oct. 2005).
    Annual Marjorie Sherman Named Lecture on Deafness in Children (intended for a wide audience). Sponsored by The Ear Foundation, Nottingham, England.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (Oct. 2005).
    Auditory function in complex environments in deaf and hard of hearing children.
    International Binaural Symposium (25th Anniversary). University of Manchester, England.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (Oct. 2005).
    Are there benefits in combined hearing from unsynchronized ears?
    Symposium on Bilateral Cochlear Implants. Institute for Hearing Research. Nottingham, England.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (Oct. 2005).
    Ontogeny of auditory abilities in human infants.
    Symposium on Bilateral Cochlear Implants. Institute for Hearing Research. Nottingham, England.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2005).
    Localization abilities in children with bilateral cochlear implants: is there plasticity?
    149th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, special session on Communicative Abilities in Deaf Children. Vancouver, Canada.

  • Litovsky, R.Y., Johnstone, P., Parkinson, A., Peters, R., Lake, J., Yu, G., Agrawal, S. and Godar, S. (2004).
    Bilateral cochlear implants in children: Effect of experience.
    8th International Cochlear Implant Conference. Indianapolis, IN.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2004).
    Bilateral cochlear implants in children: Effect of experience.
    5th Wullstein Symposium on Bilateral Cochlear Implants and Binaural Signal Processing. W黵zburg, Germany.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2003).
    Speech intelligibility in complex environments.
    International Acoustic Ecology Workshop. University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2003).
    Binaural hearing and potential benefits for aided children.
    9th Annual Pediatric Audiology Conference. New York, NY.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2003).
    Speech intelligibility in complex acoustic environments in young children.
    145th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, special session on Developmental Psychoacoustics. Pittsburgh, PA.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2003).
    Bilateral cochlear implants in adults and children.
    Workshop on Spatial and Binaural Hearing. Utrecht, The Netherlands.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2003).
    Benefits of bilateral hearing in adult and children cochlear implanted users.
    Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses. Asilomar, CA.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2002).
    Preliminary results in adults with bilateral cochlear implants.
    American Academy of Audiology Special Session on Advances in Cochlear Implants. Philadelphia, PA.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2002).
    The cocktail party in adults and children: Effects of competitor location and type.
    International Workshop on Binaural Hearing in Cocktail Parties. Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst, Germany.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2002).
    Benefits of bilateral stimulation.
    American Speech and Hearing Association special session on binaural hearing. Atlanta, GA.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2001). Assessment of children's abilities in complex realistic environments.
    International Hearing Aid Conference. University of Iowa, Iowa City.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2001).
    Binaural hearing in adults, infants and children: The challenges of predicting performance in the real world.
    Conference on implantable auditory prostheses. Asilomar, CA.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2001).
    Development of spatial hearing and clinical implications.
    Sound Foundations through early amplifications. Bi-annual meeting sponsored by Phonak. Chicago, IL.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2000).
    Binaural hearing in children.
    Meeting on Binaural Hearing, Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants. University of Iowa, Iowa City.

  • Litovsky, R.Y., Lane, C.C., Atencio, C.A. and Delgutte, B. (2000).
    Physiological measures of the precedence effect and spatial release from masking in the cat inferior colliculus.
    International Symposium on Hearing, Mierlo, The Netherlands.

  • Litovsky, R.Y., Delgutte, B., and Yin, T.C. (1999).
    Physiological studies and neural mechanisms of echo suppression in the inferior colliculus of the cat.
    Joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the European Acoustical Society. Special on localization and speech perception in realistic acoustic environments. Berlin, Germany.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (1998).
    Is the precedence effect a binaural phenomenon per se? Is it even spatial? How exactly is it different from Masking phenomena? Are all these just different paradigms studying the same underlying adaptive or suppressive process?
    Meeting on Binaural Hearing, sponsored by MURI, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

  • Litovsky, R.Y. and Colburn, H.S. (1998).
    Precedence effects in the azimuthal and sagittal planes.
    Assoc. Res. Otolaryngology. Symposium on Psychophysics and Physiology of the Precedence Effect. Tampa, FL.


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Publications


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Peer Reviewed Book Chapters and Conference Proceedings


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Patent

  • Litovsky, R.Y. (2003). Method and system for rapid and reliable testing of speech intelligibility in children. U.S. Patent No. 6,584,440.


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Professional Activities

  • Reviews & Panels

    • NIH-NIDCD, Communicative Disorders Review Committee, 2006-present.

    • Associate Editor, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

    • NIH-NIDCD, Chair, grant review panel (R03 grants), June 2005.

    • NIH-NIDCD, Member AUD Hearing & Balance grant review panel, October 2004.

    • NIH-NIDCD, Member, Special emphasis grant review panel (RFA on bilateral cochlear implants), October 2004.

    • NIH-NIDCD, Member, grant review panel (R03 grants), June 2003 & October 2003.

    • Welcome Trust (UK), Regular reviewer of grants (1-2 annual).

    • Journal review on a regular basis: J. Acoust. Soc., Amer.; J. Speech Language and Hearing Research; J. Neurophysiology; Ear & Hearing; Hearing Research; Perception & Psychophysics; Acustica; Int. J. Audiology; IEEE;

    • Review board: The Volta Review.

    • Elected member, Acoustical Society of America P&P Technical Committee.

    • Appointed member, Government Relations Committee, Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

    • Invited Panel Member, Binaural Cochlear Implants. Cochlear Implant Northeast Family Retreat, Sturbridge MA, July 1st 2001 & July 15th 2005.



  • Sessions Chaired/Organized at Conferences

    • 2005: Organizer/chair: Invited symposium at the 149th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Communicative abilities of congenitally deaf children: From behavior to physiology, from psychophysics to hair cell regeneration. (Co-chair with Mario Svirsky).

    • 2001: Organizer/chair: Invited symposium at the meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Behavioral studies and physiological correlates.

    • 2000: Chair: Poster session at the meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Perception and Psychophysics.

    • 1999: Co-Organizer/chair: Invited symposium at the joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America-Acoustical European Society (Berlin). Perception and localization in complex and reverberant environments.

    • 1998: Organizer/chair: Invited symposium at the meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. Psychophysical and physiological studies on the precedence effect.

  • Invited Book Reviews

      Litovsky, R.Y. (2004). Book Review of: Cochlear implants: objective measures, Helen E. Cullington (editor). J. Acoust. Soc. Amer. 115: 1385.

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Collaborators


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Last Updated January 23, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Ruth Litovsky