{"title":"Spectrotemporal Features in Identifying Environmental Sounds: A Scoping Review.","authors":"Megha Sasidharan, Rashmi J Bhat, Kishan Madikeri Mohan","doi":"10.1044/2026_AJA-25-00327","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Environmental sounds are important in our day-to-day auditory experiences. Acoustic properties of sounds help listeners identify and interpret them. Understanding the spectrotemporal features of the environmental sounds is valuable for designing auditory devices and interventions, especially for individuals with hearing impairments. This article aimed to understand the role of spectrotemporal information in the perception of environmental sounds.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A literature search was carried out using five electronic databases, including Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and CINAHL. Key words broadly representing environmental sounds and spectrotemporal features were used. A quality assessment tool for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), developed by the National Institutes of Health (Study Quality Assessment Tools), was used for this process.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 14 studies that explored the role of either temporal or spectral features or both in environmental sound perception were identified. The combination of spectral measures (such as harmonicity, spectral centroid, spectral velocity, and resolution) and temporal measures (such as duration, envelope, rhythm, and onset time) provides the auditory system with the necessary information to infer the physical properties and actions of sound-producing sources. The most informative frequency range for environmental sound identification was found to be 1200-2400 Hz, comparable to the critical frequency regions of speech.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This scoping review indicates that spectrotemporal features of environmental sounds play a significant role in auditory perception. The review also reveals substantial heterogeneity in study methodologies, thereby making it difficult to generalize. However, the specific features identified in this review may be useful for aural rehabilitation in individuals with hearing disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":49241,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Audiology","volume":" ","pages":"1178-1195"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Audiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1044/2026_AJA-25-00327","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/7/17 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Environmental sounds are important in our day-to-day auditory experiences. Acoustic properties of sounds help listeners identify and interpret them. Understanding the spectrotemporal features of the environmental sounds is valuable for designing auditory devices and interventions, especially for individuals with hearing impairments. This article aimed to understand the role of spectrotemporal information in the perception of environmental sounds.
Design: A literature search was carried out using five electronic databases, including Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and CINAHL. Key words broadly representing environmental sounds and spectrotemporal features were used. A quality assessment tool for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), developed by the National Institutes of Health (Study Quality Assessment Tools), was used for this process.
Results: A total of 14 studies that explored the role of either temporal or spectral features or both in environmental sound perception were identified. The combination of spectral measures (such as harmonicity, spectral centroid, spectral velocity, and resolution) and temporal measures (such as duration, envelope, rhythm, and onset time) provides the auditory system with the necessary information to infer the physical properties and actions of sound-producing sources. The most informative frequency range for environmental sound identification was found to be 1200-2400 Hz, comparable to the critical frequency regions of speech.
Conclusions: This scoping review indicates that spectrotemporal features of environmental sounds play a significant role in auditory perception. The review also reveals substantial heterogeneity in study methodologies, thereby making it difficult to generalize. However, the specific features identified in this review may be useful for aural rehabilitation in individuals with hearing disorders.
目的：环境声音在我们的日常听觉体验中很重要。声音的声学特性有助于听者识别和解释它们。了解环境声音的光谱时间特征对于设计听觉设备和干预措施是有价值的，特别是对于听力障碍的个体。本文旨在了解光谱时间信息在环境声音感知中的作用。设计：采用Cochrane Library、Scopus、Web of Science、PubMed、CINAHL等5个电子数据库进行文献检索。使用广泛代表环境声音的关键词和光谱时间特征。该过程使用了由美国国立卫生研究院（研究质量评估工具）开发的用于系统评价和荟萃分析的质量评估工具（系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目）。结果：共有14项研究探索了时间或频谱特征或两者在环境声音感知中的作用。频谱测量（如谐波、谱质心、谱速度和分辨率）和时间测量（如持续时间、包络、节奏和开始时间）的组合为听觉系统提供了推断发声源的物理性质和作用的必要信息。研究发现，环境声音识别中信息量最大的频率范围是1200-2400赫兹，与语音的关键频率区域相当。结论：这一综述表明，环境声音的光谱时间特征在听觉感知中起着重要作用。该综述还揭示了研究方法的实质性异质性，从而使其难以推广。然而，本综述中确定的特定特征可能对听力障碍患者的听力康复有用。
期刊介绍：
Mission: AJA publishes peer-reviewed research and other scholarly articles pertaining to clinical audiology methods and issues, and serves as an outlet for discussion of related professional and educational issues and ideas. The journal is an international outlet for research on clinical research pertaining to screening, diagnosis, management and outcomes of hearing and balance disorders as well as the etiologies and characteristics of these disorders. The clinical orientation of the journal allows for the publication of reports on audiology as implemented nationally and internationally, including novel clinical procedures, approaches, and cases. AJA seeks to advance evidence-based practice by disseminating the results of new studies as well as providing a forum for critical reviews and meta-analyses of previously published work.
Scope: The broad field of clinical audiology, including audiologic/aural rehabilitation; balance and balance disorders; cultural and linguistic diversity; detection, diagnosis, prevention, habilitation, rehabilitation, and monitoring of hearing loss; hearing aids, cochlear implants, and hearing-assistive technology; hearing disorders; lifespan perspectives on auditory function; speech perception; and tinnitus.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
