Dr. Bertrand Delgutte is a principal investigator in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned his Ingénieur degree from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1974, his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT in 1976 and 1981 respectively, and the Dr. ès Sciences, in Life Sciences from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in 1984. Dr. Delgutte is also a Professor of Otology and Laryngology at the Harvard Medical School and a Principal Investigator at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Dr. Delgutte researches how the auditory system processes sounds, particularly speech, with the goal of understanding the neural basis of auditory perception. He is also interested applying this basic knowledge to improving cochlear implants, hearing aids, and artificial systems for the reproduction, transmission and recognition of sounds. Presently, Dr. Delgutte is also investigating the developmental plasticity of binaural hearing in animal models of cochlear implants. His research is motivated by the observation that hearing impaired listeners , deaf patients wearing cochlear implants and automatic speech recognition systems all have trouble processing speech in noise and reverberation, even if they do well in quiet. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the good performance of normal listeners in these conditions may suggest improvements in both assistive devices and artificial systems.
