Research Article

A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification

Volume: 15 Number: 1 March 24, 2026

A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification

Abstract

Speech is one of the most natural and effective forms of human communication, carrying both linguistic and non-linguistic information. It plays a crucial role in many applications such as gender classification, biometric authentication, and personalized human-computer interaction. This study aims to investigate the contribution of a hybrid deep learning model based on Neural Circuit Policies (NCP), inspired by biological neural systems, for gender classification on Turkish speech data, by evaluating its performance in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency in comparison with conventional recurrent models. Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) and log-Mel spectrogram features are combined to simultaneously capture the spectral and temporal properties of speech signals. These features are learned as low-level acoustic patterns via Conv1D layers. Long-term temporal dependencies are modeled using Liquid Time Constant (LTC) cells defined within the NCP architecture. To evaluate the generalizability of the model, the experiments were conducted under a speaker-independent setup, and ablation studies were performed by removing different components of the architecture to clearly assess the contribution of the NCP component. Cross-validation was applied on the Mozilla Common Voice 12.0 Turkish dataset during the experiments. The Conv1D+NCP model achieved 99.29% accuracy and 99.28% F1-score, while the LSTM-based model yielded slightly lower results. The NCP-based model offers high performance and computational efficiency with fewer parameters, making it a powerful alternative for real-time applications

Keywords

Ethical Statement

The study is complied with research and publication ethics

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Biomechanical Engineering

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

March 24, 2026

Submission Date

October 14, 2025

Acceptance Date

February 3, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 15 Number: 1

APA
Olgun, S., Balım, C., & Olgun, N. (2026). A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, 15(1), 312-321. https://doi.org/10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512
AMA
1.Olgun S, Balım C, Olgun N. A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi. 2026;15(1):312-321. doi:10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512
Chicago
Olgun, Sevda, Caner Balım, and Nevzat Olgun. 2026. “A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification”. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi 15 (1): 312-21. https://doi.org/10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512.
EndNote
Olgun S, Balım C, Olgun N (March 1, 2026) A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi 15 1 312–321.
IEEE
[1]S. Olgun, C. Balım, and N. Olgun, “A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification”, Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 312–321, Mar. 2026, doi: 10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512.
ISNAD
Olgun, Sevda - Balım, Caner - Olgun, Nevzat. “A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification”. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi 15/1 (March 1, 2026): 312-321. https://doi.org/10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512.
JAMA
1.Olgun S, Balım C, Olgun N. A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi. 2026;15:312–321.
MLA
Olgun, Sevda, et al. “A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification”. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 15, no. 1, Mar. 2026, pp. 312-21, doi:10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512.
Vancouver
1.Sevda Olgun, Caner Balım, Nevzat Olgun. A CNN–NCP Based Hybrid Deep Learning Model for Speech-Driven Gender Classification. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi. 2026 Mar. 1;15(1):312-21. doi:10.17798/bitlisfen.1803512

Bitlis Eren University

Journal of Science Editor

Bitlis Eren University Graduate Institute

Bes Minare Mah. Ahmet Eren Bulvari, Merkez Kampus, 13000 BITLIS

E-mail: fbe@beu.edu.tr