scholarly journals Speech-in-noise detection is related to auditory working memory precision for frequency

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meher Lad ◽  
Emma Holmes ◽  
Agatha Chu ◽  
Timothy D. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Noise Detection ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Memory Precision

scholarly journals Speech-in-noise detection is related to auditory working memory precision for frequency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meher Lad ◽  
Emma Holmes ◽  
Agatha Chu ◽  
Timothy D Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
General Ability ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Memory Precision

AbstractSpeech-in-noise (SiN) perception is a critical aspect of natural listening, deficits in which are a major contributor to the hearing handicap in cochlear hearing loss. Studies suggest that SiN perception correlates with cognitive skills, particularly phonological working memory: the ability to hold and manipulate phonemes or words in mind. We consider here the idea that SiN perception is linked to a more general ability to hold sound objects in mind, auditory working memory, irrespective of whether the objects are speech sounds. This process might help combine foreground elements, like speech, over seconds to aid their separation from the background of an auditory scene.We investigated the relationship between auditory working memory precision and SiN thresholds in listeners with normal hearing. We used a novel paradigm that tests auditory working memory for non-speech sounds that vary in frequency and amplitude modulation (AM) rate. The paradigm yields measures of precision in frequency and AM domains, based on the distribution of participants’ estimates of the target. Across participants, frequency precision correlated significantly with SiN thresholds. Frequency precision also correlated with the number of years of musical training. Measures of phonological working memory did not correlate with SiN detection ability.Our results demonstrate a specific relationship between working memory for frequency and SiN. We suggest that working memory for frequency facilitates the identification and tracking of foreground objects like speech during natural listening. Working memory performance for frequency also correlated with years of musical instrument experience suggesting that the former is potentially modifiable.

Can Behavioral Speech-In-Noise Tests Improve the Quality of Hearing Aid Fittings?

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Robert Moore ◽  
Susan Gordon-Hickey
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Speech Perception In Noise ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Acceptable Noise Level ◽  
Perceptual Performance ◽  
Noise Test

The purpose of this article is to propose 4 dimensions for consideration in hearing aid fittings and 4 tests to evaluate those dimensions. The 4 dimensions and tests are (a) working memory, evaluated by the Revised Speech Perception in Noise test (Bilger, Nuetzel, & Rabinowitz, 1984); (b) performance in noise, evaluated by the Quick Speech in Noise test (QSIN; Killion, Niquette, Gudmundsen, Revit, & Banerjee, 2004); (c) acceptance of noise, evaluated by the Acceptable Noise Level test (ANL; Nabelek, Tucker, & Letowski, 1991); and (d) performance versus perception, evaluated by the Perceptual–Performance test (PPT; Saunders & Cienkowski, 2002). The authors discuss the 4 dimensions and tests in the context of improving the quality of hearing aid fittings.

Retrospective prioritization of multiple items during working memory storage

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley DiPuma ◽  
Kelly Rivera ◽  
Edward Ester
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Item ◽  
Neutral Condition ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Single Item ◽  
Incorrect Item ◽  
Memory Precision ◽  
Neutral Conditions ◽  
Directing Attention

Working memory (WM) performance can be improved by an informative cue presented during storage. This effect, termed a retro-cue benefit, can be used to explore mechanisms of attentional prioritization in WM. Directing attention to a single item stored in memory is known to increase memory precision while decreasing the likelihood of incorrect item reports and random guesses, but it is unclear whether similar benefits manifest when participants direct attention to multiple items stored in memory. We tested this possibility by quantifying memory performance when participants were cued to prioritize one or two items stored in working memory. Consistent with prior work, cueing participants to prioritize a single memory item yielded higher recall precision, fewer swap errors, and fewer guesses relative to a neutral cue condition. Conversely, cueing participants to prioritize two memory items yielded fewer swap errors relative to a neutral condition, but no differences in recall precision or guess rates. Although swap rates were less likely during the cue-two vs. neutral conditions, planned comparisons revealed that when participants made swap errors during cue-two trials they were far more likely to confuse two prioritized stimuli than they were to confuse a prioritized stimulus vs. a non-prioritized stimulus. Our results suggest that it is possible to prioritize multiple items stored in memory, with the caveat that doing so may increase the probability of confusing prioritized items.

scholarly journals Anterior thalamic stimulation improves working memory precision judgments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiali Liu ◽  
Tao Yu ◽  
Jinfeng Wu ◽  
Yali Pan ◽  
Zheng Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Thalamic Stimulation ◽  
Memory Precision

scholarly journals Atypically larger variability of resource allocation accounts for visual working memory deficits in schizophrenia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Jie Zhao ◽  
Tianye Ma ◽  
Xuemei Ran ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Ru-Yuan Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Variable Precision ◽  
Capacity Theory ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Memory Precision ◽  
Memory Resources

AbstractSchizophrenia patients are known to have profound deficits in visual working memory (VWM), and almost all previous studies attribute the deficits to decreased memory capacity. This account, however, ignores the potential contributions of other VWM components (e.g., memory precision). Here, we measure the VWM performance of schizophrenia patients and healthy control subjects on two classical delay-estimation tasks. Moreover, we thoroughly evaluate several established computational models of VWM to compare the performance of the two groups. We find that the model assuming variable precision across items and trials is the best model to explain the performance of both groups. According to the variable-precision model, schizophrenia subjects exhibit abnormally larger variability of allocating memory resources rather than resources per se. These results invite a rethink of the widely accepted decreased-capacity theory and propose a new perspective on the diagnosis and rehabilitation of schizophrenia.

The Impact of Music Training and Working Memory on Speech Recognition in Older Age

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Bruna S. Mussoi
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Speech Recognition In Noise ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Music training has been proposed as a possible tool for auditory training in older adults, as it may improve both auditory and cognitive skills. However, the evidence to support such benefits is mixed. The goal of this study was to determine the differential effects of lifelong musical training and working memory on speech recognition in noise, in older adults. Method A total of 31 musicians and nonmusicians aged 65–78 years took part in this cross-sectional study. Participants had a normal pure-tone average, with most having high-frequency hearing loss. Working memory (memory capacity) was assessed with the backward Digit Span test, and speech recognition in noise was assessed with three clinical tests (Quick Speech in Noise, Hearing in Noise Test, and Revised Speech Perception in Noise). Results Findings from this sample of older adults indicate that neither music training nor working memory was associated with differences on the speech recognition in noise measures used in this study. Similarly, duration of music training was not associated with speech-in-noise recognition. Conclusions Results from this study do not support the hypothesis that lifelong music training benefits speech recognition in noise. Similarly, an effect of working memory (memory capacity) was not apparent. While these findings may be related to the relatively small sample size, results across previous studies that investigated these effects have also been mixed. Prospective randomized music training studies may be able to better control for variability in outcomes associated with pre-existing and music training factors, as well as to examine the differential impact of music training and working memory for speech-in-noise recognition in older adults.

scholarly journals Verbal Working Memory in Children With Cochlear Implants

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 3342-3364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer ◽  
Amanda Caldwell-Tarr ◽  
Keri E. Low ◽  
Joanna H. Lowenstein
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Serial Recall Task

Purpose Verbal working memory in children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing was examined. Participants Ninety-three fourth graders (47 with normal hearing, 46 with cochlear implants) participated, all of whom were in a longitudinal study and had working memory assessed 2 years earlier. Method A dual-component model of working memory was adopted, and a serial recall task measured storage and processing. Potential predictor variables were phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, nonverbal IQ, and several treatment variables. Potential dependent functions were literacy, expressive language, and speech-in-noise recognition. Results Children with cochlear implants showed deficits in storage and processing, similar in size to those at second grade. Predictors of verbal working memory differed across groups: Phonological awareness explained the most variance in children with normal hearing; vocabulary explained the most variance in children with cochlear implants. Treatment variables explained little of the variance. Where potentially dependent functions were concerned, verbal working memory accounted for little variance once the variance explained by other predictors was removed. Conclusions The verbal working memory deficits of children with cochlear implants arise due to signal degradation, which limits their abilities to acquire phonological awareness. That hinders their abilities to store items using a phonological code.

scholarly journals Perceptual Precision Predicts Visual Working Memory Precision

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1360-1360
Author(s):  
D. W. Sutterer ◽  
D. E. Anderson ◽  
E. Awh
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Memory Precision
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