Auditory Processing of Vowels by Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

1982 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sid P. Bacon ◽  
John F. Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired

Suprathreshold Auditory Processing and Speech Perception in Noise: Hearing-Impaired and Normal-Hearing Listeners

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. 274-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Van Summers ◽  
Matthew J. Makashay ◽  
Sarah M. Theodoroff ◽  
Marjorie R. Leek
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Frequency Selectivity ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Peripheral Compression

Background: It is widely believed that suprathreshold distortions in auditory processing contribute to the speech recognition deficits experienced by hearing-impaired (HI) listeners in noise. Damage to outer hair cells and attendant reductions in peripheral compression and frequency selectivity may contribute to these deficits. In addition, reduced access to temporal fine structure (TFS) information in the speech waveform may play a role. Purpose: To examine how measures of peripheral compression, frequency selectivity, and TFS sensitivity relate to speech recognition performance by HI listeners. To determine whether distortions in processing reflected by these psychoacoustic measures are more closely associated with speech deficits in steady-state or modulated noise. Research Design: Normal-hearing (NH) and HI listeners were tested on tasks examining frequency selectivity (notched-noise task), peripheral compression (temporal masking curve task), and sensitivity to TFS information (frequency modulation [FM] detection task) in the presence of random amplitude modulation. Performance was tested at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz at several presentation levels. The same listeners were tested on sentence recognition in steady-state and modulated noise at several signal-to-noise ratios. Study Sample: Ten NH and 18 HI listeners were tested. NH listeners ranged in age from 36 to 80 yr (M = 57.6). For HI listeners, ages ranged from 58 to 87 yr (M = 71.8). Results: Scores on the FM detection task at 1 and 2 kHz were significantly correlated with speech scores in both noise conditions. Frequency selectivity and compression measures were not as clearly associated with speech performance. Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) analyses indicated only small differences in speech audibility across subjects for each signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) condition that would predict differences in speech scores no greater than 10% at a given SNR. Actual speech scores varied by as much as 80% across subjects. Conclusions: The results suggest that distorted processing of audible speech cues was a primary factor accounting for differences in speech scores across subjects and that reduced ability to use TFS cues may be an important component of this distortion. The influence of TFS cues on speech scores was comparable in steady-state and modulated noise. Speech recognition was not related to audibility, represented by the SII, once high-frequency sensitivity differences across subjects (beginning at 5 kHz) were removed statistically. This might indicate that high-frequency hearing loss is associated with distortions in processing in lower-frequency regions.

Speech Identification Difficulties of Hearing-Impaired Elderly Persons

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 686-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry E. Humes ◽  
Laurel Christopherson
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Identification Score ◽  
Masking Noise ◽  
Speech Identification

This study examined the performance of four subject groups on several temporally based measures of auditory processing and several measures of speech identification. The four subject groups were (a) young normal-hearing adults; (b) hearing-impaired elderly subjects ranging in age from 65 to 75 years; (c) hearing-impaired elderly adults ranging in age from 76 to 86 years; and (d) young normal-hearing listeners with hearing loss simulated with a spectrally shaped masking noise adjusted to match the actual hearing loss of the two elderly groups. In addition to between-group analyses of performance on the auditory processing and speech identification tasks, correlational and regression analyses within the two groups of elderly hearing-impaired listeners were performed. The results revealed that the threshold elevation accompanying sensorineural hearing loss was the primary factor affecting the speech identification performance of the hearing-impaired elderly subjects both as groups and as individuals. However, significant increases in the proportion of speech identification score variance accounted for were obtained in the elderly subjects by including various measures of auditory processing.

scholarly journals Cortical compensation for hearing loss, but not age, in neural tracking of the fundamental frequency of the voice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Van Canneyt ◽  
Jan Wouters ◽  
Tom Francart
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Cortical Response ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Voice

AbstractAuditory processing is affected by advancing age and hearing loss, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. We investigated the effects of age and hearing loss on temporal processing of naturalistic stimuli in the auditory system. We analysed neural phase-locking to the fundamental frequency of the voice (f0) in 54 normal-hearing and 14 hearing-impaired adults between 17 and 82 years old. We found that both subcortical and cortical neural sources contributed to the responses. Results indicated that advancing age was related to smaller responses with less cortical response contributions, consistent with an age-related decrease in neural phase-locking ability. Conversely, hearing impaired subjects displayed larger responses compared to age-matched normal hearing controls. This was due to additional cortical response contributions which were stronger for participants with more severe hearing loss. This is consistent with the recruitment of additional cortical sources for auditory processing in persons with hearing impairment.

Hearing Aid Amplification Reduces Communication Effort of People With Hearing Impairment and Their Conversation Partners

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1299-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beechey ◽  
Jörg M. Buchholz ◽  
Gitte Keidser
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Directional Hearing ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Communication Task ◽  
Acoustic Environments ◽  
The Impact

Objectives This study investigates the hypothesis that hearing aid amplification reduces effort within conversation for both hearing aid wearers and their communication partners. Levels of effort, in the form of speech production modifications, required to maintain successful spoken communication in a range of acoustic environments are compared to earlier reported results measured in unaided conversation conditions. Design Fifteen young adult normal-hearing participants and 15 older adult hearing-impaired participants were tested in pairs. Each pair consisted of one young normal-hearing participant and one older hearing-impaired participant. Hearing-impaired participants received directional hearing aid amplification, according to their audiogram, via a master hearing aid with gain provided according to the NAL-NL2 fitting formula. Pairs of participants were required to take part in naturalistic conversations through the use of a referential communication task. Each pair took part in five conversations, each of 5-min duration. During each conversation, participants were exposed to one of five different realistic acoustic environments presented through highly open headphones. The ordering of acoustic environments across experimental blocks was pseudorandomized. Resulting recordings of conversational speech were analyzed to determine the magnitude of speech modifications, in terms of vocal level and spectrum, produced by normal-hearing talkers as a function of both acoustic environment and the degree of high-frequency average hearing impairment of their conversation partner. Results The magnitude of spectral modifications of speech produced by normal-hearing talkers during conversations with aided hearing-impaired interlocutors was smaller than the speech modifications observed during conversations between the same pairs of participants in the absence of hearing aid amplification. Conclusions The provision of hearing aid amplification reduces the effort required to maintain communication in adverse conditions. This reduction in effort provides benefit to hearing-impaired individuals and also to the conversation partners of hearing-impaired individuals. By considering the impact of amplification on both sides of dyadic conversations, this approach contributes to an increased understanding of the likely impact of hearing impairment on everyday communication.

scholarly journals Task-dependent effects of nicotine treatment on auditory performance in young-adult and elderly human nonsmokers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuping Sun ◽  
Michelle R. Kapolowicz ◽  
Matthew Richardson ◽  
Raju Metherate ◽  
Fan-Gang Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Modulation ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Frequency Discrimination ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Intensity Discrimination ◽  
Modulation Identification ◽  
Baseline Performance ◽  
Auditory Performance ◽  
Pre Treatment

AbstractElectrophysiological studies show that nicotine enhances neural responses to characteristic frequency stimuli. Previous behavioral studies partially corroborate these findings in young adults, showing that nicotine selectively enhances auditory processing in difficult listening conditions. The present work extended previous work to include both young and older adults and assessed the nicotine effect on sound frequency and intensity discrimination. Hypotheses were that nicotine improves auditory performance and that the degree of improvement is inversely proportional to baseline performance. Young (19–23 years old) normal-hearing nonsmokers and elderly (61–80) nonsmokers with normal hearing between 500 and 2000 Hz received nicotine gum (6 mg) or placebo gum in a single-blind, randomized crossover design. Participants performed three experiments (frequency discrimination, frequency modulation identification, and intensity discrimination) before and after treatment. The perceptual differences were analyzed between pre- and post-treatment, as well as between post-treatment nicotine and placebo conditions as a function of pre-treatment baseline performance. Compared to pre-treatment performance, nicotine significantly improved frequency discrimination. Compared to placebo, nicotine significantly improved performance for intensity discrimination, and the improvement was more pronounced in the elderly with lower baseline performance. Nicotine had no effect on frequency modulation identification. Nicotine effects are task-dependent, reflecting possible interplays of subjects, tasks and neural mechanisms.

scholarly journals Perception of Auditory Distance in Normal-Hearing and Moderate-to-Profound Hearing-Impaired Listeners

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 233121651988761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Courtois ◽  
Vincent Grimaldi ◽  
Hervé Lissek ◽  
Philippe Estoppey ◽  
Eleftheria Georganti
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Linear Amplification ◽  
Profound Hearing Loss ◽  
Wireless Microphone ◽  
Auditory Distance ◽  
Non Linear

The auditory system allows the estimation of the distance to sound-emitting objects using multiple spatial cues. In virtual acoustics over headphones, a prerequisite to render auditory distance impression is sound externalization, which denotes the perception of synthesized stimuli outside of the head. Prior studies have found that listeners with mild-to-moderate hearing loss are able to perceive auditory distance and are sensitive to externalization. However, this ability may be degraded by certain factors, such as non-linear amplification in hearing aids or the use of a remote wireless microphone. In this study, 10 normal-hearing and 20 moderate-to-profound hearing-impaired listeners were instructed to estimate the distance of stimuli processed with different methods yielding various perceived auditory distances in the vicinity of the listeners. Two different configurations of non-linear amplification were implemented, and a novel feature aiming to restore a sense of distance in wireless microphone systems was tested. The results showed that the hearing-impaired listeners, even those with a profound hearing loss, were able to discriminate nearby and far sounds that were equalized in level. Their perception of auditory distance was however more contracted than in normal-hearing listeners. Non-linear amplification was found to distort the original spatial cues, but no adverse effect on the ratings of auditory distance was evident. Finally, it was shown that the novel feature was successful in allowing the hearing-impaired participants to perceive externalized sounds with wireless microphone systems.

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