Cochlear implant features and listening effort induction: measurement of the mental workload experienced during a word in noise recognition task

Purpose Fitting a cochlear implant (CI) for optimal speech perception does not necessarily optimize listening effort. This study aimed to show that listening effort may change between CI processing conditions for which speech intelligibility remains constant. Method Nineteen normal-hearing participants listened to CI simulations with varying numbers of spectral channels. A dual-task paradigm combining an intelligibility task with either a linguistic or nonlinguistic visual response-time (RT) task measured intelligibility and listening effort. The simultaneously performed tasks compete for limited cognitive resources; changes in effort associated with the intelligibility task are reflected in changes in RT on the visual task. A separate self-report scale provided a subjective measure of listening effort. Results All measures showed significant improvements with increasing spectral resolution up to 6 channels. However, only the RT measure of listening effort continued improving up to 8 channels. The effects were stronger for RTs recorded during listening than for RTs recorded between listening. Conclusion The results suggest that listening effort decreases with increased spectral resolution. Moreover, these improvements are best reflected in objective measures of listening effort, such as RTs on a secondary task, rather than intelligibility scores or subjective effort measures.

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Cognitive and physiological measures of listening effort during degraded speech perception: A comparison of dual-task and pupillometry paradigms

10.31234/osf.io/jzg8u ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Elizabeth Margaret Colby ◽

Bob McMurray

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Dual Task ◽

Pupil Size ◽

Spoken Word Recognition ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Spoken Word ◽

Physiological Measures ◽

Listening Effort ◽

Response Feedback ◽

The Relationship

Purpose: Listening effort is quickly becoming an important metric for assessing speech perception in less-than-ideal situations. However, the relationship between the construct of listening effort and the measures used to assess it remain unclear. We compared two measures of listening effort: a cognitive dual task and a physiological pupillometry task. We sought to investigate the relationship between these measures of effort and whether engaging effort impacts speech accuracy.Method: In Experiment 1, 30 participants completed a dual task and pupillometry task that were carefully matched in stimuli and design. The dual task consisted of a spoken word recognition task and a visual match-to-sample task. In the pupillometry task, pupil size was monitored while participants completed a spoken word recognition task. Both tasks presented words at three levels of listening difficulty (unmodified, 8-channel vocoding, and 4-channel vocoding) and provided response feedback on every trial. We refined the pupillometry task in Experiment 2 (n=31); crucially, participants no longer received response feedback. Finally, we ran a new group of subjects on both tasks in Experiment 3 (n=30).Results: In Experiment 1, accuracy in the visual task decreased with increased listening difficulty in the dual task, but pupil size was sensitive to accuracy and not listening difficulty. After removing feedback in Experiment 2, changes in pupil size were predicted by listening difficulty, suggesting the task was now sensitive to engaged effort. Both tasks were sensitive to listening difficulty in Experiment 3, but there was no relationship between the tasks and neither task predicted speech accuracy.Conclusions: Consistent with previous work, we found little evidence for a relationship between different measures of listening effort. We also found no evidence that effort predicts speech accuracy, suggesting that engaging more effort does not lead to improved speech recognition. Cognitive and physiological measures of listening effort are likely sensitive to different aspects of the construct of listening effort.

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Alpha and Theta EEG Variations as Indices of Listening Effort to Be Implemented in Neurofeedback Among Cochlear Implant Users

Symbiotic Interaction - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-91593-7_4 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 30-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Giulia Cartocci ◽

Anton Giulio Maglione ◽

Dario Rossi ◽

Enrica Modica ◽

Gianluca Borghini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cochlear Implant ◽

Listening Effort

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Older adults show a more sustained pattern of effortful listening than young adults

10.31234/osf.io/3g6y5 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ronan McGarrigle ◽

Sarah Knight ◽

Lyndon Rakusen ◽

Jason Geller ◽

Sven Mattys

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Adults ◽

Young Adult ◽

Sentence Processing ◽

Daily Life ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Adult Group ◽

Listening Effort ◽

Age Related ◽

Listening Task

Listening to speech in adverse conditions can be challenging and effortful, especially for older adults. This study examined age-related differences in effortful listening by recording changes in the task-evoked pupil response (TEPR; a physiological marker of listening effort) both at the level of sentence processing and over the entire course of a listening task. A total of 65 (32 young adults; 33 older adults) participants performed a speech recognition task in the presence of a competing talker, while moment-to-moment changes in pupil size were continuously monitored. Participants were also administered the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale; a questionnaire assessing daily life listening fatigue within four domains (social, cognitive, emotional, physical). Normalized TEPRs were overall larger and more steeply rising and falling around the peak in the older versus the young adult group during sentence processing. Additionally, mean TEPRs over the course of the listening task were more stable in the older versus the young adult group, consistent with a more sustained recruitment of compensatory attentional resources to maintain task performance. No age-related differences were found in terms of total daily life listening fatigue; however, older adults reported higher scores than young adults within the social domain. Overall, this study provides evidence for qualitatively distinct patterns of physiological arousal between young and older adults consistent with age-related upregulation in resource allocation during listening. A more detailed understanding of age-related changes in the subjective and physiological mechanisms that underlie effortful listening will ultimately help to address complex communication needs in aging listeners.

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Social Connectedness and Perceived Listening Effort in Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Ear and Hearing ◽

10.1097/aud.0000000000000553 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 922-934 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Sarah E. Hughes ◽

Hayley A. Hutchings ◽

Frances L. Rapport ◽

Catherine M. McMahon ◽

Isabelle Boisvert

Keyword(s):

Cochlear Implant ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Listening Effort

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Listening Effort in School-Aged Children With Limited Useable Hearing Unilaterally: Examining the Effects of a Personal, Digital Remote Microphone System and a Contralateral Routing of Signal System

Trends in Hearing ◽

10.1177/2331216520984700 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 233121652098470

Author(s):

Ilze Oosthuizen ◽

Erin M. Picou ◽

Lidia Pottas ◽

Hermanus C. Myburgh ◽

De Wet Swanepoel

Keyword(s):

Speech Recognition ◽

Response Times ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Verbal Response ◽

Behavioral Measure ◽

Subjective Ratings ◽

Listening Effort ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

School Aged Children

Technology options for children with limited hearing unilaterally that improve the signal-to-noise ratio are expected to improve speech recognition and also reduce listening effort in challenging listening situations, although previous studies have not confirmed this. Employing behavioral and subjective indices of listening effort, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of two intervention options, remote microphone system (RMS) and contralateral routing of signal (CROS) system, in school-aged children with limited hearing unilaterally. Nineteen children (aged 7–12 years) with limited hearing unilaterally completed a digit triplet recognition task in three loudspeaker conditions: midline, monaural direct, and monaural indirect with three intervention options: unaided, RMS, and CROS system. Verbal response times were interpreted as a behavioral measure of listening effort. Participants provided subjective ratings immediately following behavioral measures. The RMS significantly improved digit triplet recognition across loudspeaker conditions and reduced verbal response times in the midline and indirect conditions. The CROS system improved speech recognition and listening effort only in the indirect condition. Subjective ratings analyses revealed that significantly more participants indicated that the remote microphone made it easier for them to listen and to stay motivated. Behavioral and subjective indices of listening effort indicated that an RMS provided the most consistent benefit for speech recognition and listening effort for children with limited unilateral hearing. RMSs could therefore be a beneficial technology option in classrooms for children with limited hearing unilaterally.

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Cortical alpha oscillations in cochlear implant users reflect subjective listening effort during speech-in-noise perception

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0254162 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0254162

Author(s):

Brandon T. Paul ◽

Joseph Chen ◽

Trung Le ◽

Vincent Lin ◽

Andrew Dimitrijevic

Keyword(s):

Cochlear Implant ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Listening Effort ◽

Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Alpha Oscillations ◽

Speech In Noise ◽

Eeg Alpha ◽

Cortical Regions

Listening to speech in noise is effortful for individuals with hearing loss, even if they have received a hearing prosthesis such as a hearing aid or cochlear implant (CI). At present, little is known about the neural functions that support listening effort. One form of neural activity that has been suggested to reflect listening effort is the power of 8–12 Hz (alpha) oscillations measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Alpha power in two cortical regions has been associated with effortful listening—left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and parietal cortex—but these relationships have not been examined in the same listeners. Further, there are few studies available investigating neural correlates of effort in the individuals with cochlear implants. Here we tested 16 CI users in a novel effort-focused speech-in-noise listening paradigm, and confirm a relationship between alpha power and self-reported effort ratings in parietal regions, but not left IFG. The parietal relationship was not linear but quadratic, with alpha power comparatively lower when effort ratings were at the top and bottom of the effort scale, and higher when effort ratings were in the middle of the scale. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive systems that are engaged in difficult listening situations, and the implication for clinical translation.

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