Impact of Spectrally Asynchronous Delays on Consonant Voicing Perception

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (08) ◽  
pp. 493-511
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Ortmann ◽  
Catherine V. Palmer ◽  
Sheila R. Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Frequency Bands ◽  
Onset Asynchrony ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Consonant Voicing

Background: A possible voicing cue used to differentiate voiced and voiceless cognate pairs is envelope onset asynchrony (EOA). EOA is the time between the onsets of two frequency bands of energy (in this study one band was high-pass filtered at 3000 Hz, the other low-pass filtered at 350 Hz). This study assessed the perceptual impact of manipulating EOA on voicing perception of initial stop consonants, and whether normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners were sensitive to changes in EOA as a cue for voicing. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of spectrally asynchronous auditory delay on the perception of voicing associated with initial stop consonants by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Research Design: Prospective experimental study comparing the perceptual differences of manipulating the EOA cues for two groups of listeners. Study Sample: Thirty adults between the ages of 21 and 60 yr completed the study: 17 listeners with normal hearing and 13 listeners with mild-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Data Collection and Analysis: The participants listened to voiced and voiceless stop consonants within a consonant-vowel syllable structure. The EOA of each syllable was varied along a continuum, and identification and discrimination tasks were used to determine if the EOA manipulation resulted in categorical shifts in voicing perception. In the identification task the participants identified the consonants as belonging to one of two categories (voiced or voiceless cognate). They also completed a same-different discrimination task with the same set of stimuli. Categorical perception was confirmed with a d-prime sensitivity measure by examining how accurately the results from the identification task predicted the discrimination results. The influence of EOA manipulations on the perception of voicing was determined from shifts in the identification functions and discrimination peaks along the EOA continuum. The two participant groups were compared in order to determine the impact of EOA on voicing perception as a function of syllable and hearing status. Results: Both groups of listeners demonstrated a categorical shift in voicing perception with manipulation of EOA for some of the syllables used in this study. That is, as the temporal onset asynchrony between low- and high-frequency bands of speech was manipulated, the listeners' perception of consonant voicing changed between voiced and voiceless categories. No significant differences were found between listeners with normal hearing and listeners with hearing loss as a result of the EOA manipulation. Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners likely use spectrally asynchronous delays found in natural speech as a cue for voicing distinctions. While delays in modern hearing aids are less than those used in this study, possible implications are that additional asynchronous delays from digital signal processing or open-fitting amplification schemes might cause listeners with hearing loss to misperceive voicing cues.

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.

scholarly journals Survey of Hearing Aid Conditions for Hearing Impaired Persons While Driving

2020 ◽  
pp. 132-136
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Ikeda ◽  
Shigeyuki Minami
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Safe Driving ◽  
Actual Usage ◽  
Hearing Ability ◽  
Acquired Hearing Loss ◽  
The Impact

Hearing impaired persons are required to drive with hearing aids to supplement their hearing ability, however, there has not been sufficient discussion regarding the impact of the use of a hearing aid on driving a vehicle. In order to investigate the actual usage and driving conditions of using hearing aids while driving a vehicle, this paper uses a questionnaire to survey (1) how easy it is to drive when wearing hearing aids, and (2) how often hearing aids are not worn while driving. Concerning the ease of driving when wearing a hearing aid, it was suggested that people with congenital hearing loss were more likely to rely on visual information, and those with acquired hearing loss continue to use their experience of hearing. When the level of disability is high, it is difficult to drive when using the hearing aid, and when the disability level is low, it is easier to drive. Regarding the frequency of driving without wearing hearing aids, about 60 % of respondents had such an experience. Those who often drive without hearing aids had experienced headaches due to noise from wearing hearing aids compared to those who wear hearing aids at all times. Hearing aids are necessary assistive devices for hearing impaired persons to obtain hearing information, and to provide a safe driving environment. Therefore, this paper addresses issues to maintain a comfortable driving environment while wearing a hearing aid.

scholarly journals Hearing loss is associated with delayed neural responses to continuous speech

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlies Gillis ◽  
Lien Decruy ◽  
Jonas Vanthornhout ◽  
Tom Francart
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Continuous Speech ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Sound Amplification ◽  
The Impact

AbstractWe investigated the impact of hearing loss on the neural processing of speech. Using a forward modelling approach, we compared the neural responses to continuous speech of 14 adults with sensorineural hearing loss with those of age-matched normal-hearing peers.Compared to their normal-hearing peers, hearing-impaired listeners had increased neural tracking and delayed neural responses to continuous speech in quiet. The latency also increased with the degree of hearing loss. As speech understanding decreased, neural tracking decreased in both population; however, a significantly different trend was observed for the latency of the neural responses. For normal-hearing listeners, the latency increased with increasing background noise level. However, for hearing-impaired listeners, this increase was not observed.Our results support that the neural response latency indicates the efficiency of neural speech processing. Hearing-impaired listeners process speech in silence less efficiently then normal-hearing listeners. Our results suggest that this reduction in neural speech processing efficiency is a gradual effect which occurs as hearing deteriorates. Moreover, the efficiency of neural speech processing in hearing-impaired listeners is already at its lowest level when listening to speech in quiet, while normal-hearing listeners show a further decrease in efficiently when the noise level increases.From our results, it is apparent that sound amplification does not solve hearing loss. Even when intelligibility is apparently perfect, hearing-impaired listeners process speech less efficiently.

The Impact of Hearing Aids on Quality of Life of Hearing Impaired Individuals

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Zafar ◽  
Hafiz Muhammad Usama Basheer ◽  
Amber Hassan ◽  
Wajeeha Zaib ◽  
Tehmeena Waheed
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Residual Activity ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
P Value ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
The Impact

The regular use of hearing aids (more than 8 hours a day) benefits people in hearing for bettercommunication than those who are less-likely to use hearing aids Objective: The objective of thestudy was to assess the impact of hearing aids on the quality of life of hearing impaired individualsMethods: In this cross-sectional study total 50 participants were recruited by convenient samplingtechnique from Lahore, Pakistan. 50 patients who were diagnosed with hearing loss and wererecommended with hearing aids of both genders were included in the study. The International OutcomeInventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA), questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzedthrough Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 Results: In this research 50hearing impaired individuals who were hearing aid users, participated. The mean age of participants was64.10+15.88 years. Among which 25 (50%) were males and 25(50%) were females. The average time ofhearing aid use was 3.88 hours, majority of patients responded that hearing aid helped quite a lot in thedaily routine (mean score of IOI-HA, 3.62), have moderate difficulty in residual activity (mean score of IOIHA,3.26), moderately satisfied with their hearing aid (mean score of IOI-HA, 3.28), moderately affect theparticipation restriction (mean score of IOI-HA, 3.20), impact of their hearing loss bothered moderately(mean score of IOI-HA, 3.14) and quality of life (QOL) was very much better (3.90). There was insignificantassociation between the QOL of males and females (p-value>0.05) Conclusions: It was concluded fromthe study that the hearing aids have a greater impact on the quality of life and socio-economic aspectsof hearing impaired individuals. Hearing loss is such a problem, which separates certain community ofhearing impaired individuals from the normal population. Individuals with hearing impairment not onlyhave to face personal communication problems but also it affects their health, independency and qualityof life in their daily routine.

Older Listeners' Use of Temporal Cues Altered by Compression Amplification

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela E. Souza
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Spectral Information ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Age Related

This study compared the ability of younger and older listeners to use temporal information in speech when that information was altered by compression amplification. Recognition of vowel-consonant-vowel syllables was measured for four groups of adult listeners (younger normal hearing, older normal hearing, younger hearing impaired, older hearing impaired). There were four conditions. Syllables were processed with wide-dynamic range compression (WDRC) amplification and with linear amplification. In each of those conditions, recognition was measured for syllables containing only temporal information and for syllables containing spectral and temporal information. Recognition of WDRC-amplified speech provided an estimate of the ability to use altered amplitude envelope cues. Syllables were presented with a high-frequency masker to minimize confounding differences in high-frequency sensitivity between the younger and older groups. Scores were lower for WDRC-amplified speech than for linearly amplified speech, and older listeners performed more poorly than younger listeners. When spectral information was unrestricted, the age-related decrement was similar for both amplification types. When spectral information was restricted for listeners with normal hearing, the age-related decrement was greater for WDRC-amplified speech than for linearly amplified speech. When spectral information was restricted for listeners with hearing loss, the age-related decrement was similar for both amplification types. Clinically, these results imply that when spectral cues are available (i.e., when the listener has adequate spectral resolution) older listeners can use WDRC hearing aids to the same extent as younger listeners. For older listeners without hearing loss, poorer scores for compression-amplified speech suggest an age-related deficit in temporal resolution.

A research on acoustical comfort for hearing-impaired individuals in inclusive education places

2020 ◽  
pp. 1351010X2092358
Author(s):  
Zakariyya Uzeyirli ◽  
Aslı Özçevik Bilen
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Subjective Evaluation ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Acoustic Comfort ◽  
The Impact

The inclusive education method has substantial contributions to hearing-impaired individuals’ education and socialization. However, the poor physical environment and acoustic comfort conditions negatively affect speech intelligibility at such places and therefore, the quality of education. Upon determining that there are very few subjective evaluation studies, we conducted a study regarding the impact of acoustic comfort conditions on speech intelligibility at inclusive education places. Within the scope of the study, first, a classroom was determined, and the current acoustic conditions of the class were evaluated objectively by field acoustic measurements. A calibrated model was created in the simulation software of the relevant class and then two more models with optimum reverberation time values of 0.4 s and 0.8 s as suggested in the literature, and auralizations were performed for the models. For subjective evaluation, a subject group of hearing-impaired and normal hearing individuals fulfilling equal conditions were tested by speech discrimination test in real-time in the classroom and from auralization recordings in a laboratory setting. Regarding the results obtained, it was observed that speech intelligibility percentage of normal hearing individuals increased as expected while in hearing-impaired individuals, contrary to the expectations, percentage differed from one another, and there was no increase. Following the discussions with experts, it was concluded that different hearing aids used by hearing-impaired individuals might lead to this situation. Accordingly, it occurs that the possibility to achieve a good speech intelligibility for hearing-impaired individuals even if optimum acoustic values suggested are fulfilled in education places remains unclear.

Assessment of expressive vocabulary outcomes in hearing-impaired children with hearing aids: do bilaterally hearing-impaired children catch up?

2006 ◽  
Vol 120 (8) ◽  
pp. 619-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Kiese-Himmel ◽  
M Reeh
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Binaural Hearing ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Clinical Tool ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

Objective: To evaluate expressive vocabulary growth in hearing-impaired preschool children wearing hearing aids.Design: Prospective analysis of the outcomes of children included in the 1994 German ‘Goettinger Hoer-Sprachregister’ (GHR) series, using a repeated-measures paradigm in six- to nine-month intervals (t1–t3).Subjects: Twenty-seven children (aged 2.0–4.4 years) with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (with averages at frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz of >20 to >90 dB in the better ear) from the 1994 GHR series. The children were diagnosed at a mean age of 31.4 months (standard deviation (SD) 10.6 months) and fitted with a binaural hearing aid at a mean age of 32.3 months (SD 10.5 months). Nonverbal intelligence was average (five missing data entries). Standardized, age-appropriate picture naming tests (the ‘Sprachentwicklungstest für 2-jährige Kinder’, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children subtest vocabulary, and the ‘Aktiver Wortschatztest für drei- bis sechsjährige Kinder’) were carried out at three time points and results compared with data from children with normal hearing. The test raw scores were converted to T scores (mean = 50; SD = 10).Results: On average, the children scored far below the normative population at t1 (mean = 28.9; SD = 11.3) and slowly improved as they got older (at t3, mean = 34.1; SD = 16.1; p = 0.010). Children with mild or moderate hearing loss improved most notably (mean difference t1–t3; p = 0.001), except for one child of deaf parents. Two of the five mildly hearing-impaired children and two of the eleven moderately hearing-impaired children caught up with their normal hearing peers with regards to expressive vocabulary. Such expressive vocabulary achievements were not seen in any children with >70 dB hearing loss or in six of the eleven children (55 per cent) with a 40–70 dB hearing loss, despite receiving adequate personal amplification.Conclusion: Testing expressive vocabulary size is a useful clinical tool in assessing linguistic lexical outcome.

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.

The impact of hearing loss

ORL ro ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-65
Author(s):  
Mădălina Georgescu ◽  
Violeta Necula ◽  
Sebastian Cozma
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening ◽  
Newborn Hearing ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
The Impact

Hearing loss represents a frequently met sensorial handicap, which has a major and complex impact not only on the hearing-impaired person, but also on his family and society. The large number of hard-of-hearing persons justifies the acknowledgement of hearing loss as a public health issue, which oblige to appropriate health politics, to offer each hearing-impaired person health services like those in Europe. These can be obtained through: appropriate legislation for mandatory universal newborn hearing screening; national program for follow-up of hearing-impaired children up to school age; national register of hard-of-hearing persons; smooth access to rehabilitation methods; appropriate number of audiologists, trained for health services at European standards, trained through public programs of education in the field of audiology.  

scholarly journals Impact and cost-effectiveness evaluation of a community-based rehabilitation intervention on quality of life among Chinese adults with hearing loss: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Ye ◽  
Dawei Zhu ◽  
Siyuan Chen ◽  
Xuefeng Shi ◽  
Rui Gong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Treatment Group ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Chinese Adults ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Hearing loss is quite prevalent and can be related to people’s quality of life. To our knowledge, there are limited studies assessing the efficacy of hearing interventions on quality of life in adults. Therefore, we aim to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the impact and cost-effectiveness of community-based hearing rehabilitation on quality of life among Chinese adults with hearing loss. Methods/design In this two-arm feasibility study, participants aged 16 and above with some degree of hearing loss (n = 464) will be recruited from Linyi City, Shandong Province. They are randomly assigned to the treatment group or the control group. Those in the treatment group are prescribed with hearing aids, while those in the control group receive no intervention. Reinstruction in use of devices is provided for the treatment group during booster visits held 12 months post-randomization or unscheduled interim visits when necessary. Data are collected at baseline and the follow-up 20 months later. The primary outcome is changes in quality of life over a 20-month study period. Secondary outcomes include sub-dimensions in quality of life, physical functioning, chronic diseases, cognitive function, depression, social support, hospitalizations, falls, and healthcare costs. Finally, we will evaluate whether hearing aids intervention is cost-effective to apply in a large scale. Discussion The trial is designed to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of a community-based rehabilitation intervention on quality of life among Chinese adults with hearing loss. We hope that it would help improve the well-being for Chinese adults and provide references in policy and practice for China and other countries. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900024739. Registered on 26 July 2019.

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