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Margolis RH, Rao A, Wilson RH, Saly GL. Non-linguistic auditory speech processing. Int J Audiol 2023; 62:217-226. [PMID: 35369837 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2022.2055654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES A method for testing auditory processing of non-linguistic speech-like stimuli was developed and evaluated. DESIGN Monosyllabic words were temporally reversed and distorted. Stimuli were matched for spectrum and level. Listeners discriminated between distorted and undistorted stimuli. STUDY SAMPLE Three groups were tested. The Normal group was comprised of 12 normal-hearing participants. The Senior group was comprised of 12 seniors. The Hearing Loss group was comprised of 12 participants with thresholds of at least 35 dB HL at one or more frequencies. RESULTS The Senior group scored lower than the Normal group, and the Hearing Loss group scored lower than the Senior group. Scores for forward compressed speech were slightly higher than backward compressed speech but the difference was not statistically significant. Retest scores were slightly higher than scores on the first test, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Large differences in discrimination of distorted speech were observed among the three groups. Age and hearing loss separately affected performance. The depressed performance of the Senior group may be a result of "hidden hearing loss" that is attributed to cochlear synaptopathy. The backward-distorted speech task may be a useful non-linguistic test of speech processing that is language independent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert H Margolis
- Speech and Hearing Science, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.,Audiology Incorporated, Arden Hills, Minnesota, USA
| | - Aparna Rao
- Speech and Hearing Science, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Richard H Wilson
- Speech and Hearing Science, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
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2
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Herrmann B, Butler BE. Hearing loss and brain plasticity: the hyperactivity phenomenon. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2019-2039. [PMID: 34100151 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02313-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Many aging adults experience some form of hearing problems that may arise from auditory peripheral damage. However, it has been increasingly acknowledged that hearing loss is not only a dysfunction of the auditory periphery but also results from changes within the entire auditory system, from periphery to cortex. Damage to the auditory periphery is associated with an increase in neural activity at various stages throughout the auditory pathway. Here, we review neurophysiological evidence of hyperactivity, auditory perceptual difficulties that may result from hyperactivity, and outline open conceptual and methodological questions related to the study of hyperactivity. We suggest that hyperactivity alters all aspects of hearing-including spectral, temporal, spatial hearing-and, in turn, impairs speech comprehension when background sound is present. By focusing on the perceptual consequences of hyperactivity and the potential challenges of investigating hyperactivity in humans, we hope to bring animal and human electrophysiologists closer together to better understand hearing problems in older adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Herrmann
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, ON, M6A 2E1, Canada. .,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Blake E Butler
- Department of Psychology & The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.,National Centre for Audiology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
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3
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Venezia JH, Leek MR, Lindeman MP. Suprathreshold Differences in Competing Speech Perception in Older Listeners With Normal and Impaired Hearing. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:2141-2161. [PMID: 32603618 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Age-related declines in auditory temporal processing and cognition make older listeners vulnerable to interference from competing speech. This vulnerability may be increased in older listeners with sensorineural hearing loss due to additional effects of spectral distortion and accelerated cognitive decline. The goal of this study was to uncover differences between older hearing-impaired (OHI) listeners and older normal-hearing (ONH) listeners in the perceptual encoding of competing speech signals. Method Age-matched groups of 10 OHI and 10 ONH listeners performed the coordinate response measure task with a synthetic female target talker and a male competing talker at a target-to-masker ratio of +3 dB. Individualized gain was provided to OHI listeners. Each listener completed 50 baseline and 800 "bubbles" trials in which randomly selected segments of the speech modulation power spectrum (MPS) were retained on each trial while the remainder was filtered out. Average performance was fixed at 50% correct by adapting the number of segments retained. Multinomial regression was used to estimate weights showing the regions of the MPS associated with performance (a "classification image" or CImg). Results The CImg weights were significantly different between the groups in two MPS regions: a region encoding the shared phonetic content of the two talkers and a region encoding the competing (male) talker's voice. The OHI listeners demonstrated poorer encoding of the phonetic content and increased vulnerability to interference from the competing talker. Individual differences in CImg weights explained over 75% of the variance in baseline performance in the OHI listeners, whereas differences in high-frequency pure-tone thresholds explained only 10%. Conclusion Suprathreshold deficits in the encoding of low- to mid-frequency (~5-10 Hz) temporal modulations-which may reflect poorer "dip listening"-and auditory grouping at a perceptual and/or cognitive level are responsible for the relatively poor performance of OHI versus ONH listeners on a different-gender competing speech task. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12568472.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan H Venezia
- VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, CA
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, CA
| | - Marjorie R Leek
- VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, CA
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, CA
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4
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Fostick L, Taitelbaum-Swead R, Kreitler S, Zokraut S, Billig M. Auditory Training to Improve Speech Perception and Self-Efficacy in Aging Adults. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:1270-1281. [PMID: 32182434 DOI: 10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Difficulty in understanding spoken speech is a common complaint among aging adults, even when hearing impairment is absent. Correlational studies point to a relationship between age, auditory temporal processing (ATP), and speech perception but cannot demonstrate causality unlike training studies. In the current study, we test (a) the causal relationship between a spatial-temporal ATP task (temporal order judgment [TOJ]) and speech perception among aging adults using a training design and (b) whether improvement in aging adult speech perception is accompanied by improved self-efficacy. Method Eighty-two participants aged 60-83 years were randomly assigned to a group receiving (a) ATP training (TOJ) over 14 days, (b) non-ATP training (intensity discrimination) over 14 days, or (c) no training. Results The data showed that TOJ training elicited improvement in all speech perception tests, which was accompanied by increased self-efficacy. Neither improvement in speech perception nor self-efficacy was evident following non-ATP training or no training. Conclusions There was no generalization of the improvement resulting from TOJ training to intensity discrimination or generalization of improvement resulting from intensity discrimination training to speech perception. These findings imply that the effect of TOJ training on speech perception is specific and such improvement is not simply the product of generally improved auditory perception. It provides support for the idea that temporal properties of speech are indeed crucial for speech perception. Clinically, the findings suggest that aging adults can be trained to improve their speech perception, specifically through computer-based auditory training, and this may improve perceived self-efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah Fostick
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, Israel
| | | | | | - Shelly Zokraut
- Department of Health Systems Management, Ariel University, Israel
| | - Miriam Billig
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ariel University, Israel
- Eastern R&D Center, Ariel, Israel
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5
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Venezia JH, Martin AG, Hickok G, Richards VM. Identification of the Spectrotemporal Modulations That Support Speech Intelligibility in Hearing-Impaired and Normal-Hearing Listeners. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2019; 62:1051-1067. [PMID: 30986140 PMCID: PMC6802883 DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-h-18-0045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Age-related sensorineural hearing loss can dramatically affect speech recognition performance due to reduced audibility and suprathreshold distortion of spectrotemporal information. Normal aging produces changes within the central auditory system that impose further distortions. The goal of this study was to characterize the effects of aging and hearing loss on perceptual representations of speech. Method We asked whether speech intelligibility is supported by different patterns of spectrotemporal modulations (STMs) in older listeners compared to young normal-hearing listeners. We recruited 3 groups of participants: 20 older hearing-impaired (OHI) listeners, 19 age-matched normal-hearing listeners, and 10 young normal-hearing (YNH) listeners. Listeners performed a speech recognition task in which randomly selected regions of the speech STM spectrum were revealed from trial to trial. The overall amount of STM information was varied using an up-down staircase to hold performance at 50% correct. Ordinal regression was used to estimate weights showing which regions of the STM spectrum were associated with good performance (a "classification image" or CImg). Results The results indicated that (a) large-scale CImg patterns did not differ between the 3 groups; (b) weights in a small region of the CImg decreased systematically as hearing loss increased; (c) CImgs were also nonsystematically distorted in OHI listeners, and the magnitude of this distortion predicted speech recognition performance even after accounting for audibility; and (d) YNH listeners performed better overall than the older groups. Conclusion We conclude that OHI/older normal-hearing listeners rely on the same speech STMs as YNH listeners but encode this information less efficiently. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7859981.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan H. Venezia
- VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, CA
- Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA
| | | | - Gregory Hickok
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine
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6
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Fostick L. Card playing enhances speech perception among aging adults: comparison with aging musicians. Eur J Ageing 2019; 16:481-489. [PMID: 31798372 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-019-00512-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Speech perception and auditory processing have been shown to be enhanced among aging musicians as compared to non-musicians. In the present study, the aim was to test whether these functions are also enhanced among those who are engaged in a non-musical mentally challenging leisure activity (card playing). Three groups of 23 aging adults, aged 60-80 years, were recruited for the study: Musicians, Card players, and Controls. Participants were matched for age, gender, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III Matrix Reasoning, and Digit Span scores. Their performance was measured using auditory spectral and spatial temporal order judgment tests, and four tasks of speech perception in conditions of: no background noise, background noise of speech frequencies, background noise of white noise, and 60% compressed speech. Musicians were better in auditory and speech perception than the other two groups. Card players were similar to Controls in auditory perception tasks, but were better in the speech perception tasks. Non-musician aging adults may be able to improve their speech perception ability by engaging in leisure activity requiring cognitive effort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah Fostick
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
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7
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Ronen M, Lifshitz-Ben-Basat A, Taitelbaum-Swead R, Fostick L. Auditory temporal processing, reading, and phonological awareness among aging adults. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 190:1-10. [PMID: 29986206 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2018] [Revised: 06/25/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Auditory temporal processing (ATP) has been related in the literature to both speech perception as well as reading and phonological awareness. In aging adults, it is known to be related to difficulties in speech perception. In the present study, we aimed to test whether an age-related deficit in ATP would also be accompanied by poor reading and phonological awareness. Thirty-eight aging adults were compared to 55 readers with dyslexia and 42 young normal readers on temporal order judgment (TOJ), speech perception, reading, and phonological awareness tests. Aging adults had longer TOJ thresholds than young normal readers, but shorter than readers with dyslexia; however, they had lower speech perception accuracy than both groups. Phonological awareness of the aging adults was better than readers with dyslexia, but poorer than young normal readers, although their reading accuracy was similar to that of the young controls. This is the first report on poor phonological awareness among aging adults. Suprisingly, it was not accompanied by difficulties in reading ability, and might instead be related to aging adults' difficulties in speech perception. This newly discovered relationship between ATP and phonological awareness among aging adults appears to extend the existing understanding of this relationship, and suggests it should be explored in other groups with ATP deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Ronen
- Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Israel
| | | | | | - Leah Fostick
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, Israel.
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8
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Reflection- and Distortion-Source Otoacoustic Emissions: Evidence for Increased Irregularity in the Human Cochlea During Aging. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2018; 19:493-510. [PMID: 29968098 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-018-0680-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research on distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) components has hinted at possible differences in the effect of aging on the two basic types of OAEs: those generated by a reflection mechanism in the cochlea and those created by nonlinear distortion (Abdala and Dhar in J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 13:403-421, 2012). This initial work led to the hypothesis that micromechanical irregularity ("roughness") increases in the aging cochlea, perhaps as the result of natural tissue degradation. Increased roughness would boost the backscattering of traveling waves (i.e., reflection emissions) while minimally impacting DPOAEs. To study the relational effect of aging on both types of emissions and address our hypothesis of its origin, we measured reflection- and distortion-type OAEs in 77 human subjects aged 18-76 years. The stimulus-frequency OAE (SFOAE), a reflection emission, and the distortion component of the DPOAE, a nonlinear distortion emission, were recorded at multiple stimulus levels across a four-octave range in all ears. Although the levels of both OAE types decreased with age, the rate of decline in OAE level was consistently greater for DPOAEs than for SFOAEs; that is, SFOAEs are relatively preserved with advancing age. Multiple regression analyses and other controls indicate that aging per se, and not hearing loss, drives this effect. Furthermore, SFOAE generation was simulated using computational modeling to explore the origin of this result. Increasing the amount of mechanical irregularity with age produced an enhancement of SFOAE levels, providing support for the hypothesis that increased intra-cochlear roughness during aging may preserve SFOAE levels. The characteristic aging effect-relatively preserved reflection-emission levels combined with more markedly reduced distortion-emission levels-indicates that SFOAE magnitudes in elderly individuals depend on more than simply the gain of the cochlear amplifier. This relative pattern of OAE decline with age may provide a diagnostic marker for aging-related changes in the cochlea.
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9
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Jennings SG, Chen J, Fultz SE, Ahlstrom JB, Dubno JR. Amplitude modulation detection with a short-duration carrier: Effects of a precursor and hearing loss. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 143:2232. [PMID: 29716275 PMCID: PMC5908713 DOI: 10.1121/1.5031122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2017] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
This study tests the hypothesis that amplitude modulation (AM) detection will be better under conditions where basilar membrane (BM) response growth is expected to be linear rather than compressive. This hypothesis was tested by (1) comparing AM detection for a tonal carrier as a function of carrier level for subjects with and without cochlear hearing impairment (HI), and by (2) comparing AM detection for carriers presented with and without an ipsilateral notched-noise precursor, under the assumption that the precursor linearizes BM responses. Average AM detection thresholds were approximately 5 dB better for subjects with HI than for subjects with normal hearing (NH) at moderate-level carriers. Average AM detection for low-to-moderate level carriers was approximately 2 dB better with the precursor than without the precursor for subjects with NH, whereas precursor effects were absent or smaller for subjects with HI. Although effect sizes were small and individual differences were noted, group differences are consistent with better AM detection for conditions where BM responses are less compressive due to cochlear hearing loss or due to a reduction in cochlear gain. These findings suggest the auditory system may quickly adjust to the local soundscape to increase effective AM depth and improve signal-to-noise ratios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Skyler G Jennings
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Utah, 390 South, 1530 East, BEHS 1201, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
| | - Jessica Chen
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Utah, 390 South, 1530 East, BEHS 1201, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
| | - Sara E Fultz
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, South Carolina 29425-5500, USA
| | - Jayne B Ahlstrom
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, South Carolina 29425-5500, USA
| | - Judy R Dubno
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, South Carolina 29425-5500, USA
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10
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Shinn-Cunningham B. Cortical and Sensory Causes of Individual Differences in Selective Attention Ability Among Listeners With Normal Hearing Thresholds. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2017; 60:2976-2988. [PMID: 29049598 PMCID: PMC5945067 DOI: 10.1044/2017_jslhr-h-17-0080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2017] [Revised: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This review provides clinicians with an overview of recent findings relevant to understanding why listeners with normal hearing thresholds (NHTs) sometimes suffer from communication difficulties in noisy settings. METHOD The results from neuroscience and psychoacoustics are reviewed. RESULTS In noisy settings, listeners focus their attention by engaging cortical brain networks to suppress unimportant sounds; they then can analyze and understand an important sound, such as speech, amidst competing sounds. Differences in the efficacy of top-down control of attention can affect communication abilities. In addition, subclinical deficits in sensory fidelity can disrupt the ability to perceptually segregate sound sources, interfering with selective attention, even in listeners with NHTs. Studies of variability in control of attention and in sensory coding fidelity may help to isolate and identify some of the causes of communication disorders in individuals presenting at the clinic with "normal hearing." CONCLUSIONS How well an individual with NHTs can understand speech amidst competing sounds depends not only on the sound being audible but also on the integrity of cortical control networks and the fidelity of the representation of suprathreshold sound. Understanding the root cause of difficulties experienced by listeners with NHTs ultimately can lead to new, targeted interventions that address specific deficits affecting communication in noise. PRESENTATION VIDEO http://cred.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2601617.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
- Center for Research in Sensory Communication and Emerging Neural Technology, Boston University, MA
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11
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Lai J, Sommer AL, Bartlett EL. Age-related changes in envelope-following responses at equalized peripheral or central activation. Neurobiol Aging 2017; 58:191-200. [PMID: 28753474 PMCID: PMC5581704 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2017.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2016] [Revised: 06/18/2017] [Accepted: 06/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Previous work has debated about the comparisons of hearing abilities faced with alterations in hearing thresholds and evoked potentials between groups following acoustic trauma- or age-related changes. This study compares envelope-following responses (EFRs) of young and aged rats when sound levels were matched according to (1) wave I amplitudes of auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) elicited by 8-kHz tones or (2) EFR amplitudes evoked by sinusoidally amplitude-modulated (SAM) tones at 100% depth. Matched wave I amplitudes across age corresponded to approximately 20-dB sound level differences. For matched wave I, no age-related differences were observed in wave V amplitudes. However, EFRs recorded in silence were enhanced with aging at 100% but not at 25% depth, consistent with enhanced central gain in aging. For matched EFRs, there were no age-related differences in EFRs of amplitude modulation (AM) depth and AM frequency processing. These results suggest novel, objective measures beyond threshold to compensate for differences in auditory nerve activation and to differentiate peripheral and central contributions of EFRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesyin Lai
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Alexandra L Sommer
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Edward L Bartlett
- Department of Biological Sciences and the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
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12
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Babkoff H, Fostick L. Age-related changes in auditory processing and speech perception: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Eur J Ageing 2017; 14:269-281. [PMID: 28936137 PMCID: PMC5587455 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-017-0410-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Age-related differences in speech perception have been shown in previous cross-sectional studies to be related to auditory temporal processing. We examined this association in both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, controlling for age-related changes in hearing sensitivity and cognitive ability. Fifty-eight participants were tested in two phases. In phase 1, ages ranged between 22 and 82 years. Phase 2 occurred seven years later. In both phases, participants performed auditory processing tasks, speech perception tests, and cognitive tasks. In both phases, age correlated with hearing level, auditory temporal processing thresholds, word recognition accuracy in noise, and compressed speech. Auditory temporal processing thresholds were correlated with word recognition accuracy in narrowband noise and compressed speech. Longitudinal analysis showed significant decreases in performance from phase 1 to phase 2 in hearing level, dichotic TOJ thresholds, and word recognition accuracy. Steeper slopes were observed in phase 2 than in phase 1 for correlations between age, hearing level, and word recognition accuracy in narrowband noise, but not for age and dichotic TOJ thresholds. Generalized estimating equations revealed an overall decrease in word recognition accuracy from phase 1 to phase 2; this decrease was larger for older participants. Increases in dichotic TOJ and gap detection thresholds were associated with a decrease over time in speech in narrowband and broadband noise, and compressed speech, even when adjusted for age, hearing level, and cognitive ability. These results show that both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs yield similar significant associations between temporal processing and speech perception, even when adjusted for hearing level and cognitive ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harvey Babkoff
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
- Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel
| | - Leah Fostick
- Department of Communication Disorders, Ariel University, Ariel, 40700 Israel
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13
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14
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Smith KG, Fogerty D. Integration of partial information for spoken and written sentence recognition by older listeners. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 139:EL240. [PMID: 27369179 PMCID: PMC6909986 DOI: 10.1121/1.4954634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Older adults have difficulty understanding speech in challenging listening environments. Combining multisensory signals may facilitate speech recognition. This study measured recognition of interrupted spoken and written sentences by older adults for different preserved stimulus proportions. Unimodal performance was first examined when only interrupted text or speech stimuli were presented. Multimodal performance with concurrently presented text and speech stimuli was tested with delayed and simultaneous participant responses. Older listeners performed better in unimodal speech-only compared to text-only conditions across all proportions preserved. Performance was also better in delayed multimodal conditions. Comparison to a younger sample suggests age-related amodal processing declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly G Smith
- Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of South Alabama, 5721 USA Drive North, Mobile, Alabama 36688, USA
| | - Daniel Fogerty
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, 1224 Sumter Street, Suite 300, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
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15
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Koch X, Janse E. Speech rate effects on the processing of conversational speech across the adult life span. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 139:1618. [PMID: 27106310 DOI: 10.1121/1.4944032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates the effect of speech rate on spoken word recognition across the adult life span. Contrary to previous studies, conversational materials with a natural variation in speech rate were used rather than lab-recorded stimuli that are subsequently artificially time-compressed. It was investigated whether older adults' speech recognition is more adversely affected by increased speech rate compared to younger and middle-aged adults, and which individual listener characteristics (e.g., hearing, fluid cognitive processing ability) predict the size of the speech rate effect on recognition performance. In an eye-tracking experiment, participants indicated with a mouse-click which visually presented words they recognized in a conversational fragment. Click response times, gaze, and pupil size data were analyzed. As expected, click response times and gaze behavior were affected by speech rate, indicating that word recognition is more difficult if speech rate is faster. Contrary to earlier findings, increased speech rate affected the age groups to the same extent. Fluid cognitive processing ability predicted general recognition performance, but did not modulate the speech rate effect. These findings emphasize that earlier results of age by speech rate interactions mainly obtained with artificially speeded materials may not generalize to speech rate variation as encountered in conversational speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xaver Koch
- Center for Language Studies, Radboud University, Erasmusplein 1, 6525 HT, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Esther Janse
- Center for Language Studies, Radboud University, Erasmusplein 1, 6525 HT, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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16
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Karawani H, Bitan T, Attias J, Banai K. Auditory Perceptual Learning in Adults with and without Age-Related Hearing Loss. Front Psychol 2016; 6:2066. [PMID: 26869944 PMCID: PMC4737899 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2015] [Accepted: 12/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction : Speech recognition in adverse listening conditions becomes more difficult as we age, particularly for individuals with age-related hearing loss (ARHL). Whether these difficulties can be eased with training remains debated, because it is not clear whether the outcomes are sufficiently general to be of use outside of the training context. The aim of the current study was to compare training-induced learning and generalization between normal-hearing older adults and those with ARHL. Methods : Fifty-six listeners (60-72 y/o), 35 participants with ARHL, and 21 normal hearing adults participated in the study. The study design was a cross over design with three groups (immediate-training, delayed-training, and no-training group). Trained participants received 13 sessions of home-based auditory training over the course of 4 weeks. Three adverse listening conditions were targeted: (1) Speech-in-noise, (2) time compressed speech, and (3) competing speakers, and the outcomes of training were compared between normal and ARHL groups. Pre- and post-test sessions were completed by all participants. Outcome measures included tests on all of the trained conditions as well as on a series of untrained conditions designed to assess the transfer of learning to other speech and non-speech conditions. Results : Significant improvements on all trained conditions were observed in both ARHL and normal-hearing groups over the course of training. Normal hearing participants learned more than participants with ARHL in the speech-in-noise condition, but showed similar patterns of learning in the other conditions. Greater pre- to post-test changes were observed in trained than in untrained listeners on all trained conditions. In addition, the ability of trained listeners from the ARHL group to discriminate minimally different pseudowords in noise also improved with training. Conclusions : ARHL did not preclude auditory perceptual learning but there was little generalization to untrained conditions. We suggest that most training-related changes occurred at higher level task-specific cognitive processes in both groups. However, these were enhanced by high quality perceptual representations in the normal-hearing group. In contrast, some training-related changes have also occurred at the level of phonemic representations in the ARHL group, consistent with an interaction between bottom-up and top-down processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanin Karawani
- The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa Haifa, Israel
| | - Tali Bitan
- The Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Haifa Haifa, Israel
| | - Joseph Attias
- The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa Haifa, Israel
| | - Karen Banai
- The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa Haifa, Israel
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Freigang C, Richter N, Rübsamen R, Ludwig AA. Age-related changes in sound localisation ability. Cell Tissue Res 2015; 361:371-86. [PMID: 26077928 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-015-2230-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Auditory spatial processing is an important ability in everyday life and allows the processing of omnidirectional information. In this review, we report and compare data from psychoacoustic and electrophysiological experiments on sound localisation accuracy and auditory spatial discrimination in infants, children, and young and older adults. The ability to process auditory spatial information changes over lifetime: the perception of the acoustic space develops from an initially imprecise representation in infants and young children to a concise representation of spatial positions in young adults and the respective performance declines again in older adults. Localisation accuracy shows a strong deterioration in older adults, presumably due to declined processing of binaural temporal and monaural spectro-temporal cues. When compared to young adults, the thresholds for spatial discrimination were strongly elevated both in young children and older adults. Despite the consistency of the measured values the underlying causes for the impaired performance might be different: (1) the effect is due to reduced cognitive processing ability and is thus task-related; (2) the effect is due to reduced information about the auditory space and caused by declined processing in auditory brain stem circuits; and (3) the auditory space processing regime in young children is still undergoing developmental changes and the interrelation with spatial visual processing is not yet established. In conclusion, we argue that for studying auditory space processing over the life course, it is beneficial to investigate spatial discrimination ability instead of localisation accuracy because it more reliably indicates changes in the processing ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Freigang
- Faculty of Bioscience, Pharmacy and Psychology, University of Leipzig, Talstrasse 33, 04103, Leipzig, Germany,
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18
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Dupuis K, Pichora-Fuller MK. Aging Affects Identification of Vocal Emotions in Semantically Neutral Sentences. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2015; 58:1061-1076. [PMID: 25810032 DOI: 10.1044/2015_jslhr-h-14-0256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2014] [Accepted: 03/10/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The authors determined the accuracy of younger and older adults in identifying vocal emotions using the Toronto Emotional Speech Set (TESS; Dupuis & Pichora-Fuller, 2010a) and investigated the possible contributions of auditory acuity and suprathreshold processing to emotion identification accuracy. METHOD In 2 experiments, younger and older adults with normal hearing listened to and identified vocal emotions in the TESS stimuli. The TESS consists of phrases with controlled syntactic, lexical, and phonological properties spoken by an older female talker and a younger female talker to convey 7 emotion conditions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, neutral, happiness, and pleasant surprise). Participants in both experiments completed audiometric testing; participants in Experiment 2 also completed 3 tests of suprathreshold auditory processing. RESULTS Identification by both age groups was above chance for all emotions. Accuracy was lower for older adults in both experiments. The pattern of results was similar across age groups and experiments. Auditory acuity did not predict identification accuracy for either age group in either experiment, nor did performance on tests of auditory processing in Experiment 2. CONCLUSIONS These results replicate and extend previous findings concerning age-related differences in ability to identify vocal emotions and suggest that older adults' auditory abilities do not explain their difficulties in identifying vocal emotions.
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Marmel F, Rodríguez-Mendoza MA, Lopez-Poveda EA. Stochastic undersampling steepens auditory threshold/duration functions: implications for understanding auditory deafferentation and aging. Front Aging Neurosci 2015; 7:63. [PMID: 26029098 PMCID: PMC4432715 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2015.00063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2014] [Accepted: 04/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
It has long been known that some listeners experience hearing difficulties out of proportion with their audiometric losses. Notably, some older adults as well as auditory neuropathy patients have temporal-processing and speech-in-noise intelligibility deficits not accountable for by elevated audiometric thresholds. The study of these hearing deficits has been revitalized by recent studies that show that auditory deafferentation comes with aging and can occur even in the absence of an audiometric loss. The present study builds on the stochastic undersampling principle proposed by Lopez-Poveda and Barrios (2013) to account for the perceptual effects of auditory deafferentation. Auditory threshold/duration functions were measured for broadband noises that were stochastically undersampled to various different degrees. Stimuli with and without undersampling were equated for overall energy in order to focus on the changes that undersampling elicited on the stimulus waveforms, and not on its effects on the overall stimulus energy. Stochastic undersampling impaired the detection of short sounds (<20 ms). The detection of long sounds (>50 ms) did not change or improved, depending on the degree of undersampling. The results for short sounds show that stochastic undersampling, and hence presumably deafferentation, can account for the steeper threshold/duration functions observed in auditory neuropathy patients and older adults with (near) normal audiometry. This suggests that deafferentation might be diagnosed using pure-tone audiometry with short tones. It further suggests that the auditory system of audiometrically normal older listeners might not be “slower than normal”, as is commonly thought, but simply less well afferented. Finally, the results for both short and long sounds support the probabilistic theories of detectability that challenge the idea that auditory threshold occurs by integration of sound energy over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frédéric Marmel
- Audición Computacional y Psicoacústica, Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain ; Grupo de Audiología, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain
| | - Medardo A Rodríguez-Mendoza
- Audición Computacional y Psicoacústica, Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain
| | - Enrique A Lopez-Poveda
- Audición Computacional y Psicoacústica, Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain ; Grupo de Audiología, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain ; Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Cirugía, Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain
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20
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Getzmann S, Lewald J, Falkenstein M. Using auditory pre-information to solve the cocktail-party problem: electrophysiological evidence for age-specific differences. Front Neurosci 2014; 8:413. [PMID: 25540608 PMCID: PMC4261705 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 11/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech understanding in complex and dynamic listening environments requires (a) auditory scene analysis, namely auditory object formation and segregation, and (b) allocation of the attentional focus to the talker of interest. There is evidence that pre-information is actively used to facilitate these two aspects of the so-called “cocktail-party” problem. Here, a simulated multi-talker scenario was combined with electroencephalography to study scene analysis and allocation of attention in young and middle-aged adults. Sequences of short words (combinations of brief company names and stock-price values) from four talkers at different locations were simultaneously presented, and the detection of target names and the discrimination between critical target values were assessed. Immediately prior to speech sequences, auditory pre-information was provided via cues that either prepared auditory scene analysis or attentional focusing, or non-specific pre-information was given. While performance was generally better in younger than older participants, both age groups benefited from auditory pre-information. The analysis of the cue-related event-related potentials revealed age-specific differences in the use of pre-cues: Younger adults showed a pronounced N2 component, suggesting early inhibition of concurrent speech stimuli; older adults exhibited a stronger late P3 component, suggesting increased resource allocation to process the pre-information. In sum, the results argue for an age-specific utilization of auditory pre-information to improve listening in complex dynamic auditory environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Getzmann
- Aging Research Group, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo) Dortmund, Germany
| | - Jörg Lewald
- Aging Research Group, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo) Dortmund, Germany ; Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum Bochum, Germany
| | - Michael Falkenstein
- Aging Research Group, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo) Dortmund, Germany
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21
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Gallun FJ, McMillan GP, Molis MR, Kampel SD, Dann SM, Konrad-Martin DL. Relating age and hearing loss to monaural, bilateral, and binaural temporal sensitivity. Front Neurosci 2014; 8:172. [PMID: 25009458 PMCID: PMC4070059 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2014] [Accepted: 06/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Older listeners are more likely than younger listeners to have difficulties in making temporal discriminations among auditory stimuli presented to one or both ears. In addition, the performance of older listeners is often observed to be more variable than that of younger listeners. The aim of this work was to relate age and hearing loss to temporal processing ability in a group of younger and older listeners with a range of hearing thresholds. Seventy-eight listeners were tested on a set of three temporal discrimination tasks (monaural gap discrimination, bilateral gap discrimination, and binaural discrimination of interaural differences in time). To examine the role of temporal fine structure in these tasks, four types of brief stimuli were used: tone bursts, broad-frequency chirps with rising or falling frequency contours, and random-phase noise bursts. Between-subject group analyses conducted separately for each task revealed substantial increases in temporal thresholds for the older listeners across all three tasks, regardless of stimulus type, as well as significant correlations among the performance of individual listeners across most combinations of tasks and stimuli. Differences in performance were associated with the stimuli in the monaural and binaural tasks, but not the bilateral task. Temporal fine structure differences among the stimuli had the greatest impact on monaural thresholds. Threshold estimate values across all tasks and stimuli did not show any greater variability for the older listeners as compared to the younger listeners. A linear mixed model applied to the data suggested that age and hearing loss are independent factors responsible for temporal processing ability, thus supporting the increasingly accepted hypothesis that temporal processing can be impaired for older compared to younger listeners with similar hearing and/or amounts of hearing loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick J. Gallun
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Portland VA Medical CenterPortland, OR, USA
- Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USA
| | - Garnett P. McMillan
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Portland VA Medical CenterPortland, OR, USA
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USA
| | - Michelle R. Molis
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Portland VA Medical CenterPortland, OR, USA
- Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USA
| | - Sean D. Kampel
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Portland VA Medical CenterPortland, OR, USA
| | - Serena M. Dann
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Portland VA Medical CenterPortland, OR, USA
| | - Dawn L. Konrad-Martin
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, Portland VA Medical CenterPortland, OR, USA
- Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health and Science UniversityPortland, OR, USA
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Kishon-Rabin L, Avivi-Reich M, Ari-Even Roth D. Improved Gap Detection Thresholds Following Auditory Training: Evidence of Auditory Plasticity in Older Adults. Am J Audiol 2013; 22:343-6. [DOI: 10.1044/1059-0889(2013/12-0084)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose
In this article, the authors aimed to measure the course of improvement in a gap-detection (GD) task following multisession training in older compared with young adults.
Method
Participants with normal hearing (
N
= 30) were divided into 4 groups: 2 groups of older and young adults who received multisession training over 10 days (9 adults/group,
M
age
= 64.7 years and 24.1 years, respectively) and 2 control groups of older and young adults (6 adults/group,
M
age
= 65.4 years and 26.3 years, respectively). Stimuli consisted of silent gaps marked by 2 noise bands centered at 1000 Hz. GD thresholds (GDTs) were measured through use of an adaptive procedure in each testing day, 24 hr post-training and at 1 month post-training.
Results
Initial GDTs of the older group were significantly poorer than those of the young adults. However, by the fourth training day, the mean GDTs of the 2 groups were similar, and both groups showed the same rate of improvement in the following sessions. Data of the controls confirmed that the better GDTs of the trained groups resulted from their training. Retention of learning was demonstrated for both age groups.
Conclusions
The data from this study support the notion that some aspects of auditory learning and temporal resolution may be preserved in the elderly.
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Pichora-Fuller MK, Levitt H. Speech Comprehension Training and Auditory and Cognitive Processing in Older Adults. Am J Audiol 2012; 21:351-7. [PMID: 23233521 DOI: 10.1044/1059-0889(2012/12-0025)] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose
To provide a brief history of speech comprehension training systems and an overview of research on auditory and cognitive aging as background to recommendations for future directions for rehabilitation.
Method
Two distinct domains were reviewed: one concerning technological and the other concerning psychological aspects of training. Historical trends and advances in these 2 domains were interrelated to highlight converging trends and directions for future practice.
Results
Over the last century, technological advances have influenced both the design of hearing aids and training systems. Initially, training focused on children and those with severe loss for whom amplification was insufficient. Now the focus has shifted to older adults with relatively little loss but difficulties listening in noise. Evidence of brain plasticity from auditory and cognitive neuroscience provides new insights into how to facilitate perceptual (re-)learning by older adults.
Conclusions
There is a new imperative to complement training to increase bottom-up processing of the signal with more ecologically valid training to boost top-down information processing based on knowledge of language and the world. Advances in digital technologies enable the development of increasingly sophisticated training systems incorporating complex meaningful materials such as music, audiovisual interactive displays, and conversation.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Kathleen Pichora-Fuller
- University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
- The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Ontario, Canada
- Linköping University, Sweden
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Abstract
Older individuals often find it hard to communicate under difficult listening conditions, for example, in the presence of background noise or competing speakers. However, there is increasing evidence that this age-related decline in speech perception can be – at least in part – compensated by an increased recruitment of more general cognitive functions. The interplay of age-related declines and compensatory mechanisms in spoken language understanding under naturalistic and demanding listening conditions was tested here in a word detection task. Pairs of different coherent stories were presented dichotically to 14 younger and 14 older listeners (age ranges 19–25 and 54–64 years, respectively). The listeners had to respond to target words in one story, while suppressing distracting information in the other. In addition, the listeners had to pay attention to the content of the attended story. Older listeners outperformed the younger listeners in target detection and produced less missing responses. However, high performance in target detection came along with low performance in text recall. The analyses of event-related potentials indicated a reduction in parietal P3b of older, relative to younger, listeners. In turn, older listeners showed a prominent frontal P3a that was absent in younger listeners. In line with the so-called decline-compensation hypothesis, these results support the idea that, in order to perform well, older listeners compensate a potential decline by extra allocation of mental resources. One potential mechanism of compensation could be a selective attentional orientation to the target stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Getzmann
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
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