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Sharma S, Nogueira W, van Opstal AJ, Chalupper J, Mens LHM, van Wanrooij MM. Amount of Frequency Compression in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users Is a Poor Predictor for Audibility and Spatial Hearing. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:5000-5013. [PMID: 34714704 DOI: 10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Speech understanding in noise and horizontal sound localization is poor in most cochlear implant (CI) users with a hearing aid (bimodal stimulation). This study investigated the effect of static and less-extreme adaptive frequency compression in hearing aids on spatial hearing. By means of frequency compression, we aimed to restore high-frequency audibility, and thus improve sound localization and spatial speech recognition. METHOD Sound-detection thresholds, sound localization, and spatial speech recognition were measured in eight bimodal CI users, with and without frequency compression. We tested two compression algorithms: a static algorithm, which compressed frequencies beyond the compression knee point (160 or 480 Hz), and an adaptive algorithm, which aimed to compress only consonants leaving vowels unaffected (adaptive knee-point frequencies from 736 to 2946 Hz). RESULTS Compression yielded a strong audibility benefit (high-frequency thresholds improved by 40 and 24 dB for static and adaptive compression, respectively), no meaningful improvement in localization performance (errors remained > 30 deg), and spatial speech recognition across all participants. Localization biases without compression (toward the hearing-aid and implant side for low- and high-frequency sounds, respectively) disappeared or reversed with compression. The audibility benefits provided to each bimodal user partially explained any individual improvements in localization performance; shifts in bias; and, for six out of eight participants, benefits in spatial speech recognition. CONCLUSIONS We speculate that limiting factors such as a persistent hearing asymmetry and mismatch in spectral overlap prevent compression in bimodal users from improving sound localization. Therefore, the benefit in spatial release from masking by compression is likely due to a shift of attention to the ear with the better signal-to-noise ratio facilitated by compression, rather than an improved spatial selectivity. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16869485.
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Affiliation(s)
- Snandan Sharma
- Department of Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Waldo Nogueira
- Department of Otolaryngology, Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Medical University Hannover, Germany
| | - A John van Opstal
- Department of Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Josef Chalupper
- Advanced Bionics, European Research Center, Hannover, Germany
| | - Lucas H M Mens
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Marc M van Wanrooij
- Department of Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Picou EM, Rakita L, Buono GH, Moore TM. Effects of Increasing the Overall Level or Fitting Hearing Aids on Emotional Responses to Sounds. Trends Hear 2021; 25:23312165211049938. [PMID: 34866509 PMCID: PMC8825634 DOI: 10.1177/23312165211049938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Adults with hearing loss demonstrate a reduced range of emotional responses to nonspeech
sounds compared to their peers with normal hearing. The purpose of this study was to
evaluate two possible strategies for addressing the effects of hearing loss on emotional
responses: (a) increasing overall level and (b) hearing aid use (with and without
nonlinear frequency compression, NFC). Twenty-three adults (mean age = 65.5 years) with
mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss and 17 adults (mean age = 56.2 years) with
normal hearing participated. All adults provided ratings of valence and arousal without
hearing aids in response to nonspeech sounds presented at a moderate and at a high level.
Adults with hearing loss also provided ratings while using individually fitted study
hearing aids with two settings (NFC-OFF or NFC-ON). Hearing loss and hearing aid use
impacted ratings of valence but not arousal. Listeners with hearing loss rated pleasant
sounds as less pleasant than their peers, confirming findings in the extant literature.
For both groups, increasing the overall level resulted in lower ratings of valence. For
listeners with hearing loss, the use of hearing aids (NFC-OFF) also resulted in lower
ratings of valence but to a lesser extent than increasing the overall level. Activating
NFC resulted in ratings that were similar to ratings without hearing aids (with a moderate
presentation level) but did not improve ratings to match those from the listeners with
normal hearing. These findings suggest that current interventions do not ameliorate the
effects of hearing loss on emotional responses to sound.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin M Picou
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, 12328Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville TN, USA
| | - Lori Rakita
- Department of Otolaryngology, 1866Massachusetts Ear and Eye Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gabrielle H Buono
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, 12328Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville TN, USA
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Qi S, Chen X, Yang J, Wang X, Tian X, Huang H, Rehmann J, Kuehnel V, Guan J, Xu L. Effects of Adaptive Non-linear Frequency Compression in Hearing Aids on Mandarin Speech and Sound-Quality Perception. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:722970. [PMID: 34483833 PMCID: PMC8414550 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.722970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective This study was aimed at examining the effects of an adaptive non-linear frequency compression algorithm implemented in hearing aids (i.e., SoundRecover2, or SR2) at different parameter settings and auditory acclimatization on speech and sound-quality perception in native Mandarin-speaking adult listeners with sensorineural hearing loss. Design Data consisted of participants’ unaided and aided hearing thresholds, Mandarin consonant and vowel recognition in quiet, and sentence recognition in noise, as well as sound-quality ratings through five sessions in a 12-week period with three SR2 settings (i.e., SR2 off, SR2 default, and SR2 strong). Study Sample Twenty-nine native Mandarin-speaking adults aged 37–76 years old with symmetric sloping moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss were recruited. They were all fitted bilaterally with Phonak Naida V90-SP BTE hearing aids with hard ear-molds. Results The participants demonstrated a significant improvement of aided hearing in detecting high frequency sounds at 8 kHz. For consonant recognition and overall sound-quality rating, the participants performed significantly better with the SR2 default setting than the other two settings. No significant differences were found in vowel and sentence recognition among the three SR2 settings. Test session was a significant factor that contributed to the participants’ performance in all speech and sound-quality perception tests. Specifically, the participants benefited from a longer duration of hearing aid use. Conclusion Findings from this study suggested possible perceptual benefit from the adaptive non-linear frequency compression algorithm for native Mandarin-speaking adults with moderate-to-profound hearing loss. Periods of acclimatization should be taken for better performance in novel technologies in hearing aids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Qi
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Xueqing Chen
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Xianhui Wang
- Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Li Xu
- Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States
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Chen X, You Y, Yang J, Qian J, Lu Q, Kuehnel V, Rehmann J, Liu B, Xu L. Effects of nonlinear frequency compression on Mandarin speech and sound-quality perception in hearing-aid users. Int J Audiol 2020; 59:524-533. [PMID: 32441563 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2020.1761035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of NLFC fitting in hearing aids and auditory acclimatisation on speech perception and sound-quality rating in hearing-impaired, native Mandarin-speaking adult listeners.Design: Mandarin consonant, vowel and tone recognition were tested in quiet and sentence recognition in noise (speech-shaped noise at a +5 dB signal-to-noise ratio) with NLFC-on and NLFC-off. Sound-quality ratings were collected on a 0-10 scale at each test session. A generalised linear model and correlational analyses were performed.Study sample: Thirty native Mandarin-speaking adults with moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss were recruited.Results: The hearing-impaired listeners showed significantly higher accuracy with NLFC-on than with NLFC-off for consonant and sentence recognition and the recognition performance improved with both NLFC-on and off as a function of increased length of use. The satisfaction score of sound-quality ratings for different types of sounds significantly increased with NLFC-on than with NLFC-off. The speech recognition results showed moderate to strong correlation with the unaided hearing thresholds.Conclusion: For native Mandarin-speaking listeners with hearing loss, the NLFC technology provided modest but significant improvement in Mandarin fricative and sentence recognition. Subjectively, the naturalness and overall preference of sound-quality satisfaction judgement also improved with NLFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueqing Chen
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Yanyan You
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Jinyu Qian
- Innovation Center Toronto, Sonova Canada, Mississauga, ON, Canada.,Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
| | - Qian Lu
- Sonova China, Shanghai, China
| | | | | | - Bo Liu
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Institute of Otolaryngology, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | - Li Xu
- Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
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Xu L, Voss SC, Yang J, Wang X, Lu Q, Rehmann J, Kuehnel V, Qian J. Speech Perception and Sound-Quality Rating with an Adaptive Nonlinear Frequency Compression Algorithm in Mandarin-Speaking Hearing Aid Users. J Am Acad Audiol 2020; 31:590-598. [PMID: 32340058 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1709450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mandarin Chinese has a rich repertoire of high-frequency speech sounds. This may pose a remarkable challenge to hearing-impaired listeners who speak Mandarin Chinese because of their high-frequency sloping hearing loss. An adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (adaptive NLFC) algorithm has been implemented in contemporary hearing aids to alleviate the problem. PURPOSE The present study examined the performance of speech perception and sound-quality rating in Mandarin-speaking hearing-impaired listeners using hearing aids fitted with adaptive NLFC (i.e., SoundRecover2 or SR2) at different parameter settings. RESEARCH DESIGN Hearing-impaired listeners' phoneme detection thresholds, speech reception thresholds, and sound-quality ratings were collected with various SR2 settings. STUDY SAMPLE The participants included 15 Mandarin-speaking adults aged 32 to 84 years old who had symmetric sloping severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. INTERVENTION The participants were fitted bilaterally with Phonak Naida V90-SP hearing aids. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The outcome measures included phoneme detection threshold using the Mandarin Phonak Phoneme Perception test, speech reception threshold using the Mandarin hearing in noise test (M-HINT), and sound-quality ratings on human speech in quiet and noise, bird chirps, and music in quiet. For each test, five experimental settings were applied and compared: SR2-off, SR2-weak, SR2-default, SR2-strong 1, and SR2-strong 2. RESULTS The results showed that listeners performed significantly better with SR2-strong 1 and SR2-strong 2 settings than with SR2-off or SR2-weak settings for speech reception threshold and phoneme detection threshold. However, no significant improvement was observed in sound-quality ratings among different settings. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary findings suggested that the adaptive NLFC algorithm provides perceptual benefit to Mandarin-speaking people with severe-to-profound hearing loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Xu
- Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
| | - Solveig C Voss
- Innovation Centre Toronto, Sonova Canada, Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jing Yang
- Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Xianhui Wang
- Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
| | - Qian Lu
- Innovation Center Shanghai, Sonova China, Shanghai, China
| | | | | | - Jinyu Qian
- Innovation Centre Toronto, Sonova Canada, Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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