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Zhou M, Soleimanpour R, Mahajan A, Anderson S. Hearing Aid Delay Effects on Neural Phase Locking. Ear Hear 2024; 45:142-150. [PMID: 37434283 PMCID: PMC10718218 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study was designed to examine the effects of hearing aid delay on the neural representation of the temporal envelope. It was hypothesized that the comb-filter effect would disrupt neural phase locking, and that shorter hearing aid delays would minimize this effect. DESIGN Twenty-one participants, ages 50 years and older, with bilateral mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss were recruited through print advertisements in local senior newspapers. They were fitted with three different sets of hearing aids with average processing delays that ranged from 0.5 to 7 msec. Envelope-following responses (EFRs) were recorded to a 50-msec /da/ syllable presented through a speaker placed 1 meter in front of the participants while they wore the three sets of hearing aids with open tips. Phase-locking factor (PLF) and stimulus-to-response (STR) correlations were calculated from these recordings. RESULTS Recordings obtained while wearing hearing aids with a 0.5-msec processing delay showed higher PLF and STR correlations compared with those with either 5-msec or 7-msec delays. No differences were noted between recordings of hearing aids with 5-msec and 7-msec delays. The degree of difference between hearing aids was greater for individuals who had milder degrees of hearing loss. CONCLUSIONS Hearing aid processing delays disrupt phase locking due to mixing of processed and unprocessed sounds in the ear canal when using open domes. Given previous work showing that better phase locking correlates with better speech-in-noise performance, consideration should be given to reducing hearing aid processing delay in the design of hearing aid algorithms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Zhou
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Roksana Soleimanpour
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Aakriti Mahajan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
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Van Hirtum T, Somers B, Dieudonné B, Verschueren E, Wouters J, Francart T. Neural envelope tracking predicts speech intelligibility and hearing aid benefit in children with hearing loss. Hear Res 2023; 439:108893. [PMID: 37806102 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Early assessment of hearing aid benefit is crucial, as the extent to which hearing aids provide audible speech information predicts speech and language outcomes. A growing body of research has proposed neural envelope tracking as an objective measure of speech intelligibility, particularly for individuals unable to provide reliable behavioral feedback. However, its potential for evaluating speech intelligibility and hearing aid benefit in children with hearing loss remains unexplored. In this study, we investigated neural envelope tracking in children with permanent hearing loss through two separate experiments. EEG data were recorded while children listened to age-appropriate stories (Experiment 1) or an animated movie (Experiment 2) under aided and unaided conditions (using personal hearing aids) at multiple stimulus intensities. Neural envelope tracking was evaluated using a linear decoder reconstructing the speech envelope from the EEG in the delta band (0.5-4 Hz). Additionally, we calculated temporal response functions (TRFs) to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of the response. In both experiments, neural tracking increased with increasing stimulus intensity, but only in the unaided condition. In the aided condition, neural tracking remained stable across a wide range of intensities, as long as speech intelligibility was maintained. Similarly, TRF amplitudes increased with increasing stimulus intensity in the unaided condition, while in the aided condition significant differences were found in TRF latency rather than TRF amplitude. This suggests that decreasing stimulus intensity does not necessarily impact neural tracking. Furthermore, the use of personal hearing aids significantly enhanced neural envelope tracking, particularly in challenging speech conditions that would be inaudible when unaided. Finally, we found a strong correlation between neural envelope tracking and behaviorally measured speech intelligibility for both narrated stories (Experiment 1) and movie stimuli (Experiment 2). Altogether, these findings indicate that neural envelope tracking could be a valuable tool for predicting speech intelligibility benefits derived from personal hearing aids in hearing-impaired children. Incorporating narrated stories or engaging movies expands the accessibility of these methods even in clinical settings, offering new avenues for using objective speech measures to guide pediatric audiology decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilde Van Hirtum
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ben Somers
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Benjamin Dieudonné
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Eline Verschueren
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Francart
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
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De Oliveira ACS, Alcântara YB, De Góes VB, Menezes PDL, Chagas EFB, Machado MS, Frizzo ACF. Study of aged central auditory function using the auditory middle latency response. Clinics (Sao Paulo) 2023; 78:100245. [PMID: 37478629 PMCID: PMC10387568 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinsp.2023.100245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Investigate the auditory function of the elderly using the middle latency potentials. METHODOLOGY Group 1 (G1): 20 healthy individuals of both genders, older than 60 years, without hearing loss. Group 2 (G2): 20 healthy individuals of both sexes, older than 60 years, with hearing loss in frequencies from 4 to 8 kHz. Potential recording was performed with unilateral and bilateral stimulation and the Binaural Interaction Component was calculated. RESULTS Na latency in C3A1 was greater in the stimulation of the right ear in G2 and the amplitude of Na-Pa was greater in the stimulation of the right ear and recording in C3A1 in G1. The latency of the Pa component was higher in the stimulation of the right ear recorded in C4A2. The Pb component in G2 by bilateral stimulation and recorded in C4A2 had higher latency. The first and second negative and positive peaks presented greater amplitude in G1. In C3A1, the 1st negative peak was more negative in G1 and the 2nd positive peak showed greater amplitude in C4A2 in both groups. CONCLUSION The transmission of auditory information to the primary auditory cortex is impaired with aging, especially in unilateral stimulation, reinforced by losses in elderly people with peripheral hearing loss, such as in the binaural interaction at the cortical and subcortical levels. Thus, the AMLR has shown to be a sensitive examination to investigate neuroauditory disorders in the elderly, especially related to high-frequency hearing loss and primary auditory cortex dysfunctions caused by the aging process.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yara Bagali Alcântara
- Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences (FFC), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Marília, SP, Brazil
| | - Viviane Borim De Góes
- Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences (FFC), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Marília, SP, Brazil
| | - Pedro de Lemos Menezes
- Postgraduate at Program of the Northeast Network of Biotechnology (RENORBIO), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife, PE, Brazil; Program Research in Health, Centro Universitário CESMAC, Macéio, AL, Brazil; Speech Language Pathology Department, Universidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas (UNCISAL), Macéio, AL, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Federighi Baisi Chagas
- Postgraduate Program in Structural and Functional Interactions in Rehabilitation, Universidade de Marília (UNIMAR), Marília, SP, Brazil; Postgraduate Program, Faculdade de Medicina da Marília (FAMEMA), Marília, SP, Brazil
| | - Milena Sonsini Machado
- Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences (FFC), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Marília, SP, Brazil
| | - Ana Claudia Figueiredo Frizzo
- Speech Language Pathology Department and Graduate Program in Speech Language Pathology, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Marília, SP, Brazil.
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Karunathilake IMD, Dunlap JL, Perera J, Presacco A, Decruy L, Anderson S, Kuchinsky SE, Simon JZ. Effects of aging on cortical representations of continuous speech. J Neurophysiol 2023; 129:1359-1377. [PMID: 37096924 PMCID: PMC10202479 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00356.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding speech in a noisy environment is crucial in day-to-day interactions and yet becomes more challenging with age, even for healthy aging. Age-related changes in the neural mechanisms that enable speech-in-noise listening have been investigated previously; however, the extent to which age affects the timing and fidelity of encoding of target and interfering speech streams is not well understood. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated how continuous speech is represented in auditory cortex in the presence of interfering speech in younger and older adults. Cortical representations were obtained from neural responses that time-locked to the speech envelopes with speech envelope reconstruction and temporal response functions (TRFs). TRFs showed three prominent peaks corresponding to auditory cortical processing stages: early (∼50 ms), middle (∼100 ms), and late (∼200 ms). Older adults showed exaggerated speech envelope representations compared with younger adults. Temporal analysis revealed both that the age-related exaggeration starts as early as ∼50 ms and that older adults needed a substantially longer integration time window to achieve their better reconstruction of the speech envelope. As expected, with increased speech masking envelope reconstruction for the attended talker decreased and all three TRF peaks were delayed, with aging contributing additionally to the reduction. Interestingly, for older adults the late peak was delayed, suggesting that this late peak may receive contributions from multiple sources. Together these results suggest that there are several mechanisms at play compensating for age-related temporal processing deficits at several stages but which are not able to fully reestablish unimpaired speech perception.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We observed age-related changes in cortical temporal processing of continuous speech that may be related to older adults' difficulty in understanding speech in noise. These changes occur in both timing and strength of the speech representations at different cortical processing stages and depend on both noise condition and selective attention. Critically, their dependence on noise condition changes dramatically among the early, middle, and late cortical processing stages, underscoring how aging differentially affects these stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- I M Dushyanthi Karunathilake
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Jason L Dunlap
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Janani Perera
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Alessandro Presacco
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Lien Decruy
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Stefanie E Kuchinsky
- Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Jonathan Z Simon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
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Van Hirtum T, Somers B, Verschueren E, Dieudonné B, Francart T. Delta-band neural envelope tracking predicts speech intelligibility in noise in preschoolers. Hear Res 2023; 434:108785. [PMID: 37172414 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral tests are currently the gold standard in measuring speech intelligibility. However, these tests can be difficult to administer in young children due to factors such as motivation, linguistic knowledge and cognitive skills. It has been shown that measures of neural envelope tracking can be used to predict speech intelligibility and overcome these issues. However, its potential as an objective measure for speech intelligibility in noise remains to be investigated in preschool children. Here, we evaluated neural envelope tracking as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in 14 5-year-old children. We examined EEG responses to natural, continuous speech presented at different SNRs ranging from -8 (very difficult) to 8 dB SNR (very easy). As expected delta band (0.5-4 Hz) tracking increased with increasing stimulus SNR. However, this increase was not strictly monotonic as neural tracking reached a plateau between 0 and 4 dB SNR, similarly to the behavioral speech intelligibility outcomes. These findings indicate that neural tracking in the delta band remains stable, as long as the acoustical degradation of the speech signal does not reflect significant changes in speech intelligibility. Theta band tracking (4-8 Hz), on the other hand, was found to be drastically reduced and more easily affected by noise in children, making it less reliable as a measure of speech intelligibility. By contrast, neural envelope tracking in the delta band was directly associated with behavioral measures of speech intelligibility. This suggests that neural envelope tracking in the delta band is a valuable tool for evaluating speech-in-noise intelligibility in preschoolers, highlighting its potential as an objective measure of speech in difficult-to-test populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilde Van Hirtum
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Ben Somers
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Eline Verschueren
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Benjamin Dieudonné
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Tom Francart
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
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Ryan DB, Eckert MA, Sellers EW, Schairer KS, McBee MT, Ridley EA, Smith SL. Performance Monitoring and Cognitive Inhibition during a Speech-in-Noise Task in Older Listeners. Semin Hear 2023; 44:124-139. [PMID: 37122879 PMCID: PMC10147504 DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1767695] [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: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The goal of this study was to examine the effect of hearing loss on theta and alpha electroencephalography (EEG) frequency power measures of performance monitoring and cognitive inhibition, respectively, during a speech-in-noise task. It was hypothesized that hearing loss would be associated with an increase in the peak power of theta and alpha frequencies toward easier conditions compared to normal hearing adults. The shift would reflect how hearing loss modulates the recruitment of listening effort to easier listening conditions. Nine older adults with normal hearing (ONH) and 10 older adults with hearing loss (OHL) participated in this study. EEG data were collected from all participants while they completed the words-in-noise task. It hypothesized that hearing loss would also have an effect on theta and alpha power. The ONH group showed an inverted U -shape effect of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), but there were limited effects of SNR on theta or alpha power in the OHL group. The results of the ONH group support the growing body of literature showing effects of listening conditions on alpha and theta power. The null results of listening condition in the OHL group add to a smaller body of literature, suggesting that listening effort research conditions should have near ceiling performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B. Ryan
- Hearing and Balance Research Program, James H. Quillen VA Medical Center, Mountain Home, Tennessee
- Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Mark A. Eckert
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Hearing Research Program, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, North Carolina
| | - Eric W. Sellers
- Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
| | - Kim S. Schairer
- Hearing and Balance Research Program, James H. Quillen VA Medical Center, Mountain Home, Tennessee
- Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
| | - Matthew T. McBee
- Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
| | - Elizabeth A. Ridley
- Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
| | - Sherri L. Smith
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Audiology and Speech Pathology Service, Durham Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Durham, North Carolina
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Gürkan S, Mungan Durankaya S. The effect of sensorineural hearing loss on central auditory processing of signals in noise in older adults. Neuroreport 2023; 34:249-254. [PMID: 36789840 PMCID: PMC10516166 DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0000000000001886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The study aimed to explore the effect of sensorineural hearing loss on the central auditory processing of signals in noise using cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) in a cohort of older adults. DESIGN Three groups of individuals participated in the study. Each group included 33 older adults with normal hearing, those with mild hearing loss and those with moderate hearing loss. N1-P2 peaks of CAEPs by speech stimuli in silent conditions and with varying sound pressure levels of background noise were recorded. CAEP latencies, amplitudes and relative changes in CAEP amplitudes as a function of decreasing signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) in three groups were analyzed using the mixed analysis of variance method. RESULTS There was a significant main effect of SNR on all CAEP components, as well as significant main effects of hearing status on N1 latencies, amplitudes and relative changes in N1 amplitudes. A significant interaction was found between hearing status and SNR for relative changes in N1 amplitudes. The normal hearing group differed from both the mild and moderate hearing loss groups in terms of relative changes in N1 amplitudes at SNR 10 dB. CONCLUSION The results showed decreased amplitudes and increased latencies for N1-P2 response as the SNR of CAEP stimuli was lowered. The degree of reduction in the N1 amplitudes of the older people with normal hearing resulting from the increase in the background noise level was greater than those in their sensorineural hearing-impaired counterparts, providing evidence for decreased central inhibition for individuals with age-related hearing loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selhan Gürkan
- Departments of Audiometry Dokuz Eylül University, Vocational School of Health Services
| | - Serpil Mungan Durankaya
- Departments of Audiometry Dokuz Eylül University, Vocational School of Health Services
- Departments of Otorhinolaryngology, Audiology Unit, Dokuz Eylül University Hospital, İzmir, Türkiye
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Zein-Elabedein A, Abo El-Fotoh WMM, Al Shourah WM, Moaty AS. Assessment of cognitive function in young children with type 1 diabetes mellitus using electrophysiological tests. Pediatr Diabetes 2022; 23:1080-1087. [PMID: 35700327 DOI: 10.1111/pedi.13383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that affects many body systems, including the nervous and auditory systems. It is noted that there is a scarcity of research on the effect of diabetes on cognitive functions in particular and auditory functions in general in children with type 1 diabetes. Therefore, this study was designed to assess cognitive and auditory functions in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and to correlate the reflection of diabetes control on cognitive functions. METHODS This study is a case-control study that included 100 children divided into two groups, the patient group, which includes 50 children with type 1 diabetes, and the control group, which consists of 50 healthy children. Subjects in the current study were submitted to pure tone audiometry, speech recognition threshold test, immittancemetry study, and measurement of cortical auditory evoked and P300 potentials (CAEPs and P300). These audiometric measures were statistically analyzed and correlated with the clinical characteristics of the study group. RESULTS The latency of P300 and CAEPs was significantly increased while the amplitude of P300 and CAEPs was significantly decreased in the patient group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). P300 and CAEPs latency has a positive correlation with HbA1c levels (r = 0.460). In addition, there was significant differences between the two groups regarding the hearing threshold at 8000 Hz, and 28% of patients had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) at 8 kHz. CONCLUSION The prolonged P300 and CAEPs latency and decreased amplitude in patients indicate a cognitive decline in individuals with type 1 diabetes compared to healthy individuals. HbA1c levels may increase the risk of cognitive impairment in children. In addition, the risk of bilateral SNHL increased at 8 kHz in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Asmaa Salah Moaty
- Department of ENT (Audiology Unit), Menoufia University, Shebin Elkom, Egypt
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Kuruvilla-Mathew A, Thorne PR, Purdy SC. Effects of aging on neural processing during an active listening task. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273304. [PMID: 36070253 PMCID: PMC9451064 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Factors affecting successful listening in older adults and the corresponding electrophysiological signatures are not well understood. The present study investigated age-related differences in attention and temporal processing, as well as differences in the neural activity related to signal degradation during a number comparison task. Participants listened to digits presented in background babble and were tested at two levels of signal clarity, clear and degraded. Behavioral and electrophysiological measures were examined in 30 older and 20 younger neurologically-healthy adults. Relationships between performance on the number comparison task, behavioral measures, and neural activity were used to determine correlates of listening deficits associated with aging. While older participants showed poorer performance overall on all behavioral measures, their scores on the number comparison task were largely predicted (based on regression analyses) by their sensitivity to temporal fine structure cues. Compared to younger participants, older participants required higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) to achieve equivalent performance on the number comparison task. With increasing listening demands, age-related changes were observed in neural processing represented by the early-N1 and later-P3 time windows. Source localization analyses revealed age differences in source activity for the degraded listening condition that was located in the left prefrontal cortex. In addition, this source activity negatively correlated with task performance in the older group. Together, these results suggest that older adults exhibit reallocation of processing resources to complete a demanding listening task. However, this effect was evident only for poorer performing older adults who showed greater posterior to anterior shift in P3 response amplitudes than older adults who were good performers and younger adults. These findings might reflect less efficient recruitment of neural resources that is associated with aging during effortful listening performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abin Kuruvilla-Mathew
- Speech Science, School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Eisdell Moore Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- * E-mail:
| | - Peter R. Thorne
- Eisdell Moore Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Brain Research New Zealand, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Suzanne C. Purdy
- Speech Science, School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Eisdell Moore Centre, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Brain Research New Zealand, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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Impact of Effortful Word Recognition on Supportive Neural Systems Measured by Alpha and Theta Power. Ear Hear 2022; 43:1549-1562. [DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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11
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Vonck BM, van Heteren JA, Lammers MJ, de Jel DV, Schaake WA, van Zanten GA, Stokroos RJ, Versnel H. Cortical potentials evoked by tone frequency changes can predict speech perception in noise. Hear Res 2022; 420:108508. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2022.108508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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Gillis M, Decruy L, Vanthornhout J, Francart T. Hearing loss is associated with delayed neural responses to continuous speech. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:1671-1690. [PMID: 35263814 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the impact of hearing loss on the neural processing of speech. Using a forward modeling 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 populations; 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 the idea that the neural response latency indicates the efficiency of neural speech processing: more or different brain regions are involved in processing speech, which causes longer communication pathways in the brain. These longer communication pathways hamper the information integration among these brain regions, reflected in longer processing times. Altogether, this suggests decreased neural speech processing efficiency in HI listeners as more time and more or different brain regions are required to process speech. Our results suggest that this reduction in neural speech processing efficiency occurs gradually as hearing deteriorates. From our results, it is apparent that sound amplification does not solve hearing loss. Even when listening to speech in silence at a comfortable loudness, hearing-impaired listeners process speech less efficiently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlies Gillis
- KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lien Decruy
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | | | - Tom Francart
- KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, Leuven, Belgium
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Vickery B, Fogerty D, Dubno JR. Phonological and semantic similarity of misperceived words in babble: Effects of sentence context, age, and hearing loss. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 151:650. [PMID: 35105039 PMCID: PMC8807001 DOI: 10.1121/10.0009367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 01/08/2022] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated how age and hearing loss influence the misperceptions made when listening to sentences in babble. Open-set responses to final words in sentences with low and high context were analyzed for younger adults with normal hearing and older adults with normal or impaired hearing. All groups performed similarly in overall accuracy but differed in error type. Misperceptions for all groups were analyzed according to phonological and semantic properties. Comparisons between groups indicated that misperceptions for older adults were more influenced by phonological factors. Furthermore, older adults with hearing loss omitted more responses. Overall, across all groups, results suggest that phonological confusions most explain misperceptions in low context sentences. In high context sentences, the meaningful sentence context appears to provide predictive cues that reduce misperceptions. When misperceptions do occur, responses tend to have greater semantic similarity and lesser phonological similarity to the target, compared to low context sentences. In this way, semantic similarity may index a postdictive process by which ambiguities due to phonological confusions are resolved to conform to the semantic context of the sentence. These patterns demonstrate that context, age, and hearing loss affect the misperceptions, and potential sentence interpretation, made when listening to sentences in babble.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blythe Vickery
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA
| | - Daniel Fogerty
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Judy R Dubno
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA
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Duarte DSB, Griz SMS, Rocha MFB, Britto DBLDA, Menezes DC, Advíncula KP. The effect of noise on the amplitude and morphology of cortical auditory evoked potentials. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2021; 88 Suppl 3:S59-S65. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bjorl.2021.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Revised: 10/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
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15
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Effect of Noise Reduction on Cortical Speech-in-Noise Processing and Its Variance due to Individual Noise Tolerance. Ear Hear 2021; 43:849-861. [PMID: 34751679 PMCID: PMC9010348 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Despite the widespread use of noise reduction (NR) in modern digital hearing aids, our neurophysiological understanding of how NR affects speech-in-noise perception and why its effect is variable is limited. The current study aimed to (1) characterize the effect of NR on the neural processing of target speech and (2) seek neural determinants of individual differences in the NR effect on speech-in-noise performance, hypothesizing that an individual's own capability to inhibit background noise would inversely predict NR benefits in speech-in-noise perception. DESIGN Thirty-six adult listeners with normal hearing participated in the study. Behavioral and electroencephalographic responses were simultaneously obtained during a speech-in-noise task in which natural monosyllabic words were presented at three different signal-to-noise ratios, each with NR off and on. A within-subject analysis assessed the effect of NR on cortical evoked responses to target speech in the temporal-frontal speech and language brain regions, including supramarginal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus in the left hemisphere. In addition, an across-subject analysis related an individual's tolerance to noise, measured as the amplitude ratio of auditory-cortical responses to target speech and background noise, to their speech-in-noise performance. RESULTS At the group level, in the poorest signal-to-noise ratio condition, NR significantly increased early supramarginal gyrus activity and decreased late inferior frontal gyrus activity, indicating a switch to more immediate lexical access and less effortful cognitive processing, although no improvement in behavioral performance was found. The across-subject analysis revealed that the cortical index of individual noise tolerance significantly correlated with NR-driven changes in speech-in-noise performance. CONCLUSIONS NR can facilitate speech-in-noise processing despite no improvement in behavioral performance. Findings from the current study also indicate that people with lower noise tolerance are more likely to get more benefits from NR. Overall, results suggest that future research should take a mechanistic approach to NR outcomes and individual noise tolerance.
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16
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Xie Z, Stakhovskaya O, Goupell MJ, Anderson S. Aging Effects on Cortical Responses to Tones and Speech in Adult Cochlear-Implant Users. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2021; 22:719-740. [PMID: 34231111 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-021-00804-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Age-related declines in auditory temporal processing contribute to speech understanding difficulties of older adults. These temporal processing deficits have been established primarily among acoustic-hearing listeners, but the peripheral and central contributions are difficult to separate. This study recorded cortical auditory evoked potentials from younger to middle-aged (< 65 years) and older (≥ 65 years) cochlear-implant (CI) listeners to assess age-related changes in temporal processing, where cochlear processing is bypassed in this population. Aging effects were compared to age-matched normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Advancing age was associated with prolonged P2 latencies in both CI and NH listeners in response to a 1000-Hz tone or a syllable /da/, and with prolonged N1 latencies in CI listeners in response to the syllable. Advancing age was associated with larger N1 amplitudes in NH listeners. These age-related changes in latency and amplitude were independent of stimulus presentation rate. Further, CI listeners exhibited prolonged N1 and P2 latencies and smaller P2 amplitudes than NH listeners. Thus, aging appears to degrade some aspects of auditory temporal processing when peripheral-cochlear contributions are largely removed, suggesting that changes beyond the cochlea may contribute to age-related temporal processing deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zilong Xie
- Department of Hearing and Speech, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA.
| | - Olga Stakhovskaya
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Matthew J Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
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17
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Tremblay P, Basirat A, Pinto S, Sato M. Visual prediction cues can facilitate behavioural and neural speech processing in young and older adults. Neuropsychologia 2021; 159:107949. [PMID: 34228997 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability to process speech evolves over the course of the lifespan. Understanding speech at low acoustic intensity and in the presence of background noise becomes harder, and the ability for older adults to benefit from audiovisual speech also appears to decline. These difficulties can have important consequences on quality of life. Yet, a consensus on the cause of these difficulties is still lacking. The objective of this study was to examine the processing of speech in young and older adults under different modalities (i.e. auditory [A], visual [V], audiovisual [AV]) and in the presence of different visual prediction cues (i.e., no predictive cue (control), temporal predictive cue, phonetic predictive cue, and combined temporal and phonetic predictive cues). We focused on recognition accuracy and four auditory evoked potential (AEP) components: P1-N1-P2 and N2. Thirty-four right-handed French-speaking adults were recruited, including 17 younger adults (28 ± 2 years; 20-42 years) and 17 older adults (67 ± 3.77 years; 60-73 years). Participants completed a forced-choice speech identification task. The main findings of the study are: (1) The faciliatory effect of visual information was reduced, but present, in older compared to younger adults, (2) visual predictive cues facilitated speech recognition in younger and older adults alike, (3) age differences in AEPs were localized to later components (P2 and N2), suggesting that aging predominantly affects higher-order cortical processes related to speech processing rather than lower-level auditory processes. (4) Specifically, AV facilitation on P2 amplitude was lower in older adults, there was a reduced effect of the temporal predictive cue on N2 amplitude for older compared to younger adults, and P2 and N2 latencies were longer for older adults. Finally (5) behavioural performance was associated with P2 amplitude in older adults. Our results indicate that aging affects speech processing at multiple levels, including audiovisual integration (P2) and auditory attentional processes (N2). These findings have important implications for understanding barriers to communication in older ages, as well as for the development of compensation strategies for those with speech processing difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascale Tremblay
- Département de Réadaptation, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada; Cervo Brain Research Centre, Quebec City, Canada.
| | - Anahita Basirat
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
| | - Serge Pinto
- France Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Marc Sato
- France Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence, France
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18
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Miller SE, Graham J, Schafer E. Auditory Sensory Gating of Speech and Nonspeech Stimuli. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:1404-1412. [PMID: 33755510 DOI: 10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Auditory sensory gating is a neural measure of inhibition and is typically measured with a click or tonal stimulus. This electrophysiological study examined if stimulus characteristics and the use of speech stimuli affected auditory sensory gating indices. Method Auditory event-related potentials were elicited using natural speech, synthetic speech, and nonspeech stimuli in a traditional auditory gating paradigm in 15 adult listeners with normal hearing. Cortical responses were recorded at 64 electrode sites, and peak amplitudes and latencies to the different stimuli were extracted. Individual data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results Significant gating of P1-N1-P2 peaks was observed for all stimulus types. N1-P2 cortical responses were affected by stimulus type, with significantly less neural inhibition of the P2 response observed for natural speech compared to nonspeech and synthetic speech. Conclusions Auditory sensory gating responses can be measured using speech and nonspeech stimuli in listeners with normal hearing. The results of the study indicate the amount of gating and neural inhibition observed is affected by the spectrotemporal characteristics of the stimuli used to evoke the neural responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon E Miller
- Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of North Texas, Denton
| | - Jessica Graham
- Division of Audiology, St. Louis Children's Hospital, MO
| | - Erin Schafer
- Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of North Texas, Denton
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19
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Anderson S, Bieber R, Schloss A. Peripheral deficits and phase-locking declines in aging adults. Hear Res 2021; 403:108188. [PMID: 33581668 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2021.108188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Revised: 01/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Age-related difficulties in speech understanding may arise from a decrease in the neural representation of speech sounds. A loss of outer hair cells or decrease in auditory nerve fibers may lead to a loss of temporal precision that can affect speech clarity. This study's purpose was to evaluate the peripheral contributors to phase-locking strength, a measure of temporal precision, in recordings to a sustained vowel in 30 younger and 30 older listeners with normal to near normal audiometric thresholds. Thresholds were obtained for pure tones and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were recorded in quiet and in three levels of continuous white noise (+30, +20, and +10 dB SNR). Absolute amplitudes and latencies of Wave I in quiet and of Wave V across presentation conditions, in addition to the slope of Wave V amplitude and latency changes in noise, were calculated from these recordings. Frequency-following responses (FFRs) were recorded to synthesized /ba/ syllables of two durations, 170 and 260 ms, to determine whether age-related phase-locking deficits are more pronounced for stimuli that are sustained for longer durations. Phase locking was calculated for the early and late regions of the steady-state vowel for both syllables. Group differences were found for nearly every measure except for the slopes of Wave V latency and amplitude changes in noise. We found that outer hair cell function (DPOAEs) contributed to the variance in phase locking. However, the ABR and FFR differences were present after covarying for DPOAEs, suggesting the existence of temporal processing deficits in older listeners that are somewhat independent of outer hair cell function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States.
| | - Rebecca Bieber
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States.
| | - Alanna Schloss
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States.
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20
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Anderson S, Karawani H. Objective evidence of temporal processing deficits in older adults. Hear Res 2020; 397:108053. [PMID: 32863099 PMCID: PMC7669636 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2020.108053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The older listener's ability to understand speech in challenging environments may be affected by impaired temporal processing. This review summarizes objective evidence of degraded temporal processing from studies that have used the auditory brainstem response, auditory steady-state response, the envelope- or frequency-following response, cortical auditory-evoked potentials, and neural tracking of continuous speech. Studies have revealed delayed latencies and reduced amplitudes/phase locking in subcortical responses in older vs. younger listeners, in contrast to enhanced amplitudes of cortical responses in older listeners. Reconstruction accuracy of responses to continuous speech (e.g., cortical envelope tracking) shows over-representation in older listeners. Hearing loss is a factor in many of these studies, even though the listeners would be considered to have clinically normal hearing thresholds. Overall, the ability to draw definitive conclusions regarding these studies is limited by the use of multiple stimulus conditions, small sample sizes, and lack of replication. Nevertheless, these objective measures suggest a need to incorporate new clinical measures to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the listener's speech understanding ability, but more work is needed to determine the most efficacious measure for clinical use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States.
| | - Hanin Karawani
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
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21
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Faucette SP, Stuart A. An examination of electrophysiological release from masking in young and older adults. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 148:1786. [PMID: 33138490 DOI: 10.1121/10.0002010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The effect of age on release from masking (RFM) was examined using cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs). Two speech-in-noise paradigms [i.e., fixed speech with varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and fixed noise with varying speech levels], similar to those used in behavioral measures of RFM, were employed with competing continuous and interrupted noises. Young and older normal-hearing adults participated (N = 36). Cortical responses were evoked in the fixed speech paradigm at SNRs of -10, 0, and 10 dB. In the fixed noise paradigm, the CAEP SNR threshold was determined in both noises as the lowest SNR that yielded a measurable response. RFM was demonstrated in the fixed speech paradigm with a significant amount of missing responses, longer P1 and N1 latencies, and smaller N1 response amplitudes in continuous noise at the poorest -10 dB SNR. In the fixed noise paradigm, RFM was demonstrated with significantly lower CAEP SNR thresholds in interrupted noise. Older participants demonstrated significantly longer P2 latencies and reduced P1 and N1 amplitudes. There was no evidence of a group difference in RFM in either paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah P Faucette
- Department of Otolaryngology and Communicative Sciences, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, Mississippi 39216-4505, USA
| | - Andrew Stuart
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858-4353, USA
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22
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Mahmud MS, Ahmed F, Al-Fahad R, Moinuddin KA, Yeasin M, Alain C, Bidelman GM. Decoding Hearing-Related Changes in Older Adults' Spatiotemporal Neural Processing of Speech Using Machine Learning. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:748. [PMID: 32765215 PMCID: PMC7378401 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech perception in noisy environments depends on complex interactions between sensory and cognitive systems. In older adults, such interactions may be affected, especially in those individuals who have more severe age-related hearing loss. Using a data-driven approach, we assessed the temporal (when in time) and spatial (where in the brain) characteristics of cortical speech-evoked responses that distinguish older adults with or without mild hearing loss. We performed source analyses to estimate cortical surface signals from the EEG recordings during a phoneme discrimination task conducted under clear and noise-degraded conditions. We computed source-level ERPs (i.e., mean activation within each ROI) from each of the 68 ROIs of the Desikan-Killiany (DK) atlas, averaged over a randomly chosen 100 trials without replacement to form feature vectors. We adopted a multivariate feature selection method called stability selection and control to choose features that are consistent over a range of model parameters. We use parameter optimized support vector machine (SVM) as a classifiers to investigate the time course and brain regions that segregate groups and speech clarity. For clear speech perception, whole-brain data revealed a classification accuracy of 81.50% [area under the curve (AUC) 80.73%; F1-score 82.00%], distinguishing groups within ∼60 ms after speech onset (i.e., as early as the P1 wave). We observed lower accuracy of 78.12% [AUC 77.64%; F1-score 78.00%] and delayed classification performance when speech was embedded in noise, with group segregation at 80 ms. Separate analysis using left (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) regions showed that LH speech activity was better at distinguishing hearing groups than activity measured in the RH. Moreover, stability selection analysis identified 12 brain regions (among 1428 total spatiotemporal features from 68 regions) where source activity segregated groups with >80% accuracy (clear speech); whereas 16 regions were critical for noise-degraded speech to achieve a comparable level of group segregation (78.7% accuracy). Our results identify critical time-courses and brain regions that distinguish mild hearing loss from normal hearing in older adults and confirm a larger number of active areas, particularly in RH, when processing noise-degraded speech information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Sultan Mahmud
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Faruk Ahmed
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Rakib Al-Fahad
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Kazi Ashraf Moinuddin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Mohammed Yeasin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Claude Alain
- Rotman Research Institute-Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Gavin M Bidelman
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
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23
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Anderson S, Roque L, Gaskins CR, Gordon-Salant S, Goupell MJ. Age-Related Compensation Mechanism Revealed in the Cortical Representation of Degraded Speech. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2020; 21:373-391. [PMID: 32643075 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-020-00753-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/05/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Older adults understand speech with comparative ease in quiet, but signal degradation can hinder speech understanding much more than it does in younger adults. This difficulty may result, in part, from temporal processing deficits related to the aging process and/or high-frequency hearing loss that can occur in listeners who have normal- or near-normal-hearing thresholds in the speech frequency range. Temporal processing deficits may manifest as degraded neural representation in peripheral and brainstem/midbrain structures that lead to compensation, or changes in response strength in auditory cortex. Little is understood about the process by which the neural representation of signals is improved or restored by age-related cortical compensation mechanisms. Therefore, we used vocoding to simulate spectral degradation to compare the behavioral and neural representation of words that contrast on a temporal dimension. Specifically, we used the closure duration of the silent interval between the vowel and the final affricate /t∫/ or fricative /ʃ/ of the words DITCH and DISH, respectively. We obtained perceptual identification functions and electrophysiological neural measures (frequency-following responses (FFR) and cortical auditory-evoked potentials (CAEPs)) to unprocessed and vocoded versions of these words in young normal-hearing (YNH), older normal- or near-normal-hearing (ONH), and older hearing-impaired (OHI) listeners. We found that vocoding significantly reduced the slope of the perceptual identification function in only the OHI listeners. In contrast to the limited effects of vocoding on perceptual performance, vocoding had robust effects on the FFRs across age groups, such that stimulus-to-response correlations and envelope magnitudes were significantly lower for vocoded vs. unprocessed conditions. Increases in the P1 peak amplitude for vocoded stimuli were found for both ONH and OHI listeners, but not for the YNH listeners. These results suggest that while vocoding substantially degrades early neural representation of speech stimuli in the midbrain, there may be cortical compensation in older listeners that is not seen in younger listeners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
| | - Lindsey Roque
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Casey R Gaskins
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Matthew J Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
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24
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Papesh MA, Stefl AA, Gallun FJ, Billings CJ. Effects of Signal Type and Noise Background on Auditory Evoked Potential N1, P2, and P3 Measurements in Blast-Exposed Veterans. Ear Hear 2020; 42:106-121. [PMID: 32520849 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Veterans who have been exposed to high-intensity blast waves frequently report persistent auditory difficulties such as problems with speech-in-noise (SIN) understanding, even when hearing sensitivity remains normal. However, these subjective reports have proven challenging to corroborate objectively. Here, we sought to determine whether use of complex stimuli and challenging signal contrasts in auditory evoked potential (AEP) paradigms rather than traditional use of simple stimuli and easy signal contrasts improved the ability of these measures to (1) distinguish between blast-exposed Veterans with auditory complaints and neurologically normal control participants, and (2) predict behavioral measures of SIN perception. DESIGN A total of 33 adults (aged 19-56 years) took part in this study, including 17 Veterans exposed to high-intensity blast waves within the past 10 years and 16 neurologically normal control participants matched for age and hearing status with the Veteran participants. All participants completed the following test measures: (1) a questionnaire probing perceived hearing abilities; (2) behavioral measures of SIN understanding including the BKB-SIN, the AzBio presented in 0 and +5 dB signal to noise ratios (SNRs), and a word-level consonant-vowel-consonant test presented at +5 dB SNR; and (3) electrophysiological tasks involving oddball paradigms in response to simple tones (500 Hz standard, 1000 Hz deviant) and complex speech syllables (/ba/ standard, /da/ deviant) presented in quiet and in four-talker speech babble at a SNR of +5 dB. RESULTS Blast-exposed Veterans reported significantly greater auditory difficulties compared to control participants. Behavioral performance on tests of SIN perception was generally, but not significantly, poorer among the groups. Latencies of P3 responses to tone signals were significantly longer among blast-exposed participants compared to control participants regardless of background condition, though responses to speech signals were similar across groups. For cortical AEPs, no significant interactions were found between group membership and either stimulus type or background. P3 amplitudes measured in response to signals in background babble accounted for 30.9% of the variance in subjective auditory reports. Behavioral SIN performance was best predicted by a combination of N1 and P2 responses to signals in quiet which accounted for 69.6% and 57.4% of the variance on the AzBio at 0 dB SNR and the BKB-SIN, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although blast-exposed participants reported far more auditory difficulties compared to controls, use of complex stimuli and challenging signal contrasts in cortical and cognitive AEP measures failed to reveal larger group differences than responses to simple stimuli and easy signal contrasts. Despite this, only P3 responses to signals presented in background babble were predictive of subjective auditory complaints. In contrast, cortical N1 and P2 responses were predictive of behavioral SIN performance but not subjective auditory complaints, and use of challenging background babble generally did not improve performance predictions. These results suggest that challenging stimulus protocols are more likely to tap into perceived auditory deficits, but may not be beneficial for predicting performance on clinical measures of SIN understanding. Finally, these results should be interpreted with caution since blast-exposed participants did not perform significantly poorer on tests of SIN perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa A Papesh
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Alyssa A Stefl
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Frederick J Gallun
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
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25
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Decruy L, Vanthornhout J, Francart T. Hearing impairment is associated with enhanced neural tracking of the speech envelope. Hear Res 2020; 393:107961. [PMID: 32470864 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2020.107961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Revised: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Elevated hearing thresholds in hearing impaired adults are usually compensated by providing amplification through a hearing aid. In spite of restoring hearing sensitivity, difficulties with understanding speech in noisy environments often remain. One main reason is that sensorineural hearing loss not only causes loss of audibility but also other deficits, including peripheral distortion but also central temporal processing deficits. To investigate the neural consequences of hearing impairment in the brain underlying speech-in-noise difficulties, we compared EEG responses to natural speech of 14 hearing impaired adults with those of 14 age-matched normal-hearing adults. We measured neural envelope tracking to sentences and a story masked by different levels of a stationary noise or competing talker. Despite their sensorineural hearing loss, hearing impaired adults showed higher neural envelope tracking of the target than the competing talker, similar to their normal-hearing peers. Furthermore, hearing impairment was related to an additional increase in neural envelope tracking of the target talker, suggesting that hearing impaired adults may have an enhanced sensitivity to envelope modulations or require a larger differential neural tracking of target versus competing talker to segregate speech from noise. Lastly, both normal-hearing and hearing impaired participants showed an increase in neural envelope tracking with increasing speech understanding. Hence, our results open avenues towards new clinical applications, such as neuro-steered prostheses as well as objective and automatic measurements of speech understanding performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lien Decruy
- KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, Herestraat 49 Bus 721, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Jonas Vanthornhout
- KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, Herestraat 49 Bus 721, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Tom Francart
- KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, Herestraat 49 Bus 721, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium.
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Tepe V, Papesh M, Russell S, Lewis MS, Pryor N, Guillory L. Acquired Central Auditory Processing Disorder in Service Members and Veterans. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:834-857. [PMID: 32163310 DOI: 10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Purpose A growing body of evidence suggests that military service members and military veterans are at risk for deficits in central auditory processing. Risk factors include exposure to blast, neurotrauma, hazardous noise, and ototoxicants. We overview these risk factors and comorbidities, address implications for clinical assessment and care of central auditory processing deficits in service members and veterans, and specify knowledge gaps that warrant research. Method We reviewed the literature to identify studies of risk factors, assessment, and care of central auditory processing deficits in service members and veterans. We also assessed the current state of the science for knowledge gaps that warrant additional study. This literature review describes key findings relating to military risk factors and clinical considerations for the assessment and care of those exposed. Conclusions Central auditory processing deficits are associated with exposure to known military risk factors. Research is needed to characterize mechanisms, sources of variance, and differential diagnosis in this population. Existing best practices do not explicitly consider confounds faced by military personnel. Assessment and rehabilitation strategies that account for these challenges are needed. Finally, investment is critical to ensure that Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense clinical staff are informed, trained, and equipped to implement effective patient care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Tepe
- Department of Defense Hearing Center of Excellence, JBSA Lackland, TX
- The Geneva Foundation, Tacoma, WA
| | - Melissa Papesh
- VA RR&D National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, OR
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
| | - Shoshannah Russell
- Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
- Henry Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD
| | - M Samantha Lewis
- VA RR&D National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, OR
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
- School of Audiology, Pacific University, Hillsboro, OR
| | - Nina Pryor
- Department of Defense Hearing Center of Excellence, JBSA Lackland, TX
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
| | - Lisa Guillory
- Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital, Columbia, MO
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia
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Effects of Directional Microphone and Noise Reduction on Subcortical and Cortical Auditory-Evoked Potentials in Older Listeners With Hearing Loss. Ear Hear 2020; 41:1282-1293. [PMID: 32058351 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Understanding how signal processing influences neural activity in the brain with hearing loss is relevant to the design and evaluation of features intended to alleviate speech-in-noise deficits faced by many hearing aid wearers. Here, we examine whether hearing aid processing schemes that are designed to improve speech-in-noise intelligibility (i.e., directional microphone and noise reduction) also improve electrophysiological indices of speech processing in older listeners with hearing loss. DESIGN The study followed a double-blind within-subjects design. A sample of 19 older adults (8 females; mean age = 73.6 years, range = 56-86 years; 17 experienced hearing aid users) with a moderate to severe sensorineural hearing impairment participated in the experiment. Auditory-evoked potentials associated with processing in cortex (P1-N1-P2) and subcortex (frequency-following response) were measured over the course of two 2-hour visits. Listeners were presented with sequences of the consonant-vowel syllable /da/ in continuous speech-shaped noise at signal to noise ratios (SNRs) of 0, +5, and +10 dB. Speech and noise stimuli were pre-recorded using a Knowles Electronics Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) head and torso simulator outfitted with hearing aids programmed for each listener's loss. The study aid programs were set according to 4 conditions: (1) omnidirectional microphone, (2) omnidirectional microphone with noise reduction, (3) directional microphone, and (4) directional microphone with noise reduction. For each hearing aid condition, speech was presented from a loudspeaker located at 1 m directly in front of KEMAR (i.e., 0° in the azimuth) at 75 dB SPL and noise was presented from a matching loudspeaker located at 1 m directly behind KEMAR (i.e., 180° in the azimuth). Recorded stimulus sequences were normalized for speech level across conditions and presented to listeners over electromagnetically shielded ER-2 ear-insert transducers. Presentation levels were calibrated to match the output of listeners' study aids. RESULTS Cortical components from listeners with hearing loss were enhanced with improving SNR and with use of a directional microphone and noise reduction. On the other hand, subcortical components did not show sensitivity to SNR or microphone mode but did show enhanced encoding of temporal fine structure of speech for conditions where noise reduction was enabled. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that auditory-evoked potentials may be useful in evaluating the benefit of different noise-mitigating hearing aid features.
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Billings CJ, Gordon SY, McMillan GP, Gallun FJ, Molis MR, Konrad-Martin D. Noise-induced enhancement of envelope following responses in normal-hearing adults. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 147:EL201. [PMID: 32113282 PMCID: PMC7030976 DOI: 10.1121/10.0000627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Revised: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Measures of signal-in-noise neural encoding may improve understanding of the hearing-in-noise difficulties experienced by many individuals in everyday life. Usually noise results in weaker envelope following responses (EFRs); however, some studies demonstrate EFR enhancements. This experiment tested whether noise-induced enhancements in EFRs are demonstrated with simple 500- and 1000-Hz pure tones amplitude modulated at 110 Hz. Most of the 12 young normal-hearing participants demonstrated enhanced encoding of the 110-Hz fundamental in a noise background compared to quiet; in contrast, responses at the harmonics were decreased in noise relative to quiet conditions. Possible mechanisms of such an enhancement are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, , , , , ,
| | - Samuel Y Gordon
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, , , , , ,
| | - Garnett P McMillan
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, , , , , ,
| | - Frederick J Gallun
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, , , , , ,
| | - Michelle R Molis
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, , , , , ,
| | - Dawn Konrad-Martin
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, , , , , ,
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Masking Release for Speech in Modulated Maskers: Electrophysiological and Behavioral Measures. Ear Hear 2020; 40:1009-1015. [PMID: 30557224 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to obtain an electrophysiological analog of masking release using speech-evoked cortical potentials in steady and modulated maskers and to relate this masking release to behavioral measures for the same stimuli. The hypothesis was that the evoked potentials can be tracked to a lower stimulus level in a modulated masker than in a steady masker and that the magnitude of this electrophysiological masking release is of the same order as that of the behavioral masking release for the same stimuli. DESIGN Cortical potentials evoked by an 80-ms /ba/ stimulus were measured in two steady maskers (30 and 65 dB SPL), and in a masker that modulated between these two levels at a rate of 25 Hz. In each masker, a level series was undertaken to determine electrophysiological threshold. Behavioral detection thresholds were determined in the same maskers using an adaptive tracking procedure. Masking release was defined as the difference between signal thresholds measured in the steady 65-dB SPL masker and the modulated masker. A total of 23 normal-hearing adults participated. RESULTS Electrophysiological thresholds were uniformly elevated relative to behavioral thresholds by about 6.5 dB. However, the magnitude of masking release was about 13.5 dB for both measurement domains. CONCLUSIONS Electrophysiological measures of masking release using speech-evoked cortical auditory evoked potentials correspond closely to behavioral estimates for the same stimuli. This suggests that objective measures based on electrophysiological techniques can be used to reliably gauge aspects of temporal processing ability.
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Pacífico FA, Griz SMS, Menezes DC, Advincula KP, Cordeiro AADA, Costa MLGD. Modulation masking release reduction as a function of time-compressed speech. REVISTA CEFAC 2020. [DOI: 10.1590/1982-0216/20202257720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the magnitude of the modulation masking release in sentence recognition as a function of compression level and modulation rate. Methods: sentences of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Hearing in Noise Test sentences were used as stimulus. The sentence recognition thresholds were established as a function of speech compression level (0%, 33%, and 50%) in steady and modulated noise at different modulation rates (4, 10, 32 Hz). The analysis of variance was performed for repeated measures, using the 5% significance level. Results: sentence recognition thresholds were higher for higher compression levels in the different types of noise. However, thresholds were smaller for modulated noises. Also, the magnitude of modulation masking release decreased as speech compression level increased. Nevertheless, no difference was observed in compressed speech between different noise modulation rates, in relation to the speech compression level. Conclusion: the magnitude of the modulation masking release decreased as the speech time-compression increased. Also, the reductions in modulation masking release, in relation to the speech time-compression level, did not differ between the masking-noise modulation rates (4, 10, and 32 Hz).
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Brainstem encoding of frequency-modulated sweeps is relevant to Mandarin concurrent-vowels identification for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Hear Res 2019; 380:123-136. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2019.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2018] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Roque L, Karawani H, Gordon-Salant S, Anderson S. Effects of Age, Cognition, and Neural Encoding on the Perception of Temporal Speech Cues. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:749. [PMID: 31379494 PMCID: PMC6659127 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Older adults commonly report difficulty understanding speech, particularly in adverse listening environments. These communication difficulties may exist in the absence of peripheral hearing loss. Older adults, both with normal hearing and with hearing loss, demonstrate temporal processing deficits that affect speech perception. The purpose of the present study is to investigate aging, cognition, and neural processing factors that may lead to deficits on perceptual tasks that rely on phoneme identification based on a temporal cue - vowel duration. A better understanding of the neural and cognitive impairments underlying temporal processing deficits could lead to more focused aural rehabilitation for improved speech understanding for older adults. This investigation was conducted in younger (YNH) and older normal-hearing (ONH) participants who completed three measures of cognitive functioning known to decline with age: working memory, processing speed, and inhibitory control. To evaluate perceptual and neural processing of auditory temporal contrasts, identification functions for the contrasting word-pair WHEAT and WEED were obtained on a nine-step continuum of vowel duration, and frequency-following responses (FFRs) and cortical auditory-evoked potentials (CAEPs) were recorded to the two endpoints of the continuum. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the cognitive, peripheral, and/or central mechanisms that may contribute to perceptual performance. YNH participants demonstrated higher cognitive functioning on all three measures compared to ONH participants. The slope of the identification function was steeper in YNH than in ONH participants, suggesting a clearer distinction between the contrasting words in the YNH participants. FFRs revealed better response waveform morphology and more robust phase-locking in YNH compared to ONH participants. ONH participants also exhibited earlier latencies for CAEP components compared to the YNH participants. Linear regression analyses revealed that cortical processing significantly contributed to the variance in perceptual performance in the WHEAT/WEED identification functions. These results suggest that reduced neural precision contributes to age-related speech perception difficulties that arise from temporal processing deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey Roque
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Hanin Karawani
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, United States.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, United States
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Roque L, Gaskins C, Gordon-Salant S, Goupell MJ, Anderson S. Age Effects on Neural Representation and Perception of Silence Duration Cues in Speech. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2019; 62:1099-1116. [PMID: 31026197 PMCID: PMC6802877 DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-h-ascc7-18-0076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 08/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Degraded temporal processing associated with aging may be a contributing factor to older adults' hearing difficulties, especially in adverse listening environments. This degraded processing may affect the ability to distinguish between words based on temporal duration cues. The current study investigates the effects of aging and hearing loss on cortical and subcortical representation of temporal speech components and on the perception of silent interval duration cues in speech. Method Identification functions for the words DISH and DITCH were obtained on a 7-step continuum of silence duration (0-60 ms) prior to the final fricative in participants who are younger with normal hearing (YNH), older with normal hearing (ONH), and older with hearing impairment (OHI). Frequency-following responses and cortical auditory-evoked potentials were recorded to the 2 end points of the continuum. Auditory brainstem responses to clicks were obtained to verify neural integrity and to compare group differences in auditory nerve function. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the peripheral or central factors that contributed to perceptual performance. Results ONH and OHI participants required longer silence durations to identify DITCH than did YNH participants. Frequency-following responses showed reduced phase locking and poorer morphology, and cortical auditory-evoked potentials showed prolonged latencies in ONH and OHI participants compared with YNH participants. No group differences were noted for auditory brainstem response Wave I amplitude or Wave V/I ratio. After accounting for the possible effects of hearing loss, linear regression analysis revealed that both midbrain and cortical processing contributed to the variance in the DISH-DITCH perceptual identification functions. Conclusions These results suggest that age-related deficits in the ability to encode silence duration cues may be a contributing factor in degraded speech perception. In particular, degraded response morphology relates to performance on perceptual tasks based on silence duration contrasts between words.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey Roque
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park
| | - Casey Gaskins
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park
| | - Matthew J. Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park
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Jenkins KA, Fodor C, Presacco A, Anderson S. Effects of Amplification on Neural Phase Locking, Amplitude, and Latency to a Speech Syllable. Ear Hear 2019; 39:810-824. [PMID: 29287038 PMCID: PMC6014864 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Older adults often have trouble adjusting to hearing aids when they start wearing them for the first time. Probe microphone measurements verify appropriate levels of amplification up to the tympanic membrane. Little is known, however, about the effects of amplification on auditory-evoked responses to speech stimuli during initial hearing aid use. The present study assesses the effects of amplification on neural encoding of a speech signal in older adults using hearing aids for the first time. It was hypothesized that amplification results in improved stimulus encoding (higher amplitudes, improved phase locking, and earlier latencies), with greater effects for the regions of the signal that are less audible. DESIGN Thirty-seven adults, aged 60 to 85 years with mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss and no prior hearing aid use, were bilaterally fit with Widex Dream 440 receiver-in-the-ear hearing aids. Probe microphone measures were used to adjust the gain of the hearing aids and verify the fitting. Unaided and aided frequency-following responses and cortical auditory-evoked potentials to the stimulus /ga/ were recorded in sound field over the course of 2 days for three conditions: 65 dB SPL and 80 dB SPL in quiet, and 80 dB SPL in six-talker babble (+10 signal to noise ratio). RESULTS Responses from midbrain were analyzed in the time regions corresponding to the consonant transition (18 to 68 ms) and the steady state vowel (68 to 170 ms). Generally, amplification increased phase locking and amplitude and decreased latency for the region and presentation conditions that had lower stimulus amplitudes-the transition region and 65 dB SPL level. Responses from cortex showed decreased latency for P1, but an unexpected decrease in N1 amplitude. Previous studies have demonstrated an exaggerated cortical representation of speech in older adults compared to younger adults, possibly because of an increase in neural resources necessary to encode the signal. Therefore, a decrease in N1 amplitude with amplification and with increased presentation level may suggest that amplification decreases the neural resources necessary for cortical encoding. CONCLUSION Increased phase locking and amplitude and decreased latency in midbrain suggest that amplification may improve neural representation of the speech signal in new hearing aid users. The improvement with amplification was also found in cortex, and, in particular, decreased P1 latencies and lower N1 amplitudes may indicate greater neural efficiency. Further investigations will evaluate changes in subcortical and cortical responses during the first 6 months of hearing aid use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly A. Jenkins
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Calli Fodor
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Alessandro Presacco
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
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36
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37
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Koerner TK, Zhang Y. Differential effects of hearing impairment and age on electrophysiological and behavioral measures of speech in noise. Hear Res 2018; 370:130-142. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2018] [Revised: 10/06/2018] [Accepted: 10/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Billings CJ, McMillan GP, Dille MF, Konrad-Martin D. Compensatory and Serial Processing Models for Relating Electrophysiology, Speech Understanding, and Cognition. Ear Hear 2018; 40:1035-1038. [PMID: 30407937 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to develop a framework for investigating the roles of neural coding and cognition in speech perception. DESIGN N1 and P3 auditory evoked potentials, QuickSIN speech understanding scores, and the Digit Symbol Coding cognitive test results were used to test the accuracy of either a compensatory processing model or serial processing model. RESULTS The current dataset demonstrated that neither the compensatory nor the serial processing model were well supported. An additive processing model may best represent the relationships in these data. CONCLUSIONS With the outcome measures used in this study, it is apparent that an additive processing model, where exogenous neural coding and higher order cognition contribute independently, best describes the effects of neural coding and cognition on speech perception. Further testing with additional outcome measures and a larger number of subjects is needed to confirm and further clarify the relationships between these processing domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Garnett P McMillan
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Marilyn F Dille
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Dawn Konrad-Martin
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon, USA.,Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
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Billings CJ, Madsen BM. A perspective on brain-behavior relationships and effects of age and hearing using speech-in-noise stimuli. Hear Res 2018; 369:90-102. [PMID: 29661615 PMCID: PMC6636926 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.03.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Revised: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding speech in background noise is often more difficult for individuals who are older and have hearing impairment than for younger, normal-hearing individuals. In fact, speech-understanding abilities among older individuals with hearing impairment varies greatly. Researchers have hypothesized that some of that variability can be explained by how the brain encodes speech signals in the presence of noise, and that brain measures may be useful for predicting behavioral performance in difficult-to-test patients. In a series of experiments, we have explored the effects of age and hearing impairment in both brain and behavioral domains with the goal of using brain measures to improve our understanding of speech-in-noise difficulties. The behavioral measures examined showed effect sizes for hearing impairment that were 6-10 dB larger than the effects of age when tested in steady-state noise, whereas electrophysiological age effects were similar in magnitude to those of hearing impairment. Both age and hearing status influence neural responses to speech as well as speech understanding in background noise. These effects can in turn be modulated by other factors, such as the characteristics of the background noise itself. Finally, the use of electrophysiology to predict performance on receptive speech-in-noise tasks holds promise, demonstrating root-mean-square prediction errors as small as 1-2 dB. An important next step in this field of inquiry is to sample the aging and hearing impairment variables continuously (rather than categorically) - across the whole lifespan and audiogram - to improve effect estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road (NCRAR), Portland, OR 97239, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
| | - Brandon M Madsen
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road (NCRAR), Portland, OR 97239, USA
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40
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Billings CJ, Grush LD, Maamor N. Acoustic change complex in background noise: phoneme level and timing effects. Physiol Rep 2018; 5:5/20/e13464. [PMID: 29051305 PMCID: PMC5661231 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.13464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Revised: 08/24/2017] [Accepted: 08/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The effects of background noise on speech‐evoked cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) can provide insight into the physiology of the auditory system. The purpose of this study was to determine background noise effects on neural coding of different phonemes within a syllable. CAEPs were recorded from 15 young normal‐hearing adults in response to speech signals /s/, /ɑ/, and /sɑ/. Signals were presented at varying signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNRs). The effects of SNR and context (in isolation or within syllable) were analyzed for both phonemes. For all three stimuli, latencies generally decreased and amplitudes generally increased as SNR improved, and context effects were not present; however, the amplitude of the /ɑ/ response was the exception, showing no SNR effect and a significant context effect. Differential coding of /s/ and /ɑ/ likely result from level and timing differences. Neural refractoriness may result in the lack of a robust SNR effect on amplitude in the syllable context. The stable amplitude across SNRs in response to the vowel in /sɑ/ suggests the combined effects of (1) acoustic characteristics of the syllable and noise at poor SNRs and (2) refractory effects resulting from phoneme timing at good SNRs. Results provide insights into the coding of multiple‐onset speech syllables in varying levels of background noise and, together with behavioral measures, may help to improve our understanding of speech‐perception‐in‐noise difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon .,Department of Otolaryngology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Leslie D Grush
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon
| | - Nashrah Maamor
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon.,Audiology Program School of Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences The National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Karawani H, Jenkins K, Anderson S. Restoration of sensory input may improve cognitive and neural function. Neuropsychologia 2018; 114:203-213. [PMID: 29729278 PMCID: PMC5988995 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.04.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2018] [Revised: 04/29/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Age-related hearing loss is one of the most prevalent health conditions among the elderly. Hearing loss may lead to social isolation, depression, and cognitive decline in older adults. The mechanistic basis for the association between hearing loss and decreased cognitive function remains unknown as does the potential for improving cognition through hearing rehabilitation. To that end, we asked whether the restoration of sensory input through the use of hearing aids would improve cognitive and auditory neural function. We compared a group of first-time hearing aid users with a hearing-matched control group after a period of six months. The use of hearing aids enhanced working memory performance and increased cortical response amplitudes. Neurophysiologic changes correlated with working memory changes, suggesting a mechanism for decreased cognitive function with hearing loss. These results suggest a neural mechanism for the sensory-cognitive connection and underscore the importance of providing auditory rehabilitation for individuals with age-related hearing loss to improve cognitive and neural function. Our findings of improved cognitive function with hearing aid use may lead to increased adoption of hearing loss remedies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanin Karawani
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
| | - Kimberly Jenkins
- Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 4494 North Palmer Road, Bethesda, MD 20889, USA.
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
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Faucette SP, Stuart A. Evidence of a speech evoked electrophysiological release from masking in noise. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2017; 142:EL218. [PMID: 28863590 DOI: 10.1121/1.4998151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
In this study, a release from masking (RFM) was sought with cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) elicited by speech (/da/) in competing continuous and interrupted noises. Two paradigms (i.e., fixed speech with varying signal-to-noise ratios and fixed noise with varying speech levels) were employed. Shorter latencies and larger amplitudes were observed in interrupted versus continuous noise at equivalent signal-to-noise ratios. With fixed speech presentation, P1-N1-P2 latencies were prolonged and peak N1 and P2 amplitudes decreased and more so with continuous noise. CAEP thresholds were lower in interrupted noise. This is the first demonstration of RFM with CAEPs to speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah P Faucette
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858-4353, USA ,
| | - Andrew Stuart
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858-4353, USA ,
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Koerner TK, Zhang Y, Nelson PB, Wang B, Zou H. Neural indices of phonemic discrimination and sentence-level speech intelligibility in quiet and noise: A P3 study. Hear Res 2017; 350:58-67. [DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2017.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/16/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Application of Linear Mixed-Effects Models in Human Neuroscience Research: A Comparison with Pearson Correlation in Two Auditory Electrophysiology Studies. Brain Sci 2017; 7:brainsci7030026. [PMID: 28264422 PMCID: PMC5366825 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci7030026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2016] [Revised: 02/15/2017] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurophysiological studies are often designed to examine relationships between measures from different testing conditions, time points, or analysis techniques within the same group of participants. Appropriate statistical techniques that can take into account repeated measures and multivariate predictor variables are integral and essential to successful data analysis and interpretation. This work implements and compares conventional Pearson correlations and linear mixed-effects (LME) regression models using data from two recently published auditory electrophysiology studies. For the specific research questions in both studies, the Pearson correlation test is inappropriate for determining strengths between the behavioral responses for speech-in-noise recognition and the multiple neurophysiological measures as the neural responses across listening conditions were simply treated as independent measures. In contrast, the LME models allow a systematic approach to incorporate both fixed-effect and random-effect terms to deal with the categorical grouping factor of listening conditions, between-subject baseline differences in the multiple measures, and the correlational structure among the predictor variables. Together, the comparative data demonstrate the advantages as well as the necessity to apply mixed-effects models to properly account for the built-in relationships among the multiple predictor variables, which has important implications for proper statistical modeling and interpretation of human behavior in terms of neural correlates and biomarkers.
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Maamor N, Billings CJ. Cortical signal-in-noise coding varies by noise type, signal-to-noise ratio, age, and hearing status. Neurosci Lett 2017; 636:258-264. [PMID: 27838448 PMCID: PMC5624801 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.11.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2016] [Revised: 10/23/2016] [Accepted: 11/08/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of noise type, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), age, and hearing status on cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) to speech sounds. This helps to explain the hearing-in-noise difficulties often seen in the aging and hearing impaired population. Continuous, modulated, and babble noise types were presented at varying SNRs to 30 individuals divided into three groups according to age and hearing status. Significant main effects of noise type, SNR, and group were found. Interaction effects revealed that the SNR effect varies as a function of noise type and is most systematic for continuous noise. Effects of age and hearing loss were limited to CAEP latency and were differentially modulated by energetic and informational-like masking. It is clear that the spectrotemporal characteristics of signals and noises play an important role in determining the morphology of neural responses. Participant factors such as age and hearing status, also play an important role in determining the brain's response to complex auditory stimuli and contribute to the ability to listen in noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nashrah Maamor
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, P5-NCRAR, Portland, OR 97239, United States of America; Audiology Program, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, The National University of Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
| | - Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, P5-NCRAR, Portland, OR 97239, United States of America; Department of Otolaryngology, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, PV01, Portland, OR 97239, United States of America.
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46
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Jamison C, Aiken SJ, Kiefte M, Newman AJ, Bance M, Sculthorpe-Petley L. Preliminary Investigation of the Passively Evoked N400 as a Tool for Estimating Speech-in-Noise Thresholds. Am J Audiol 2016; 25:344-358. [PMID: 27814664 DOI: 10.1044/2016_aja-15-0080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 05/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Speech-in-noise testing relies on a number of factors beyond the auditory system, such as cognitive function, compliance, and motor function. It may be possible to avoid these limitations by using electroencephalography. The present study explored this possibility using the N400. METHOD Eleven adults with typical hearing heard high-constraint sentences with congruent and incongruent terminal words in the presence of speech-shaped noise. Participants ignored all auditory stimulation and watched a video. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was varied around each participant's behavioral threshold during electroencephalography recording. Speech was also heard in quiet. RESULTS The amplitude of the N400 effect exhibited a nonlinear relationship with SNR. In the presence of background noise, amplitude decreased from high (+4 dB) to low (+1 dB) SNR but increased dramatically at threshold before decreasing again at subthreshold SNR (-2 dB). CONCLUSIONS The SNR of speech in noise modulates the amplitude of the N400 effect to semantic anomalies in a nonlinear fashion. These results are the first to demonstrate modulation of the passively evoked N400 by SNR in speech-shaped noise and represent a first step toward the end goal of developing an N400-based physiological metric for speech-in-noise testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Jamison
- School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Steve J. Aiken
- School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- School of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Division of Otolaryngology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Michael Kiefte
- School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Aaron J. Newman
- School of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Manohar Bance
- School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Division of Otolaryngology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Lauren Sculthorpe-Petley
- School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- School of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Division of Otolaryngology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Biomedical Translational Imaging Centre, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Presacco A, Simon JZ, Anderson S. Effect of informational content of noise on speech representation in the aging midbrain and cortex. J Neurophysiol 2016; 116:2356-2367. [PMID: 27605531 PMCID: PMC5110638 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00373.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Accepted: 09/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to understand speech is significantly degraded by aging, particularly in noisy environments. One way that older adults cope with this hearing difficulty is through the use of contextual cues. Several behavioral studies have shown that older adults are better at following a conversation when the target speech signal has high contextual content or when the background distractor is not meaningful. Specifically, older adults gain significant benefit in focusing on and understanding speech if the background is spoken by a talker in a language that is not comprehensible to them (i.e., a foreign language). To understand better the neural mechanisms underlying this benefit in older adults, we investigated aging effects on midbrain and cortical encoding of speech when in the presence of a single competing talker speaking in a language that is meaningful or meaningless to the listener (i.e., English vs. Dutch). Our results suggest that neural processing is strongly affected by the informational content of noise. Specifically, older listeners' cortical responses to the attended speech signal are less deteriorated when the competing speech signal is an incomprehensible language rather than when it is their native language. Conversely, temporal processing in the midbrain is affected by different backgrounds only during rapid changes in speech and only in younger listeners. Additionally, we found that cognitive decline is associated with an increase in cortical envelope tracking, suggesting an age-related over (or inefficient) use of cognitive resources that may explain their difficulty in processing speech targets while trying to ignore interfering noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Presacco
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland;
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
| | - Jonathan Z Simon
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; and
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
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Presacco A, Simon JZ, Anderson S. Evidence of degraded representation of speech in noise, in the aging midbrain and cortex. J Neurophysiol 2016; 116:2346-2355. [PMID: 27535374 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00372.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2016] [Accepted: 08/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans have a remarkable ability to track and understand speech in unfavorable conditions, such as in background noise, but speech understanding in noise does deteriorate with age. Results from several studies have shown that in younger adults, low-frequency auditory cortical activity reliably synchronizes to the speech envelope, even when the background noise is considerably louder than the speech signal. However, cortical speech processing may be limited by age-related decreases in the precision of neural synchronization in the midbrain. To understand better the neural mechanisms contributing to impaired speech perception in older adults, we investigated how aging affects midbrain and cortical encoding of speech when presented in quiet and in the presence of a single-competing talker. Our results suggest that central auditory temporal processing deficits in older adults manifest in both the midbrain and in the cortex. Specifically, midbrain frequency following responses to a speech syllable are more degraded in noise in older adults than in younger adults. This suggests a failure of the midbrain auditory mechanisms needed to compensate for the presence of a competing talker. Similarly, in cortical responses, older adults show larger reductions than younger adults in their ability to encode the speech envelope when a competing talker is added. Interestingly, older adults showed an exaggerated cortical representation of speech in both quiet and noise conditions, suggesting a possible imbalance between inhibitory and excitatory processes, or diminished network connectivity that may impair their ability to encode speech efficiently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Presacco
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; .,Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
| | - Jonathan Z Simon
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.,Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; and.,Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.,Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
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49
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Billings CJ, Grush LD. Signal type and signal-to-noise ratio interact to affect cortical auditory evoked potentials. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2016; 140:EL221. [PMID: 27586784 PMCID: PMC5848827 DOI: 10.1121/1.4959600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Revised: 07/09/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Use of speech signals and background noise is emerging in cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) studies; however, the interaction between signal type and noise level remains unclear. Two experiments determined the interaction between signal type and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on CAEPs. Three signals (syllable /ba/, 1000-Hz tone, and the /ba/ envelope with 1000-Hz fine structure) with varying SNRs were used in two experiments, demonstrating signal-by-SNR interactions due to both envelope and spectral characteristics. When using real-world stimuli such as speech to evoke CAEPs, temporal and spectral complexity leads to differences with traditional tonal stimuli, especially when presented in background noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis J Billings
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA ,
| | - Leslie D Grush
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA ,
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50
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Koerner TK, Zhang Y, Nelson PB, Wang B, Zou H. Neural indices of phonemic discrimination and sentence-level speech intelligibility in quiet and noise: A mismatch negativity study. Hear Res 2016; 339:40-9. [PMID: 27267705 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2016.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2016] [Revised: 05/16/2016] [Accepted: 06/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Successful speech communication requires the extraction of important acoustic cues from irrelevant background noise. In order to better understand this process, this study examined the effects of background noise on mismatch negativity (MMN) latency, amplitude, and spectral power measures as well as behavioral speech intelligibility tasks. Auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) were obtained from 15 normal-hearing participants to determine whether pre-attentive MMN measures recorded in response to a consonant (from /ba/ to /bu/) and vowel change (from /ba/ to /da/) in a double-oddball paradigm can predict sentence-level speech perception. The results showed that background noise increased MMN latencies and decreased MMN amplitudes with a reduction in the theta frequency band power. Differential noise-induced effects were observed for the pre-attentive processing of consonant and vowel changes due to different degrees of signal degradation by noise. Linear mixed-effects models further revealed significant correlations between the MMN measures and speech intelligibility scores across conditions and stimuli. These results confirm the utility of MMN as an objective neural marker for understanding noise-induced variations as well as individual differences in speech perception, which has important implications for potential clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tess K Koerner
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Center for Applied Translational Sensory Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
| | - Peggy B Nelson
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Center for Applied Translational Sensory Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Boxiang Wang
- School of Statistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Hui Zou
- School of Statistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
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