1
|
Li S, Wang Y, Yu Q, Feng Y, Tang P. The Effect of Visual Articulatory Cues on the Identification of Mandarin Tones by Children With Cochlear Implants. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2024; 67:2106-2114. [PMID: 38768072 DOI: 10.1044/2024_jslhr-23-00559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study explored the facilitatory effect of visual articulatory cues on the identification of Mandarin lexical tones by children with cochlear implants (CIs) in both quiet and noisy environments. It also explored whether early implantation is associated with better use of visual cues in tonal identification. METHOD Participants included 106 children with CIs and 100 normal-hearing (NH) controls. A tonal identification task was employed using a two-alternative forced-choice picture-pointing paradigm. Participants' tonal identification accuracies were compared between audio-only (AO) and audiovisual (AV) modalities. Correlations between implantation ages and visual benefits (accuracy differences between AO and AV modalities) were also examined. RESULTS Children with CIs demonstrated an improved identification accuracy from AO to AV modalities in the noisy environment. Additionally, earlier implantation was significantly correlated with a greater visual benefit in noise. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicated that children with CIs benefited from visual cues on tonal identification in noise, and early implantation enhanced the visual benefit. These results thus have practical implications on tonal perception interventions for Mandarin-speaking children with CIs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shanpeng Li
- MIIT Key Lab for Language Information Processing and Applications, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China
| | - Yinuo Wang
- Department of English, Linguistics and Theatre Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, National University of Singapore
| | - Qianxi Yu
- MIIT Key Lab for Language Information Processing and Applications, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China
| | - Yan Feng
- MIIT Key Lab for Language Information Processing and Applications, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China
| | - Ping Tang
- MIIT Key Lab for Language Information Processing and Applications, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Helfer KS, van Emmerik R, Freyman RL, Banks JJ. An Exploratory Study of Walking, Listening, and Remembering in Younger and Middle-Aged Adults. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:4052-4065. [PMID: 37672796 PMCID: PMC10713016 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-23-00198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess how needing to listen and remember information while walking affects speech perception, memory task performance, and gait in younger and middle-aged adults. METHOD Four gait parameters (stride duration, step variability, whole-body center of mass acceleration, and mediolateral head acceleration) were measured when younger and middle-aged participants stood or walked on a treadmill while they simultaneously completed a speech-on-speech perception task and a preload memory task, singly and in combination. RESULTS Speech perception was significantly poorer for middle-aged than for younger participants. Performance on the speech perception measure did not differ significantly between walking and standing for either group of participants, but the additional cognitive load of the memory task reduced performance on the speech perception task. Memory task performance was significantly poorer when combined with the speech perception task than when measured in isolation for both participant groups, but no further declines were noted when participants were also walking. Mediolateral head acceleration, which has been linked to loss of balance, was significantly greater during multitask trials, as compared to when participants were only walking without being required to listen or remember. Post hoc analysis showed that dual- and multitask influences on mediolateral head acceleration were more prominent for middle-aged than for younger participants. Stride duration was longer in the multitask condition than when participants were only walking. CONCLUSIONS Results of this exploratory study indicate that gait may be impacted when individuals (both younger and middle-aged) are listening and remembering while walking. Data also substantiate prior findings of early age-related declines in the perception of speech in the presence of understandable speech maskers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen S. Helfer
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
| | | | - Richard L. Freyman
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
| | - Jacob J. Banks
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cohn M, Barreda S, Zellou G. Differences in a Musician's Advantage for Speech-in-Speech Perception Based on Age and Task. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:545-564. [PMID: 36729698 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-22-00259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study investigates the debate that musicians have an advantage in speech-in-noise perception from years of targeted auditory training. We also consider the effect of age on any such advantage, comparing musicians and nonmusicians (age range: 18-66 years), all of whom had normal hearing. We manipulate the degree of fundamental frequency (f o) separation between the competing talkers, as well as use different tasks, to probe attentional differences that might shape a musician's advantage across ages. METHOD Participants (ranging in age from 18 to 66 years) included 29 musicians and 26 nonmusicians. They completed two tasks varying in attentional demands: (a) a selective attention task where listeners identify the target sentence presented with a one-talker interferer (Experiment 1), and (b) a divided attention task where listeners hear two vowels played simultaneously and identify both competing vowels (Experiment 2). In both paradigms, f o separation was manipulated between the two voices (Δf o = 0, 0.156, 0.306, 1, 2, 3 semitones). RESULTS Results show that increasing differences in f o separation lead to higher accuracy on both tasks. Additionally, we find evidence for a musician's advantage across the two studies. In the sentence identification task, younger adult musicians show higher accuracy overall, as well as a stronger reliance on f o separation. Yet, this advantage declines with musicians' age. In the double vowel identification task, musicians of all ages show an across-the-board advantage in detecting two vowels-and use f o separation more to aid in stream separation-but show no consistent difference in double vowel identification. CONCLUSIONS Overall, we find support for a hybrid auditory encoding-attention account of music-to-speech transfer. The musician's advantage includes f o, but the benefit also depends on the attentional demands in the task and listeners' age. Taken together, this study suggests a complex relationship between age, musical experience, and speech-in-speech paradigm on a musician's advantage. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21956777.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Cohn
- Phonetics Lab, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Davis
| | - Santiago Barreda
- Phonetics Lab, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Davis
| | - Georgia Zellou
- Phonetics Lab, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Davis
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gray R, Sarampalis A, Başkent D, Harding EE. Working-Memory, Alpha-Theta Oscillations and Musical Training in Older Age: Research Perspectives for Speech-on-speech Perception. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:806439. [PMID: 35645774 PMCID: PMC9131017 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.806439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
During the normal course of aging, perception of speech-on-speech or “cocktail party” speech and use of working memory (WM) abilities change. Musical training, which is a complex activity that integrates multiple sensory modalities and higher-order cognitive functions, reportedly benefits both WM performance and speech-on-speech perception in older adults. This mini-review explores the relationship between musical training, WM and speech-on-speech perception in older age (> 65 years) through the lens of the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model. Linking neural-oscillation literature associating speech-on-speech perception and WM with alpha-theta oscillatory activity, we propose that two stages of speech-on-speech processing in the ELU are underpinned by WM-related alpha-theta oscillatory activity, and that effects of musical training on speech-on-speech perception may be reflected in these frequency bands among older adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Gray
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Applied Behavioural Sciences, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Anastasios Sarampalis
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Deniz Başkent
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Eleanor E. Harding
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- *Correspondence: Eleanor E. Harding,
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The motivation for this research is to determine whether a listening-while-balancing task would be sensitive to quantifying listening effort in middle age. The premise behind this exploratory work is that a decrease in postural control would be demonstrated in challenging acoustic conditions, more so in middle-aged than in younger adults. DESIGN A dual-task paradigm was employed with speech understanding as one task and postural control as the other. For the speech perception task, participants listened to and repeated back sentences in the presence of other sentences or steady-state noise. Targets and maskers were presented in both spatially-coincident and spatially-separated conditions. The postural control task required participants to stand on a force platform either in normal stance (with feet approximately shoulder-width apart) or in tandem stance (with one foot behind the other). Participants also rated their subjective listening effort at the end of each block of trials. RESULTS Postural control was poorer for both groups of participants when the listening task was completed at a more adverse (vs. less adverse) signal-to-noise ratio. When participants were standing normally, postural control in dual-task conditions was negatively associated with degree of high-frequency hearing loss, with individuals who had higher pure-tone thresholds exhibiting poorer balance. Correlation analyses also indicated that reduced speech recognition ability was associated with poorer postural control in both single- and dual-task conditions. Middle-aged participants exhibited larger dual-task costs when the masker was speech, as compared to when it was noise. Individuals who reported expending greater effort on the listening task exhibited larger dual-task costs when in normal stance. CONCLUSIONS Listening under challenging acoustic conditions can have a negative impact on postural control, more so in middle-aged than in younger adults. One explanation for this finding is that the increased effort required to successfully listen in adverse environments leaves fewer resources for maintaining balance, particularly as people age. These results provide preliminary support for using this type of ecologically-valid dual-task paradigm to quantify the costs associated with understanding speech in adverse acoustic environments.
Collapse
|
6
|
Chen B, Shi Y, Zhang L, Sun Z, Li Y, Gopen Q, Fu QJ. Masking Effects in the Perception of Multiple Simultaneous Talkers in Normal-Hearing and Cochlear Implant Listeners. Trends Hear 2020; 24:2331216520916106. [PMID: 32324486 PMCID: PMC7180303 DOI: 10.1177/2331216520916106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
For normal-hearing (NH) listeners, monaural factors, such as voice pitch
cues, may play an important role in the segregation of speech signals
in multitalker environments. However, cochlear implant (CI) users
experience difficulties in segregating speech signals in multitalker
environments in part due to the coarse spectral resolution. The
present study examined how the vocal characteristics of the target and
masking talkers influence listeners’ ability to extract information
from a target phrase in a multitalker environment. Speech recognition
thresholds (SRTs) were measured with one, two, or four masker talkers
for different combinations of target-masker vocal characteristics in
10 adult Mandarin-speaking NH listeners and 12 adult Mandarin-speaking
CI users. The results showed that CI users performed significantly
poorer than NH listeners in the presence of competing talkers. As the
number of masker talkers increased, the mean SRTs significantly
worsened from –22.0 dB to –5.2 dB for NH listeners but significantly
improved from 5.9 dB to 2.8 dB for CI users. The results suggest that
the flattened peaks and valleys with increased numbers of competing
talkers may reduce NH listeners’ ability to use dips in the spectral
and temporal envelopes that allow for “glimpses” of the target speech.
However, the flattened temporal envelope of the resultant masker
signals may be less disruptive to the amplitude contour of the target
speech, which is important for Mandarin-speaking CI users’ lexical
tone recognition. The amount of masking release was further estimated
by comparing SRTs between the same-sex maskers and the different-sex
maskers. There was a large amount of masking release in NH adults
(12 dB) and a small but significant amount of masking release in CI
adults (2 dB). These results suggest that adult CI users may
significantly benefit from voice pitch differences between target and
masker speech.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Biao Chen
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education of China
| | - Ying Shi
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education of China
| | - Lifang Zhang
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education of China
| | - Zhiming Sun
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education of China
| | - Yongxin Li
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Ministry of Education of China
| | - Quinton Gopen
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California
| | - Qian-Jie Fu
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Helfer KS, van Emmerik R, Banks JJ, Freyman RL. Early aging and postural control while listening and responding. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 148:3117. [PMID: 33261409 PMCID: PMC7690971 DOI: 10.1121/10.0002485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
It is not unusual for communication to take place while people are involved in another activity. This paper describes a study that measures the impact of listening while also completing an active postural control task. The focus was on whether the combination of listening and balancing was more detrimental to middle-aged adults than it was to younger adults as age-related changes in both hearing and postural control can occur within this age range. Speech understanding in the presence of noise and speech maskers was measured when participants (n = 15/group) were simply standing still, as well as when they were asked to complete a balancing-with-feedback postural control task, requiring different levels of effort. Performance on the postural control task also was measured in isolation. Results indicated that dual-task costs for postural control were larger when the masker was speech (vs noise) for the middle-aged group but not for the younger group. Dual-task costs in postural control increased with degree of high-frequency hearing loss even when age was controlled. Overall, results suggest that postural control in middle-aged adults can be compromised when individuals are communicating in challenging environments, perhaps reflecting an increased need for cognitive resources to successfully understand messages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen S Helfer
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication Disorders, 358 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
| | - Richard van Emmerik
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Kinesiology, Totman Building, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
| | - Jacob J Banks
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Kinesiology, Totman Building, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
| | - Richard L Freyman
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Communication Disorders, 358 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Helfer KS, Jesse A. Hearing and speech processing in midlife. Hear Res 2020; 402:108097. [PMID: 33706999 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2020.108097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Revised: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Middle-aged adults often report a decline in their ability to understand speech in adverse listening situations. However, there has been relatively little research devoted to identifying how early aging affects speech processing, as the majority of investigations into senescent changes in speech understanding compare performance in groups of young and older adults. This paper provides an overview of research on hearing and speech perception in middle-aged adults. Topics covered include both objective and subjective (self-perceived) hearing and speech understanding, listening effort, and audiovisual speech perception. This review ends with justification for future research needed to define the nature, consequences, and remediation of hearing problems in middle-aged adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen S Helfer
- Department of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 358 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
| | - Alexandra Jesse
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Gfeller K, Driscoll V, Schwalje A. Adult Cochlear Implant Recipients' Perspectives on Experiences With Music in Everyday Life: A Multifaceted and Dynamic Phenomenon. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1229. [PMID: 31824240 PMCID: PMC6882382 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cochlear implants (CIs), which have been designed primarily to support spoken communication of persons with severe to profound hearing loss, are highly effective in supporting speech perception in quiet listening conditions. CI users as a group achieve significantly poorer perception and appraisal of music, and speech perception is compromised when background music is present, though outcomes vary considerably across recipients. A number of factors have been identified that contribute to variable music listening experiences, but many questions remain, particularly regarding experiences in everyday life from the perspective of CI users. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was twofold: The first aim was to explore the perspectives of adult CI recipients regarding two experiences with music in everyday life: purposeful music listening and background music that competes with spoken conversation. The second aim was to develop a framework of everyday music experiences based upon CI perspectives that could inform future rehabilitative practices and research initiatives. METHODS Qualitative and patient-engaged research methodologies were used to emphasize the perspectives of the CI users. Participants included 40 experienced adult CI users ranging in age from 19 to 81 enrolled in 13 CI centers. Participants completed on-line semi-structured open-ended questionnaires regarding purposeful music listening and background music in conjunction with spoken communication. Responses were analyzed using an iterative inductive coding process consistent with grounded theory methodology. The interrelated themes that emerged from the data were then organized into a model synthesizing components from models on music response and self-management for persons with chronic health conditions. OUTCOMES Data analyses informed the development of a Dynamic Problem Solving Model for Management of Music Listening Environments adapted from Hill-Briggs (2003) Problem Solving Model of Chronic Illness Self-Management. Key findings were: (1) Music listening is a dynamic, multifaceted experience; satisfactory listening depended upon optimal combinations of factors; (2) Music listening is effortful, but the extent of satisfaction is influenced by expectations and self-management of the situation; (3) CI users have limited access to resources for optimizing music experiences. Many CI users would consider rehabilitation, but level of commitment and priorities differ across CI users.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kate Gfeller
- School of Music, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States,Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Center, Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, United States,*Correspondence: Kate Gfeller,
| | - Virginia Driscoll
- School of Music, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States,Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Center, Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, United States
| | - Adam Schwalje
- Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Center, Department of Otolaryngology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
El Boghdady N, Gaudrain E, Başkent D. Does good perception of vocal characteristics relate to better speech-on-speech intelligibility for cochlear implant users? THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2019; 145:417. [PMID: 30710943 DOI: 10.1121/1.5087693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Differences in voice pitch (F0) and vocal tract length (VTL) improve intelligibility of speech masked by a background talker (speech-on-speech; SoS) for normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Cochlear implant (CI) users, who are less sensitive to these two voice cues compared to NH listeners, experience difficulties in SoS perception. Three research questions were addressed: (1) whether increasing the F0 and VTL difference (ΔF0; ΔVTL) between two competing talkers benefits CI users in SoS intelligibility and comprehension, (2) whether this benefit is related to their F0 and VTL sensitivity, and (3) whether their overall SoS intelligibility and comprehension are related to their F0 and VTL sensitivity. Results showed: (1) CI users did not benefit in SoS perception from increasing ΔF0 and ΔVTL; increasing ΔVTL had a slightly detrimental effect on SoS intelligibility and comprehension. Results also showed: (2) the effect from increasing ΔF0 on SoS intelligibility was correlated with F0 sensitivity, while the effect from increasing ΔVTL on SoS comprehension was correlated with VTL sensitivity. Finally, (3) the sensitivity to both F0 and VTL, and not only one of them, was found to be correlated with overall SoS performance, elucidating important aspects of voice perception that should be optimized through future coding strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nawal El Boghdady
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Etienne Gaudrain
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Deniz Başkent
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Steinmetzger K, Rosen S. The role of envelope periodicity in the perception of masked speech with simulated and real cochlear implants. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 144:885. [PMID: 30180719 DOI: 10.1121/1.5049584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/22/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In normal hearing, complex tones with pitch-related periodic envelope modulations are far less effective maskers of speech than aperiodic noise. Here, it is shown that this masker-periodicity benefit is diminished in noise-vocoder simulations of cochlear implants (CIs) and further reduced with real CIs. Nevertheless, both listener groups still benefitted significantly from masker periodicity, despite the lack of salient spectral pitch cues. The main reason for the smaller effect observed in CI users is thought to be an even stronger channel interaction than in the CI simulations, which smears out the random envelope modulations that are characteristic for aperiodic sounds. In contrast, neither interferers that were amplitude-modulated at a rate of 10 Hz nor maskers with envelopes specifically designed to reveal the target speech enabled a masking release in CI users. Hence, even at the high signal-to-noise ratios at which they were tested, CI users can still exploit pitch cues transmitted by the temporal envelope of a non-speech masker, whereas slow amplitude modulations of the masker envelope are no longer helpful.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kurt Steinmetzger
- Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London, WC1N 1PF, United Kingdom
| | - Stuart Rosen
- Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London, WC1N 1PF, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Başkent D, Clarke J, Pals C, Benard MR, Bhargava P, Saija J, Sarampalis A, Wagner A, Gaudrain E. Cognitive Compensation of Speech Perception With Hearing Impairment, Cochlear Implants, and Aging. Trends Hear 2016. [PMCID: PMC5056620 DOI: 10.1177/2331216516670279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
External degradations in incoming speech reduce understanding, and hearing impairment further compounds the problem. While cognitive mechanisms alleviate some of the difficulties, their effectiveness may change with age. In our research, reviewed here, we investigated cognitive compensation with hearing impairment, cochlear implants, and aging, via (a) phonemic restoration as a measure of top-down filling of missing speech, (b) listening effort and response times as a measure of increased cognitive processing, and (c) visual world paradigm and eye gazing as a measure of the use of context and its time course. Our results indicate that between speech degradations and their cognitive compensation, there is a fine balance that seems to vary greatly across individuals. Hearing impairment or inadequate hearing device settings may limit compensation benefits. Cochlear implants seem to allow the effective use of sentential context, but likely at the cost of delayed processing. Linguistic and lexical knowledge, which play an important role in compensation, may be successfully employed in advanced age, as some compensatory mechanisms seem to be preserved. These findings indicate that cognitive compensation in hearing impairment can be highly complicated—not always absent, but also not easily predicted by speech intelligibility tests only.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Deniz Başkent
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Jeanne Clarke
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Carina Pals
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Michel R. Benard
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Pento Speech and Hearing Center Zwolle, Zwolle, Netherlands
| | - Pranesh Bhargava
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Jefta Saija
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Anastasios Sarampalis
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Anita Wagner
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Etienne Gaudrain
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Auditory Cognition and Psychoacoustics, CNRS, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Lyon, France
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
The Intelligibility of Interrupted Speech: Cochlear Implant Users and Normal Hearing Listeners. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2016; 17:475-91. [PMID: 27090115 PMCID: PMC5023536 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-016-0565-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2015] [Accepted: 03/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Compared with normal-hearing listeners, cochlear implant (CI) users display a loss of intelligibility of speech interrupted by silence or noise, possibly due to reduced ability to integrate and restore speech glimpses across silence or noise intervals. The present study was conducted to establish the extent of the deficit typical CI users have in understanding interrupted high-context sentences as a function of a range of interruption rates (1.5 to 24 Hz) and duty cycles (50 and 75 %). Further, factors such as reduced signal quality of CI signal transmission and advanced age, as well as potentially lower speech intelligibility of CI users even in the lack of interruption manipulation, were explored by presenting young, as well as age-matched, normal-hearing (NH) listeners with full-spectrum and vocoded speech (eight-channel and speech intelligibility baseline performance matched). While the actual CI users had more difficulties in understanding interrupted speech and taking advantage of faster interruption rates and increased duty cycle than the eight-channel noise-band vocoded listeners, their performance was similar to the matched noise-band vocoded listeners. These results suggest that while loss of spectro-temporal resolution indeed plays an important role in reduced intelligibility of interrupted speech, these factors alone cannot entirely explain the deficit. Other factors associated with real CIs, such as aging or failure in transmission of essential speech cues, seem to additionally contribute to poor intelligibility of interrupted speech.
Collapse
|
14
|
Ahn HJ, Bahng J, Lee JH. Measurement of Acceptable Noise Level with Background Music. J Audiol Otol 2015; 19:79-84. [PMID: 26413573 PMCID: PMC4582459 DOI: 10.7874/jao.2015.19.2.79] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2015] [Revised: 03/11/2015] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives Acceptable noise level (ANL) is a measure of the maximum background noise level (BNL) that a person is willing to tolerate while following a target story. Although researchers have used various sources of target sound in ANL measures, a limited type of background noise has been used. Extending the previous study of Gordon-Hickey & Moore (2007), the current study determined the effect of music genre and tempo on ANLs as possible factors affecting ANLs. We also investigated the relationships between individual ANLs and the familiarity of music samples and between music ANLs and subjective preference. Subjects and Methods Forty-one participants were seperated into two groups according to their ANLs, 29 low-ANL listeners and 12 high-ANL listeners. Using Korean ANL material, the individual ANLs were measured based on the listeners' most comfortable listening level and BNL. The ANLs were measured in six conditions, with different music tempo (fast, slow) and genre (K-pop, pop, classical) in a counterbalanced order. Results Overall, ANLs did not differ by the tempo of background music, but music genre significantly affected individual ANLs. We observed relatively higher ANLs with K-pop music and relatively lower ANLs with classical music. This tendency was similar in both low-ANL and high-ANL groups. However, the subjective ratings of music familiarity and preference affected ANLs differently for low-ANL and high-ANL groups. In contrast to the low-ANL listeners, the ANLs of the high-ANL listeners were significantly affected by music familiarity and preference. Conclusions The genre of background music affected ANLs obtained using background music. The degree of music familiarity and preference appears to be associated with individual susceptibility to background music only for listeners who are greatly annoyed by background noise (high-ANL listeners).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hyun-Jung Ahn
- Department of Inter-Disciplinary Program Molecular Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea. ; Department of Audiology, Hallym University of Graduate Studies, Seoul, Korea
| | - Junghwa Bahng
- Department of Audiology, Hallym University of Graduate Studies, Seoul, Korea
| | - Jae Hee Lee
- Department of Audiology, Hallym University of Graduate Studies, Seoul, Korea
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Alm M, Behne D. Do gender differences in audio-visual benefit and visual influence in audio-visual speech perception emerge with age? Front Psychol 2015; 6:1014. [PMID: 26236274 PMCID: PMC4503887 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2014] [Accepted: 07/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Gender and age have been found to affect adults' audio-visual (AV) speech perception. However, research on adult aging focuses on adults over 60 years, who have an increasing likelihood for cognitive and sensory decline, which may confound positive effects of age-related AV-experience and its interaction with gender. Observed age and gender differences in AV speech perception may also depend on measurement sensitivity and AV task difficulty. Consequently both AV benefit and visual influence were used to measure visual contribution for gender-balanced groups of young (20-30 years) and middle-aged adults (50-60 years) with task difficulty varied using AV syllables from different talkers in alternative auditory backgrounds. Females had better speech-reading performance than males. Whereas no gender differences in AV benefit or visual influence were observed for young adults, visually influenced responses were significantly greater for middle-aged females than middle-aged males. That speech-reading performance did not influence AV benefit may be explained by visual speech extraction and AV integration constituting independent abilities. Contrastingly, the gender difference in visually influenced responses in middle adulthood may reflect an experience-related shift in females' general AV perceptual strategy. Although young females' speech-reading proficiency may not readily contribute to greater visual influence, between young and middle-adulthood recurrent confirmation of the contribution of visual cues induced by speech-reading proficiency may gradually shift females AV perceptual strategy toward more visually dominated responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Magnus Alm
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway
| | - Dawn Behne
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Grose JH, Mamo SK, Buss E, Hall JW. Temporal Processing Deficits in Middle Age. Am J Audiol 2015; 24:91-3. [PMID: 25768652 DOI: 10.1044/2015_aja-14-0053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2014] [Accepted: 11/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of this brief report is to provide a synopsis of recent work, primarily from the authors' laboratory, that points to the emergence of temporal processing deficits relatively early in the aging process. METHOD The approach taken was to provide a descriptive summary of selected published and current experiments focusing on the processing of temporal envelopes and fine structure. CONCLUSION Deficits in both temporal envelope and temporal fine structure processing are evident during middle age even while audiometric hearing sensitivity remains normal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Emily Buss
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Helfer KS. Competing Speech Perception in Middle Age. Am J Audiol 2015; 24:80-3. [PMID: 25768264 DOI: 10.1044/2015_aja-14-0056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2014] [Accepted: 01/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE This research forum article summarizes research from our laboratory that assessed middle-aged adults' ability to understand speech in the presence of competing talkers. METHOD The performance of middle-aged adults on laboratory-based speech understanding tasks was compared to that of younger and older adults. RESULTS Decline in the ability to understand speech in complex listening environments can be demonstrated in midlife. The specific auditory and cognitive contributors to these problems have yet to be established. CONCLUSION There is evidence that the ability to understand a target speech message in the presence of competing speech messages changes relatively early in the aging process. The nature and impact of these changes warrant further investigation.
Collapse
|
18
|
Kilman L, Zekveld A, Hällgren M, Rönnberg J. Native and Non-native Speech Perception by Hearing-Impaired Listeners in Noise- and Speech Maskers. Trends Hear 2015; 19:19/0/2331216515579127. [PMID: 25910504 PMCID: PMC4409938 DOI: 10.1177/2331216515579127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
This study evaluated how hearing-impaired listeners perceive native (Swedish) and nonnative (English) speech in the presence of noise- and speech maskers. Speech reception thresholds were measured for four different masker types for each target language. The maskers consisted of stationary and fluctuating noise and two-talker babble in Swedish and English. Twenty-three hearing-impaired native Swedish listeners participated, aged between 28 and 65 years. The participants also performed cognitive tests of working memory capacity in Swedish and English, nonverbal reasoning, and an English proficiency test. Results indicated that the speech maskers were more interfering than the noise maskers in both target languages. The larger need for phonetic and semantic cues in a nonnative language makes a stationary masker relatively more challenging than a fluctuating-noise masker. Better hearing acuity (pure tone average) was associated with better perception of the target speech in Swedish, and better English proficiency was associated with better speech perception in English. Larger working memory and better pure tone averages were related to the better perception of speech masked with fluctuating noise in the nonnative language. This suggests that both are relevant in highly taxing conditions. A large variance in performance between the listeners was observed, especially for speech perception in the nonnative language.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Kilman
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Linnaeus Centre HEAD, The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Adriana Zekveld
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Linnaeus Centre HEAD, The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Audiology/ENT & EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Mathias Hällgren
- Linnaeus Centre HEAD, The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Section of Audiology, Linköping University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Jerker Rönnberg
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Linnaeus Centre HEAD, The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Schurman J, Brungart D, Gordon-Salant S. Effects of masker type, sentence context, and listener age on speech recognition performance in 1-back listening tasks. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2014; 136:3337. [PMID: 25480078 DOI: 10.1121/1.4901708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Studies have shown that older listeners with normal hearing have greater difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments than younger listeners even during simple assessments where listeners respond to auditory stimuli immediately after presentation. Older listeners may have increased difficulty understanding speech in challenging listening situations that require the recall of prior sentences during the presentation of new auditory stimuli. This study compared the performance of older and younger normal-hearing listeners in 0-back trials, which required listeners to respond to the most recent sentence, and 1-back trials, which required the recall of the sentence preceding the most recent. Speech stimuli were high-context and anomalous sentences with four types of maskers. The results show that older listeners have greater difficulty in the 1-back task than younger listeners with all masker types, even when SNR was adjusted to produce 80% correct performance in the 0-back task for both groups. The differences between the groups in the 1-back task may be explained by differences in working memory for the noise and spatially separated speech maskers but not in the conditions with co-located speech maskers, suggesting that older listeners have increased difficulty in memory-intensive speech perception tasks involving high levels of informational masking.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jaclyn Schurman
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
| | - Douglas Brungart
- National Military Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20889
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Alm M, Behne D. Age mitigates the correlation between cognitive processing speed and audio-visual asynchrony detection in speech. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2014; 136:2816-2826. [PMID: 25373981 DOI: 10.1121/1.4896464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive processing speed, hearing acuity, and audio-visual (AV) experience have been suggested to influence AV asynchrony detection. Whereas the influence of hearing acuity and AV experience have been explored to some extent, the influence of cognitive processing speed on perceived AV asynchrony has not been directly tested. Therefore, the current study investigates the relationship between cognitive processing speed and AV asynchrony detection in speech and, with hearing acuity controlled, assesses whether age-related AV experience mitigates the strength of this relationship. The cognitive processing speed and AV asynchrony detection by 20 young adults (20-30 years) and 20 middle-aged adults (50-60 years) were measured using auditory, visual and AV recognition reaction time tasks, and an AV synchrony judgment task. Strong correlations between audio, visual, and AV reaction times and AV synchrony window size were found for young adults, but not for middle-aged adults. These findings suggest that although cognitive processing speed influences AV asynchrony detection in speech, the strength of the relationship is seemingly reduced by AV experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Magnus Alm
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Dawn Behne
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Fuller CD, Galvin JJ, Maat B, Free RH, Başkent D. The musician effect: does it persist under degraded pitch conditions of cochlear implant simulations? Front Neurosci 2014; 8:179. [PMID: 25071428 PMCID: PMC4075350 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2014] [Accepted: 06/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Cochlear implants (CIs) are auditory prostheses that restore hearing via electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. Compared to normal acoustic hearing, sounds transmitted through the CI are spectro-temporally degraded, causing difficulties in challenging listening tasks such as speech intelligibility in noise and perception of music. In normal hearing (NH), musicians have been shown to better perform than non-musicians in auditory processing and perception, especially for challenging listening tasks. This “musician effect” was attributed to better processing of pitch cues, as well as better overall auditory cognitive functioning in musicians. Does the musician effect persist when pitch cues are degraded, as it would be in signals transmitted through a CI? To answer this question, NH musicians and non-musicians were tested while listening to unprocessed signals or to signals processed by an acoustic CI simulation. The task increasingly depended on pitch perception: (1) speech intelligibility (words and sentences) in quiet or in noise, (2) vocal emotion identification, and (3) melodic contour identification (MCI). For speech perception, there was no musician effect with the unprocessed stimuli, and a small musician effect only for word identification in one noise condition, in the CI simulation. For emotion identification, there was a small musician effect for both. For MCI, there was a large musician effect for both. Overall, the effect was stronger as the importance of pitch in the listening task increased. This suggests that the musician effect may be more rooted in pitch perception, rather than in a global advantage in cognitive processing (in which musicians would have performed better in all tasks). The results further suggest that musical training before (and possibly after) implantation might offer some advantage in pitch processing that could partially benefit speech perception, and more strongly emotion and music perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christina D Fuller
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands
| | - John J Galvin
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Division of Communication and Auditory Neuroscience, House Research Institute Los Angeles, CA, USA ; Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Bert Maat
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Rolien H Free
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Deniz Başkent
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|