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Xie Z, Gaskins CR, Tinnemore AR, Shader MJ, Gordon-Salant S, Anderson S, Goupell MJ. Spectral degradation and carrier sentences increase age-related temporal processing deficits in a cue-specific manner. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 155:3983-3994. [PMID: 38934563 PMCID: PMC11213620 DOI: 10.1121/10.0026434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Advancing age is associated with decreased sensitivity to temporal cues in word segments, particularly when target words follow non-informative carrier sentences or are spectrally degraded (e.g., vocoded to simulate cochlear-implant stimulation). This study investigated whether age, carrier sentences, and spectral degradation interacted to cause undue difficulty in processing speech temporal cues. Younger and older adults with normal hearing performed phonemic categorization tasks on two continua: a Buy/Pie contrast with voice onset time changes for the word-initial stop and a Dish/Ditch contrast with silent interval changes preceding the word-final fricative. Target words were presented in isolation or after non-informative carrier sentences, and were unprocessed or degraded via sinewave vocoding (2, 4, and 8 channels). Older listeners exhibited reduced sensitivity to both temporal cues compared to younger listeners. For the Buy/Pie contrast, age, carrier sentence, and spectral degradation interacted such that the largest age effects were seen for unprocessed words in the carrier sentence condition. This pattern differed from the Dish/Ditch contrast, where reducing spectral resolution exaggerated age effects, but introducing carrier sentences largely left the patterns unchanged. These results suggest that certain temporal cues are particularly susceptible to aging when placed in sentences, likely contributing to the difficulties of older cochlear-implant users in everyday environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zilong Xie
- School of Communication Science and Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
| | - Casey R Gaskins
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Anna R Tinnemore
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Maureen J Shader
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Matthew J Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
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Anderson S, DeVries L, Smith E, Goupell MJ, Gordon-Salant S. Rate Discrimination Training May Partially Restore Temporal Processing Abilities from Age-Related Deficits. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2022; 23:771-786. [PMID: 35948694 PMCID: PMC9365219 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-022-00859-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to understand speech in complex environments depends on the brain's ability to preserve the precise timing characteristics of the speech signal. Age-related declines in temporal processing may contribute to the older adult's experience of communication difficulty in challenging listening conditions. This study's purpose was to evaluate the effects of rate discrimination training on auditory temporal processing. A double-blind, randomized control design assigned 77 young normal-hearing, older normal-hearing, and older hearing-impaired listeners to one of two treatment groups: experimental (rate discrimination for 100- and 300-Hz pulse trains) and active control (tone detection in noise). All listeners were evaluated during pre- and post-training sessions using perceptual rate discrimination of 100-, 200-, 300-, and 400-Hz band-limited pulse trains and auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) to the same stimuli. Training generalization was evaluated using several temporal processing measures and sentence recognition tests that included time-compressed and reverberant speech stimuli. Results demonstrated a session × training group interaction for perceptual and ASSR testing to the trained frequencies (100 and 300 Hz), driven by greater improvements in the training group than in the active control group. Further, post-test rate discrimination of the older listeners reached levels that were equivalent to those of the younger listeners at pre-test. Generalization was observed in significant improvement in rate discrimination of untrained frequencies (200 and 400 Hz) and in correlations between performance changes in rate discrimination and sentence recognition of reverberant speech. Further, non-auditory inhibition/attention performance predicted training-related improvement in rate discrimination. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential for auditory training to partially restore temporal processing in older listeners and highlight the role of cognitive function in these gains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742 USA
| | - Lindsay DeVries
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742 USA
| | - Edward Smith
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742 USA
| | - Matthew J. Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742 USA
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, 20742 USA
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Gibbs BE, Bernstein JGW, Brungart DS, Goupell MJ. Effects of better-ear glimpsing, binaural unmasking, and spectral resolution on spatial release from masking in cochlear-implant users. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 152:1230. [PMID: 36050186 PMCID: PMC9420049 DOI: 10.1121/10.0013746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2021] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Bilateral cochlear-implant (BICI) listeners obtain less spatial release from masking (SRM; speech-recognition improvement for spatially separated vs co-located conditions) than normal-hearing (NH) listeners, especially for symmetrically placed maskers that produce similar long-term target-to-masker ratios at the two ears. Two experiments examined possible causes of this deficit, including limited better-ear glimpsing (using speech information from the more advantageous ear in each time-frequency unit), limited binaural unmasking (using interaural differences to improve signal-in-noise detection), or limited spectral resolution. Listeners had NH (presented with unprocessed or vocoded stimuli) or BICIs. Experiment 1 compared natural symmetric maskers, idealized monaural better-ear masker (IMBM) stimuli that automatically performed better-ear glimpsing, and hybrid stimuli that added worse-ear information, potentially restoring binaural cues. BICI and NH-vocoded SRM was comparable to NH-unprocessed SRM for idealized stimuli but was 14%-22% lower for symmetric stimuli, suggesting limited better-ear glimpsing ability. Hybrid stimuli improved SRM for NH-unprocessed listeners but degraded SRM for BICI and NH-vocoded listeners, suggesting they experienced across-ear interference instead of binaural unmasking. In experiment 2, increasing the number of vocoder channels did not change NH-vocoded SRM. BICI SRM deficits likely reflect a combination of across-ear interference, limited better-ear glimpsing, and poorer binaural unmasking that stems from cochlear-implant-processing limitations other than reduced spectral resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bobby E Gibbs
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Joshua G W Bernstein
- National Military Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20889, USA
| | - Douglas S Brungart
- National Military Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20889, USA
| | - Matthew J Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
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Roux J, Hanekom JJ. Effect of stimulation parameters on sequential current-steered stimuli in cochlear implants. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 152:609. [PMID: 35931549 DOI: 10.1121/10.0012763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Manipulation of cochlear implant (CI) place pitch was carried out with current steering by stimulating two CI electrodes sequentially. The objective was to investigate whether shifts in activated neural populations could be achieved to produce salient pitch differences and to determine which stimulation parameters would be more effective in steering of current. These were the pulse rate and pulse width of electrical stimuli and the distance between the two current-steering electrodes. Nine CI users participated, and ten ears were tested. The pattern of pitch changes was not consistent across listeners, but the data suggest that individualized selection of stimulation parameters may be used to effect place pitch changes with sequential current steering. Individual analyses showed that pulse width generally had little influence on the effectiveness of current steering with sequential stimuli, while more salient place pitch shifts were often achieved at wider electrode spacing or when the stimulation pulse rate was the same as that indicated on the clinical MAP (the set of stimulation parameters) of the listener. Results imply that current steering may be used in CIs that allow only sequential stimulation to achieve place pitch manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanie Roux
- Bioengineering, Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Engineering, University of Pretoria, University Road, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Johan J Hanekom
- Bioengineering, Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Engineering, University of Pretoria, University Road, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
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DeVries L, Anderson S, Goupell MJ, Smith E, Gordon-Salant S. Effects of aging and hearing loss on perceptual and electrophysiological measures of pulse-rate discrimination. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 151:1639. [PMID: 35364956 PMCID: PMC8916844 DOI: 10.1121/10.0009399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Auditory temporal processing declines with age, leading to potential deleterious effects on communication. In young normal-hearing listeners, perceptual rate discrimination is rate limited around 300 Hz. It is not known whether this rate limitation is similar in older listeners with hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to investigate age- and hearing-loss-related rate limitations on perceptual rate discrimination, and age- and hearing-loss-related effects on neural representation of these stimuli. Younger normal-hearing, older normal-hearing, and older hearing-impaired listeners performed a pulse-rate discrimination task at rates of 100, 200, 300, and 400 Hz. Neural phase locking was assessed using the auditory steady-state response. Finally, a battery of non-auditory cognitive tests was administered. Younger listeners had better rate discrimination, higher phase locking, and higher cognitive scores compared to both groups of older listeners. Aging, but not hearing loss, diminished neural-rate encoding and perceptual performance; however, there was no relationship between the perceptual and neural measures. Higher cognitive scores were correlated with improved perceptual performance, but not with neural phase locking. This study shows that aging, rather than hearing loss, may be a stronger contributor to poorer temporal processing, and cognitive factors such as processing speed and inhibitory control may be related to these declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay DeVries
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Matthew J Goupell
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Ed Smith
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Sandra Gordon-Salant
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
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Kang H, Macherey O, Roman S, Pressnitzer D. Auditory memory for random time patterns in cochlear implant listeners. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 150:1934. [PMID: 34598651 DOI: 10.1121/10.0005728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Learning about new sounds is essential for cochlear-implant and normal-hearing listeners alike, with the additional challenge for implant listeners that spectral resolution is severely degraded. Here, a task measuring the rapid learning of slow or fast stochastic temporal sequences [Kang, Agus, and Pressnitzer (2017). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 142, 2219-2232] was performed by cochlear-implant (N = 10) and normal-hearing (N = 9) listeners, using electric or acoustic pulse sequences, respectively. Rapid perceptual learning was observed for both groups, with highly similar characteristics. Moreover, for cochlear-implant listeners, an additional condition tested ultra-fast electric pulse sequences that would be impossible to represent temporally when presented acoustically. This condition also demonstrated learning. Overall, the results suggest that cochlear-implant listeners have access to the neural plasticity mechanisms needed for the rapid perceptual learning of complex temporal sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- HiJee Kang
- Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, Département d'études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 29 Rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Olivier Macherey
- Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, LMA, 4 impasse Nikola Tesla, CS40006, 13453 Marseille, Cedex 13, France
| | - Stéphane Roman
- Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology and Neck Surgery, Aix-Marseille University, 264 Rue Saint Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - Daniel Pressnitzer
- Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, Département d'études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 29 Rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
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