scholarly journals Developmental Links Between Speech Perception in Noise, Singing, and Cortical Processing of Music in Children with Cochlear Implants

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritva Torppa ◽  
Andrew Faulkner ◽  
Teija Kujala ◽  
Minna Huotilainen ◽  
Jari Lipsanen

The perception of speech in noise is challenging for children with cochlear implants (CIs). Singing and musical instrument playing have been associated with improved auditory skills in normal-hearing (NH) children. Therefore, we assessed how children with CIs who sing informally develop in the perception of speech in noise compared to those who do not. We also sought evidence of links of speech perception in noise with MMN and P3a brain responses to musical sounds and studied effects of age and changes over a 14–17 month time period in the speech-in-noise performance of children with CIs. Compared to the NH group, the entire CI group was less tolerant of noise in speech perception, but both groups improved similarly. The CI singing group showed better speech-in-noise perception than the CI non-singing group. The perception of speech in noise in children with CIs was associated with the amplitude of MMN to a change of sound from piano to cymbal, and in the CI singing group only, with earlier P3a for changes in timbre. While our results cannot address causality, they suggest that singing and musical instrument playing may have a potential to enhance the perception of speech in noise in children with CIs.

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-173
Author(s):  
Srikar Vijayasarathy ◽  
Animesh Barman

Background and Objectives: Top-down restoration of distorted speech, tapped as phonemic restoration of speech in noise, maybe a useful tool to understand robustness of perception in adverse listening situations. However, the relationship between phonemic restoration and speech perception in noise is not empirically clear.Subjects and Methods: 20 adults (40-55 years) with normal audiometric findings were part of the study. Sentence perception in noise performance was studied with various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) to estimate the SNR with 50% score. Performance was also measured for sentences interrupted with silence and for those interrupted by speech noise at -10, -5, 0, and 5 dB SNRs. The performance score in the noise interruption condition was subtracted by quiet interruption condition to determine the phonemic restoration magnitude.Results: Fairly robust improvements in speech intelligibility was found when the sentences were interrupted with speech noise instead of silence. Improvement with increasing noise levels was non-monotonic and reached a maximum at -10 dB SNR. Significant correlation between speech perception in noise performance and phonemic restoration of sentences interrupted with -10 dB SNR speech noise was found.Conclusions: It is possible that perception of speech in noise is associated with top-down processing of speech, tapped as phonemic restoration of interrupted speech. More research with a larger sample size is indicated since the restoration is affected by the type of speech material and noise used, age, working memory, and linguistic proficiency, and has a large individual variability.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Robert Moore ◽  
Susan Gordon-Hickey

The purpose of this article is to propose 4 dimensions for consideration in hearing aid fittings and 4 tests to evaluate those dimensions. The 4 dimensions and tests are (a) working memory, evaluated by the Revised Speech Perception in Noise test (Bilger, Nuetzel, & Rabinowitz, 1984); (b) performance in noise, evaluated by the Quick Speech in Noise test (QSIN; Killion, Niquette, Gudmundsen, Revit, & Banerjee, 2004); (c) acceptance of noise, evaluated by the Acceptable Noise Level test (ANL; Nabelek, Tucker, & Letowski, 1991); and (d) performance versus perception, evaluated by the Perceptual–Performance test (PPT; Saunders & Cienkowski, 2002). The authors discuss the 4 dimensions and tests in the context of improving the quality of hearing aid fittings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Younes Lotfi ◽  
Mahdieh Hasanalifard ◽  
Abdollah Moossavi ◽  
Enayatollah Bakhshi ◽  
Mohammad Ajalloueyan

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of “Spatially separated speech in noise” auditory training on the ability of speech perception in noise among bimodal fitting users. The assumption was that the rehabilitation can enhance spatial hearing and hence speech in noise perception. This study was an interventional study, with a pre/post-design. Speech recognition ability was assessed with the specific tests. After performing the rehabilitation stages in the intervention group, the speech tests were again implemented, and by comparing the pre- and post-intervention data, the effect of auditory training on the speech abilities was assessed. Twenty-four children of 8–12 years who had undergone cochlear implantation and continuously used bimodal fitting were investigated in two groups of control and intervention. Results The results showed a significant difference between the groups in different speech tests after the intervention, which indicated that the intervention group have improved more than the control group. Conclusion It can be concluded that “Spatially separated speech in noise” auditory training can improve the speech perception in noise in bimodal fitting users. In general, this rehabilitation method is useful for enhancing the speech in noise perception ability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (sup2) ◽  
pp. S70-S80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa YC Ching ◽  
Vicky W Zhang ◽  
Christopher Flynn ◽  
Lauren Burns ◽  
Laura Button ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Elizabeth Susan Lovett ◽  
Pádraig Thomas Kitterick ◽  
Shan Huang ◽  
Arthur Quentin Summerfield

Purpose To establish the age at which children can complete tests of spatial listening and to measure the normative relationship between age and performance. Method Fifty-six normal-hearing children, ages 1.5–7.9 years, attempted tests of the ability to discriminate a sound source on the left from one on the right, to localize a source, to track moving sources, and to perceive speech in noise. Results Tests of left–right discrimination, movement tracking, and speech perception were completed by ≥75% of children older than 3 years. Children showed adult levels of performance from age 1.5 years (movement tracking), 3 years (left–right discrimination), and 6 years (localization and speech in noise). Spatial release from masking—calculated as the difference in speech reception thresholds between conditions with spatially coincident and spatially separate speech and noise—remained constant at 5 dB from age 3 years. Data from a separate study demonstrate the age at which children with cochlear implants can complete the same tests. Assessments of left–right discrimination, movement tracking, and speech perception were completed by ≥75% of children who are older than 5 years and who wear cochlear implants. Conclusion These data can guide the selection of tests for future studies and inform the interpretation of results from clinical populations.


CoDAS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Lívia Libardi Bertachini ◽  
Altair Cadrobbi Pupo ◽  
Marina Morettin ◽  
Maria Angelina Nardi Martinez ◽  
Maria Cecília Bevilacqua ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: This review aimed at presenting the benefits regarding the speech perception in noise shown by children who wear hearing aid devices and/or cochlear implants with the Frequency Modulation (FM) System at school. RESEARCH STRATEGY: A bibliographic survey was conducted in an electronic database with standardized search until the year 2012, and a manual search was performed by using specific keywords. SELECTION CRITERIA: For the selection and evaluation of the scientific studies chosen in the search, criteria were established covering the following aspects: type of study, participants, adopted intervention, and evaluation of results. DATA ANALYSIS: The FM system was verified to improve speech perception and speech threshold in noise in all studies. RESULTS: Regarding the performance as to type, the best results were obtained when children used the personal FM system, followed by the table and the sound field systems. CONCLUSION: After extensive review of national and international literature, it was concluded that the studies indicate the need for further research concerning mainly the impact of the FM system on the school performance of children who have sensory devices coupled to the FM system. Findings in the literature with relation to the publications focused on speech perception in noise did not relate educational and auditory aspects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Iglehart

Purpose This study measured speech perception ability in children with cochlear implants and children with typical hearing when listening across ranges of reverberation times (RTs) and speech-to-noise ratios. Method Participants listened in classroom RTs of 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 s combined with a 21-dB range of speech-to-noise ratios. Subsets also listened in a low-reverberant audiological sound booth. Performance measures using the Bamford-Kowal-Bench Speech-in-Noise Test (Etymotic Research, Inc., 2005) were 50% correct word recognition across these acoustic conditions, with supplementary analyses of percent correct. Results Reduction in RT from 0.9 to 0.6 s benefited both groups of children. A further reduction in RT to 0.3 s provided additional benefit to the children with cochlear implants, with no further benefit or harm to those with typical hearing. Scores in the sound booth were significantly higher for the participants with implants than in the classroom. Conclusions These results support the acoustic standards of 0.6 s RT for children with typical hearing and 0.3 s RT for children with auditory issues in learning spaces (≤283 m 3 ) as specified in standards S12.60-2010/Part 1 of the American National Standards Institute /Acoustical Society of America (2010). In addition, speech perception testing in a low-reverberant booth overestimated classroom listening ability in children with cochlear implants.


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