title: Hollowness perception with noise-reduction hearing aids.
abstract: The efficacy of "noise-reduction" hearing aids in reducing the hollowness perception of one's own voice during vocalization was examined. Binaural Siemens 283 ASP hearing aids were worn by 2 groups of listeners, one with primarily high-frequency loss (Group A) and one with loss in both high- and low-frequencies (Group B). Electroacoustic parameters on the hearing aids were adjusted initially for optimal hearing in the "no-noise reduction" mode by rating the clarity of a discourse passage while following an adaptive forced-choice procedure. Afterwards, subjects compared the effect of the noise-reduction circuitry by vocalizing at 3 different voice levels and scaled the clarity-hollowness of their voices using a 0-100 scale with each noise-reduction mode. Group A subjects did not show a significant change in hollowness perception with noise-reduction circuitry, whereas Group B subjects showed significant reduction of hollowness perception at soft and normal voice levels with noise-reduction circuitry. These results demonstrated that some present-day noise-reduction circuitry can be effective in improving some wearers' perceived voice quality during vocalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Kuk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plager
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Pape
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001307:Auditory Perception; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D014833:Voice Quality