The Influence of Cochlear Mechanical Dysfunction, Temporal Processing Deficits, and Age on the Intelligibility of Audible Speech in Noise for Hearing-Impaired Listeners.
The aim of this study was to assess the relative importance of cochlear mechanical dysfunction, temporal processing deficits, and age on the ability of hearing-impaired listeners to understand speech in noisy backgrounds. Sixty-eight listeners took part in the study. They were provided with linear, frequency-specific amplification to compensate for their audiometric losses, and intelligibility was assessed for speech-shaped noise (SSN) and a time-reversed two-talker masker (R2TM). Behavioral estimates of cochlear gain loss and residual compression were available from a previous study and were used as indicators of cochlear mechanical dysfunction. Temporal processing abilities were assessed using frequency modulation detection thresholds. Age, audiometric thresholds, and the difference between audiometric threshold and cochlear gain loss were also included in the analyses. Stepwise multiple linear regression models were used to assess the relative importance of the various factors for intelligibility. Results showed that (a) cochlear gain loss was unrelated to intelligibility, (b) residual cochlear compression was related to intelligibility in SSN but not in a R2TM, (c) temporal processing was strongly related to intelligibility in a R2TM and much less so in SSN, and (d) age per se impaired intelligibility. In summary, all factors affected intelligibility, but their relative importance varied across maskers.
Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
Peter T
PT
Johannesen
Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
Patricia
P
Pérez-González
Starkey Hearing Research Center, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Sridhar
S
Kalluri
Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
José L
JL
Blanco
Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain Departamento de Cirugía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain ealopezpoveda@usal.es.
Enrique A
EA
Lopez-Poveda
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D013060:Speech; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception
ageing; auditory masking; cochlear hearing loss; hearing impairment; temporal fine structure