Dataset Information

Influences of Cognitive Processing Capacities on Speech Perception in Young Adults.

ABSTRACT: Foreign accent in speech often presents listeners with challenging listening conditions. Consequently, listeners may need to draw on additional cognitive resources in order to perceive and comprehend such speech. Previous research has shown that, for older adults, executive functions predicted perception of speech material spoken in a novel, artificially created (and therefore unfamiliar) accent. The present study investigates the influences of executive functions, information processing speed, and working memory on perception of unfamiliar foreign accented speech, in healthy young adults. The results showed that the executive processes of inhibition and switching, as well as information processing speed predict response times to both accented and standard sentence stimuli, while inhibition and information processing speed predict speed of responding to accented word stimuli. Inhibition and switching further predict accuracy in responding to accented word and standard sentence stimuli that has increased processing demand (i.e., nonwords and sentences with unexpected semantic content). These findings suggest that stronger abilities in aspects of cognitive functioning may be helpful for matching variable pronunciations of speech sounds to stored representations, for example by being able to manage the activation of incorrect competing representations and shifting to other possible matches.

SUBMITTER: Tao L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5323404 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Influences of Cognitive Processing Capacities on Speech Perception in Young Adults.

Tao Lily L Taft Marcus M

Frontiers in psychology 20170224

Foreign accent in speech often presents listeners with challenging listening conditions. Consequently, listeners may need to draw on additional cognitive resources in order to perceive and comprehend such speech. Previous research has shown that, for older adults, executive functions predicted perception of speech material spoken in a novel, artificially created (and therefore unfamiliar) accent. The present study investigates the influences of executive functions, information processing speed, ...[more]

PMID: 28286491

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Project description:Impaired speech perception in noise despite normal peripheral auditory function is a common problem in young adults. Despite a growing body of research, the pathophysiology of this impairment remains unknown. This magnetoencephalography study characterizes the cortical tracking of speech in a multi-talker background in a group of highly selected adult subjects with impaired speech perception in noise without peripheral auditory dysfunction. Magnetoencephalographic signals were recorded from 13 subjects with impaired speech perception in noise (six females, mean age: 30 years) and matched healthy subjects while they were listening to 5 different recordings of stories merged with a multi-talker background at different signal to noise ratios (No Noise, +10, +5, 0 and -5 dB). The cortical tracking of speech was quantified with coherence between magnetoencephalographic signals and the temporal envelope of (i) the global auditory scene (i.e. the attended speech stream and the multi-talker background noise), (ii) the attended speech stream only and (iii) the multi-talker background noise. Functional connectivity was then estimated between brain areas showing altered cortical tracking of speech in noise in subjects with impaired speech perception in noise and the rest of the brain. All participants demonstrated a selective cortical representation of the attended speech stream in noisy conditions, but subjects with impaired speech perception in noise displayed reduced cortical tracking of speech at the syllable rate (i.e. 4-8 Hz) in all noisy conditions. Increased functional connectivity was observed in subjects with impaired speech perception in noise in Noiseless and speech in noise conditions between supratemporal auditory cortices and left-dominant brain areas involved in semantic and attention processes. The difficulty to understand speech in a multi-talker background in subjects with impaired speech perception in noise appears to be related to an inaccurate auditory cortex tracking of speech at the syllable rate. The increased functional connectivity between supratemporal auditory cortices and language/attention-related neocortical areas probably aims at supporting speech perception and subsequent recognition in adverse auditory scenes. Overall, this study argues for a central origin of impaired speech perception in noise in the absence of any peripheral auditory dysfunction.

Project description:ObjectivesThe primary objective of this study is to identify the biographic, audiologic, and electrode position factors that influence speech perception performance in adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients implanted with a device from a single manufacturer. The secondary objective is to investigate the independent association of the type of electrode (precurved or straight) with speech perception.DesignIn a cross-sectional study design, speech perception measures and ultrahigh-resolution computed tomography scans were performed in 129 experienced CI recipients with a postlingual onset of hearing loss. Data were collected between December 2016 and January 2018 in the Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The participants received either a precurved electrode (N = 85) or a straight electrode (N = 44), all from the same manufacturer. The biographic variables evaluated were age at implantation, level of education, and years of hearing loss. The audiometric factors explored were preoperative and postoperative pure-tone average residual hearing and preoperative speech perception score. The electrode position factors analyzed, as measured from images obtained with the ultrahigh-resolution computed tomography scan, were the scalar location, angular insertion depth of the basal and apical electrode contacts, and the wrapping factor (i.e., electrode-to-modiolus distance), as well as the type of electrode used. These 11 variables were tested for their effect on three speech perception outcomes: consonant-vowel-consonant words in quiet tests at 50 dB SPL (CVC50) and 65 dB SPL (CVC65), and the digits-in-noise test.ResultsA lower age at implantation was correlated with a higher CVC50 phoneme score in the straight electrode group. Other biographic variables did not correlate with speech perception. Furthermore, participants implanted with a precurved electrode and who had poor preoperative hearing thresholds performed better in all speech perception outcomes than the participants implanted with a straight electrode and relatively better preoperative hearing thresholds. After correcting for biographic factors, audiometric variables, and scalar location, we showed that the precurved electrode led to an 11.8 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 1.4-20.4%; p = 0.03) higher perception score for the CVC50 phonemes compared with the straight electrode. Furthermore, contrary to our initial expectations, the preservation of residual hearing with the straight electrode was poor, as the median preoperative and the postoperative residual hearing thresholds for the straight electrode were 88 and 122 dB, respectively.ConclusionsCochlear implantation with a precurved electrode results in a significantly higher speech perception outcome, independent of biographic factors, audiometric factors, and scalar location.

Dataset Information

Influences of Cognitive Processing Capacities on Speech Perception in Young Adults.

Publications

Influences of Cognitive Processing Capacities on Speech Perception in Young Adults.

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