Cartocci Giulia, Maglione Anton Giulio, Vecchiato Giovanni, Di Flumeri Gianluca, Colosimo Alfredo, Scorpecci Alessandro, Marsella Pasquale, Giannantonio Sara, Malerba Paolo, Borghini Gianluca, Arico Pietro, Babiloni Fabio
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2015 Aug;2015:1654-7. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7318693.
Despite of technological innovations, noisy environments still constitute a challenging and stressful situation for words recognition by hearing impaired subjects. The evaluation of the mental workload imposed by the noisy environments for the recognition of the words in prelingually deaf children is then of paramount importance since it could affect the speed of the learning process during scholar period.The aim of the present study was to investigate different electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectral density (PSD) components (in theta 4-8 Hz - and alpha - 8-12 Hz - frequency bands) to estimate the mental workload index in different noise conditions during a word recognition task in prelingually deaf children, a population not yet investigated in relation to the workload index during auditory tasks. A pilot study involving a small group of prelingually deaf children was then subjected to EEG recordings during an auditory task composed by a listening and a successive recognition of words with different noise conditions. Results showed that in the pre-word listening phase frontal EEG PSD in theta band and the ratio of the frontal EEG PSD in theta band and the parietal EEG PSD in alpha band (workload index; IWL) reported highest values in the most demanding noise condition. In addition, in the phase preceding the word forced-choice task the highest parietal EEG PSD in alpha band and IWL values were reported at the presumably simplest condition (noise emitted in correspondence of the subject's deaf ear). These results could suggest the prominence of EEG PSD theta component activity in the pre-word listening phase. In addition, a more challenging noise situation in the pre-choice phase would be so "over-demanding" to fail to enhance both the alpha power and the IWL in comparison to the already demanding "simple" condition.
尽管有技术创新，但嘈杂的环境对于听力受损者的单词识别来说仍然是一个具有挑战性且压力重重的情况。因此，评估嘈杂环境对语前聋儿童单词识别所施加的心理负荷至关重要，因为这可能会影响他们在学习期间的学习速度。本研究的目的是调查不同的脑电图（EEG）功率谱密度（PSD）成分（在θ波4 - 8赫兹和α波8 - 12赫兹频段），以估计语前聋儿童在单词识别任务中不同噪声条件下的心理负荷指数，此前尚未针对该群体在听觉任务期间的负荷指数进行过研究。随后，一项涉及一小群语前聋儿童的初步研究在一项听觉任务中进行了脑电图记录，该任务包括聆听以及对不同噪声条件下的单词进行连续识别。结果表明，在单词聆听前阶段，θ频段的额叶脑电图PSD以及额叶脑电图θ频段PSD与顶叶脑电图α频段PSD的比值（负荷指数；IWL）在要求最高的噪声条件下呈现出最高值。此外，在单词强制选择任务之前的阶段，α频段顶叶脑电图PSD和IWL值在大概最简单的条件下（在受试者聋耳对应的位置发出噪声）最高。这些结果可能表明脑电图PSD的θ成分活动在单词聆听前阶段较为突出。此外，与已经要求较高的“简单”条件相比，选择前阶段更具挑战性的噪声情况会“要求过高”，以至于无法增强α功率和IWL。
