VA RR&D National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Healthcare System, Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA; Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Hear Res. 2018 Dec;370:130-142. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.10.009. Epub 2018 Oct 16.
Understanding speech in background noise is difficult for many listeners with and without hearing impairment (HI). This study investigated the effects of HI on speech discrimination and recognition measures as well as speech-evoked cortical N1-P2 and MMN auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) in background noise. We aimed to determine which AERP components can predict the effects of HI on speech perception in noise across adult listeners with and without HI. The data were collected from 18 participants with hearing thresholds ranging from within normal limits to bilateral moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss. Linear mixed effects models were employed to examine how hearing impairment, age, stimulus type, and SNR listening condition affected neural and behavioral responses and what AERP components were correlated with effects of HI on speech-in-noise perception across participants. Significant effects of age were found on the N1-P2 but not on MMN, and significant effects of HI were observed on the MMN and behavioral measures. The results suggest that neural responses reflecting later cognitive processing of stimulus discrimination may be more susceptible to the effects of HI on the processing of speech in noise than earlier components that signal the sensory encoding of acoustic stimulus features. Objective AERP responses were also potential neural predictors of speech perception in noise across participants with and without HI, which has implications for the use of AERPs as a potential clinical tool for assessing speech perception in noise.
理解背景噪声中的言语对于有听力障碍和无听力障碍的许多听众来说都很困难。本研究调查了听力障碍对言语辨别和识别测量以及背景噪声中言语诱发的皮质 N1-P2 和 MMN 听觉事件相关电位 (AERP) 的影响。我们旨在确定哪些 AERP 成分可以预测有听力障碍和无听力障碍的成年听众中听力障碍对噪声中言语感知的影响。该数据来自 18 名参与者，他们的听力阈值范围从正常范围内到双侧中度至重度感音神经性听力损失。线性混合效应模型用于检查听力障碍、年龄、刺激类型和 SNR 听力条件如何影响神经和行为反应，以及哪些 AERP 成分与参与者中听力障碍对噪声中言语感知的影响相关。结果发现，年龄对 N1-P2 有显著影响，但对 MMN 没有显著影响，而听力障碍对 MMN 和行为测量有显著影响。结果表明，反映刺激辨别后期认知加工的神经反应可能比早期成分更容易受到听力障碍对噪声中言语处理的影响，而早期成分则是对声音刺激特征的感觉编码。客观 AERP 反应也是有听力障碍和无听力障碍的参与者在噪声中言语感知的潜在神经预测指标，这对将 AERPs 用作评估噪声中言语感知的潜在临床工具具有重要意义。
