Hao Wenyang, Wang Qian, Li Liang, Qiao Yufei, Gao Zhiqiang, Ni Daofeng, Shang Yingying
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Epilepsy Center, Department of Clinical Psychology, Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2018 Dec 6;10:397. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00397. eCollection 2018.
: People with presbycusis (PC) often report difficulties in speech recognition, especially under noisy listening conditions. Investigating the PC-related changes in central representations of envelope signals and temporal fine structure (TFS) signals of speech sounds is critical for understanding the mechanism underlying the PC-related deficit in speech recognition. Frequency-following responses (FFRs) to speech stimulation can be used to examine the subcortical encoding of both envelope and TFS speech signals. This study compared FFRs to speech signals between listeners with PC and those with clinically normal hearing (NH) under either quiet or noise-masking conditions. : FFRs to a 170-ms speech syllable /da/ were recorded under either a quiet or noise-masking (with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 8 dB) condition in 14 older adults with PC and 13 age-matched adults with NH. The envelope (FFR) and TFS (FFR) components of FFRs were analyzed separately by adding and subtracting the alternative polarity responses, respectively. Speech recognition in noise was evaluated in each participant. : In the quiet condition, compared with the NH group, the PC group exhibited smaller F0 and H3 amplitudes and decreased stimulus-response (S-R) correlation for FFR but not for FFR. Both the H2 and H3 amplitudes and the S-R correlation of FFR significantly decreased in the noise condition compared with the quiet condition in the NH group but not in the PC group. Moreover, the degree of hearing loss was correlated with noise-induced changes in FFR morphology. Furthermore, the speech-in-noise (SIN) threshold was negatively correlated with the noise-induced change in H2 (for FFR) and the S-R correlation for FFR in the quiet condition. : Audibility affects the subcortical encoding of both envelope and TFS in PC patients. The impaired ability to adjust the balance between the envelope and TFS in the noise condition may be part of the mechanism underlying PC-related deficits in speech recognition in noise. FFRs can predict SIN perception performance.
患有老年性聋（PC）的人常报告在语音识别方面存在困难，尤其是在嘈杂的聆听环境中。研究与PC相关的语音信号包络信号和精细时间结构（TFS）信号的中枢表征变化，对于理解PC相关语音识别缺陷的潜在机制至关重要。对语音刺激的频率跟随反应（FFR）可用于检查包络和TFS语音信号的皮层下编码。本研究比较了在安静或噪声掩蔽条件下，患有PC的听众与听力临床正常（NH）的听众对语音信号的FFR。：在安静或噪声掩蔽（信噪比（SNR）为8 dB）条件下，记录了14名患有PC的老年人和13名年龄匹配的NH成年人对170毫秒语音音节/da/的FFR。通过分别相加和相减交替极性反应，分别分析FFR的包络（FFR）和TFS（FFR）成分。对每个参与者进行噪声中的语音识别评估。：在安静条件下，与NH组相比，PC组的F0和H3振幅较小，FFR的刺激-反应（S-R）相关性降低，但FFR未降低。与NH组的安静条件相比，噪声条件下FFR的H2和H3振幅以及S-R相关性均显著降低，但PC组未降低。此外，听力损失程度与噪声引起的FFR形态变化相关。此外，噪声中的语音（SIN）阈值与安静条件下H2（对于FFR）的噪声引起的变化以及FFR的S-R相关性呈负相关。：可听度会影响PC患者包络和TFS的皮层下编码。在噪声条件下调节包络和TFS之间平衡的能力受损，可能是PC相关噪声中语音识别缺陷潜在机制的一部分。FFR可以预测SIN感知性能。
