Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2019 Aug 2;9(1):11278. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47643-1.
Listening in a noisy environment is challenging for individuals with normal hearing and can be a significant burden for those with hearing impairment. The extent to which this burden is alleviated by a hearing device is a major, unresolved issue for rehabilitation. Here, we found adult users of cochlear implants (CIs) self-reported listening effort during a speech-in-noise task that was positively related to alpha oscillatory activity in the left inferior frontal cortex, canonical Broca's area, and inversely related to speech envelope coherence in the 2-5 Hz range originating in the superior-temporal plane encompassing auditory cortex. Left frontal cortex coherence in the 2-5 Hz range also predicted speech-in-noise identification. These data demonstrate that neural oscillations predict both speech perception ability in noise and listening effort.
在嘈杂环境中倾听对听力正常的人来说具有挑战性，对于听力受损的人来说更是沉重的负担。助听设备在多大程度上减轻了这种负担，是康复领域一个尚未解决的重大问题。在这里，我们发现使用人工耳蜗的成年使用者在一项语音噪声任务中自我报告的听力努力程度与左额下回、经典布罗卡区的α振荡活动呈正相关，与源自包含听觉皮层的上颞平面的 2-5 Hz 范围内的语音包络相干性呈负相关。2-5 Hz 范围内的左额前皮质相干性也预测了语音噪声识别。这些数据表明神经振荡既可以预测噪声中的语音感知能力，也可以预测听力努力程度。
