Department of Psychological Sciences, 11635 Euclid Avenue, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
Univ. Lyon, ENTPE, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Rue M. Audin, Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, 69518, France.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2020 Dec;148(6):3527. doi: 10.1121/10.0002661.
Older adults with hearing loss have greater difficulty recognizing target speech in multi-talker environments than young adults with normal hearing, especially when target and masker speech streams are perceptually similar. A difference in fundamental frequency (f0) contour depth is an effective stream segregation cue for young adults with normal hearing. This study examined whether older adults with varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss are able to utilize differences in target/masker f0 contour depth to improve speech recognition in multi-talker listening. Speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) were measured for speech mixtures composed of target/masker streams with flat, normal, and exaggerated speaking styles, in which f0 contour depth systematically varied. Computational modeling estimated differences in energetic masking across listening conditions. Young adults had lower SRTs than older adults; a result that was partially explained by differences in audibility predicted by the model. However, audibility differences did not explain why young adults experienced a benefit from mismatched target/masker f0 contour depth, while in most conditions, older adults did not. Reduced ability to use segregation cues (differences in target/masker f0 contour depth), and deficits grouping speech with variable f0 contours likely contribute to difficulties experienced by older adults in challenging acoustic environments.
与听力正常的年轻成年人相比，有听力损失的老年成年人在多说话者环境中识别目标语音更为困难，尤其是在目标语音和掩蔽语音流在感知上相似的情况下。基频（f0）轮廓深度的差异是听力正常的年轻成年人进行有效流分离的线索。本研究考察了不同程度感音神经性听力损失的老年成年人是否能够利用目标/掩蔽者 f0 轮廓深度的差异来改善多说话者聆听中的语音识别。使用具有平坦、正常和夸张说话风格的目标/掩蔽者流组成的语音混合物测量语音识别阈值（SRT），其中 f0 轮廓深度系统地变化。计算模型估计了不同聆听条件下的能量掩蔽差异。年轻成年人的 SRT 低于老年成年人；该结果部分可以通过模型预测的可听度差异来解释。然而，可听度差异并不能解释为什么年轻成年人受益于不匹配的目标/掩蔽者 f0 轮廓深度，而在大多数情况下，老年成年人却没有。使用分离线索（目标/掩蔽者 f0 轮廓深度差异）的能力降低，以及处理具有可变 f0 轮廓的语音的分组能力缺陷可能导致老年成年人在具有挑战性的声学环境中遇到困难。
