Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Audiol Neurootol. 2022;27(3):260-270. doi: 10.1159/000518643. Epub 2021 Sep 14.
Talker-specific adaptation facilitates speech recognition in normal-hearing listeners. This study examined talker adaptation in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) high-performing adult CI users show improved word recognition following exposure to a talker ("talker adaptation"), particularly for lexically hard words, (2) individual performance is determined by auditory sensitivity and neurocognitive skills, and (3) individual performance relates to real-world functioning.
Fifteen high-performing, post-lingually deaf adult CI users completed a word recognition task consisting of 6 single-talker blocks (3 female/3 male native English speakers); words were lexically "easy" and "hard." Recognition accuracy was assessed "early" and "late" (first vs. last 10 trials); adaptation was assessed as the difference between late and early accuracy. Participants also completed measures of spectral-temporal processing and neurocognitive skills, as well as real-world measures of multiple-talker sentence recognition and quality of life (QoL).
CI users showed limited talker adaptation overall, but performance improved for lexically hard words. Stronger spectral-temporal processing and neurocognitive skills were weakly to moderately associated with more accurate word recognition and greater talker adaptation for hard words. Finally, word recognition accuracy for hard words was moderately related to multiple-talker sentence recognition and QoL.
Findings demonstrate a limited talker adaptation benefit for recognition of hard words in adult CI users. Both auditory sensitivity and neurocognitive skills contribute to performance, suggesting additional benefit from adaptation for individuals with stronger skills. Finally, processing differences related to talker adaptation and lexical difficulty may be relevant to real-world functioning.
说话人特定的适应有助于正常听力听众的语音识别。本研究考察了成年人工耳蜗（CI）使用者的说话人适应。测试了三个假设：（1）表现良好的成年 CI 用户在接触说话人后（“说话人适应”）会提高单词识别能力，尤其是对词汇难度较大的单词；（2）个体表现由听觉敏感度和神经认知技能决定；（3）个体表现与现实生活功能有关。
15 名表现良好的后天失聪成年 CI 用户完成了一项单词识别任务，该任务由 6 个单说话者块组成（3 名女性/3 名男性以英语为母语的说话者）；单词在词汇上是“容易”和“困难”的。准确性评估分为“早期”和“晚期”（前 10 次与后 10 次）；适应被评估为晚期和早期准确性之间的差异。参与者还完成了频谱-时间处理和神经认知技能以及多说话者句子识别和生活质量（QoL）的现实世界测量。
总体而言，CI 用户的说话人适应能力有限，但词汇难度较大的单词的识别能力有所提高。更强的频谱-时间处理和神经认知技能与更准确的单词识别和更难单词的更大适应能力呈弱到中度相关。最后，难词的单词识别准确性与多说话者句子识别和 QoL 中度相关。
研究结果表明，成年 CI 用户对难词的识别存在有限的说话人适应优势。听觉敏感度和神经认知技能都对表现有贡献，这表明对于技能较强的个体，适应会带来额外的益处。最后，与说话人适应和词汇难度相关的处理差异可能与现实生活功能有关。
