Bernstein L E, Tucker P E, Auer E T
Spoken Language Processes Laboratory, House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Scand J Psychol. 1998 Sep;39(3):181-6. doi: 10.1111/1467-9450.393076.
This paper examines the possibility that perception of vibrotactile speech stimuli is enhanced in adults with early and life-long use of hearing aids. We present evidence that vibrotactile aid benefit in adults is directly related to the age at which the hearing aid was fitted and the duration of its use. The stimulus mechanism responsible for this effect is hypothesized to be long-term vibrotactile stimulation by high powered hearing aids. We speculate on possible mechanisms for enhanced vibrotactile speech perception as the result of hearing aid use: (1) long-term experience receiving degraded or improverished speech stimuli results in a speech processing system that is more effective for novel stimuli, independent of perceptual modality; and/or (2) long-term sensory/perceptual experience causes neural changes that result in more effective delivery of speech information via somatosensory pathways.
本文探讨了在成年期早期就开始并长期使用助听器的成年人中，对振动触觉言语刺激的感知是否会增强。我们提供的证据表明，成年人使用振动触觉助听器的益处与佩戴助听器的年龄及其使用时长直接相关。据推测，造成这种效应的刺激机制是由高功率助听器进行的长期振动触觉刺激。我们推测了因使用助听器而增强振动触觉言语感知的可能机制：（1）长期接收退化或质量欠佳的言语刺激的经历会导致一个对新刺激更有效的言语处理系统，而与感知方式无关；和/或（2）长期的感觉/感知经历会引起神经变化，从而通过体感通路更有效地传递言语信息。
