Hollowness perception with noise-reduction hearing aids.

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech Perception
• Hearing Aid Technology

Background:

• Individuals with hearing loss often experience altered self-perception of their voice, including a "hollowness" quality.
• Hearing aids aim to improve audibility and speech understanding, but their effect on voice perception is less studied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of noise-reduction hearing aids in mitigating the perception of vocal "hollowness" during self-vocalization.
• To compare the effects of noise-reduction circuitry across different hearing loss configurations.

Main Methods:

• Two groups of hearing aid users (high-frequency loss vs. broad frequency loss) were fitted with binaural hearing aids.
• Hearing aid parameters were optimized, followed by subjective scaling of voice clarity-hollowness during vocalization with and without noise reduction.

Main Results:

• Hearing aids with noise-reduction circuitry significantly reduced hollowness perception in participants with high- and low-frequency hearing loss, particularly at soft and normal voice levels.
• Participants with primarily high-frequency loss did not report a significant change in hollowness perception.

Conclusions:

• Current noise-reduction hearing aid technology can be effective in improving the perceived voice quality for certain users, specifically those with broader hearing loss.
• The findings suggest that noise-reduction features may offer benefits beyond ambient noise reduction, impacting wearer self-perception of voice.