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Updated: Jun 6, 2026
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Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Bimodal stimulus presentation and expanded auditory bandwidth improve older adults' speech perception
Lynn M Brault1, Jaimie L Gilbert, Charissa R Lansing
1Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA.
Human Factors
|December 15, 2010
Summary
Bimodal speech presentation and expanded bandwidth improved speech intelligibility for older adults in noise, but did not enhance working memory. These findings can inform telephone design for better communication.
Area of Science:
- Auditory perception research
- Cognitive science
- Gerontology
Background:
- Telephone communication is vital for social engagement in older adults.
- Age-related declines in hearing and working memory can impede telephone conversations.
- Cognitive effort in speech perception may be a limiting factor.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if bimodal (auditory-visual) speech and expanded auditory bandwidth reduce cognitive effort for older adults.
- To investigate improvements in speech intelligibility and working memory performance.
- To explore methods for enhancing communication accessibility for older adults.
Main Methods:
- Older adults performed a running memory task with word strings of varying lengths.
- Auditory stimuli were presented in either telephone or expanded bandwidth, in quiet or noise.
- Visual speech information was provided with or without an accompanying auditory signal.
Main Results:
- Bimodal presentation improved performance in quiet for hearing-impaired listeners with high lipreading skills.
- In noise, both bimodal presentation and expanded bandwidth enhanced performance for all groups.
- Improvements in noise were attributed to increased speech intelligibility, not working memory gains.
Conclusions:
- Expanded bandwidth and bimodal presentation enhance speech perceptibility in challenging auditory environments.
- These methods do not consistently improve working memory performance in older adults.
- Findings can guide the development of assistive telephone technologies for seniors.
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