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An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

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Can basic auditory and cognitive measures predict hearing-impaired listeners' localization and spatial speech

Tobias Neher¹, Søren Laugesen, Niels Søgaard Jensen

¹Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, Kongevejen 243, DK-3070 Snekkersten, Denmark. ton@oticon.dk

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|September 8, 2011

Summary

Older adults with hearing loss struggle with spatial listening tasks. Attention and auditory processing, not just hearing, impact speech recognition, especially in noisy environments.

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Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Gerontology

Background:

Elderly individuals with hearing impairments often experience difficulties in complex listening situations, commonly referred to as the 'cocktail party effect'.
Understanding the interplay between auditory processing, cognitive functions, and spatial listening performance is crucial for addressing these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the auditory and cognitive factors influencing sound localization and speech recognition in elderly hearing-impaired listeners.
To differentiate the roles of auditory measures (spectral ripple discrimination, binaural temporal fine structure sensitivity) and cognitive measures (working memory, attention) in spatial listening tasks.

Main Methods:

Twenty-three elderly listeners with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing impairment and eight young normal-hearing controls participated.
Participants completed tasks assessing sound localization, speech recognition in multi-talker scenarios, spectral ripple discrimination, binaural temporal fine structure (TFS) sensitivity, working memory, and attention.
Auditory stimuli were spectrally shaped to ensure partial audibility for all participants.

Main Results:

Auditory and cognitive measures did not predict performance for front-back sound separation.
Speech recognition in left-right separated conditions correlated significantly with attentional measures.
Binaural TFS sensitivity and low-frequency hearing thresholds also showed supplementary effects on performance.

Conclusions:

Impaired spatial listening in older adults with hearing loss stems from both sensory (bottom-up) and cognitive (top-down) deficits.
Attention plays a critical role in speech recognition when competing sounds are spatially separated laterally.
Targeted interventions addressing both auditory processing and cognitive functions may improve listening abilities in challenging environments.