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Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
Published on: January 29, 2014
Relations between speech-reception, psychophysical temporal processing, and subcortical electrophysiological measures
Samuele Carcagno1, Christopher J Plack2
1Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YF, United Kingdom; Brain and Cognition Research Centre, University of Toulouse Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France; Brain and Cognition Research Centre, CNRS, UMR-5549, Toulouse, France.
Listener performance in speech reception and auditory temporal tasks varies significantly. This study found speech reception is linked to auditory temporal processing, but not to subcortical auditory function measures in near-normal hearing listeners.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
- Speech Perception
Background:
- Significant variability exists in masked-speech reception and auditory temporal processing among individuals with normal hearing.
- Subcortical auditory function is crucial for auditory processing, but its precise role in speech perception variability is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between masked-speech reception, auditory temporal processing, and subcortical auditory function in listeners with near-normal hearing.
- To determine if subcortical electrophysiological measures explain performance variance in speech reception and auditory temporal tasks.
- To assess if auditory temporal processing mediates the relationship between speech reception and subcortical function.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 102 listeners (young, middle-aged, older).
- Utilized masked-speech reception, psychophysical auditory temporal processing tasks, and electrophysiological measures (auditory brainstem responses, frequency following responses).
- Employed principal component analysis and multiple regression, controlling for age and audiometric thresholds, with high-frequency sensitivity controlled via high-pass masking.
Main Results:
- Masked-speech reception performance was credibly associated with psychophysical auditory temporal processing abilities.
- No credible associations were found between masked-speech reception and subcortical electrophysiological measures.
- No credible associations were found between auditory temporal processing and subcortical electrophysiological measures.
Conclusions:
- Auditory temporal processing abilities are linked to masked-speech reception performance in listeners with near-normal hearing.
- Current subcortical electrophysiological measures may not be sensitive enough to capture neural processes influencing these tasks, or these processes are unrelated to subcortical function in this population.
