Relating Suprathreshold Auditory Processing Abilities to Speech Understanding in Competition.

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• Difficulty hearing in noise is a common issue for older adults, often exceeding what's predicted by audiometric hearing loss alone.
• Beyond basic hearing detection, the ability to process auditory information (suprathreshold abilities) may significantly impact speech understanding in complex acoustic environments.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for developing effective interventions for age-related hearing impairments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between specific suprathreshold auditory processing abilities and speech understanding in noise among older adults.
• To assess the utility of the Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) application for psychoacoustic evaluations.
• To determine the predictive power of auditory processing, age, and pure-tone average on speech perception in challenging listening conditions.

Main Methods:

• Forty-one participants (average age 51) completed assessments of temporal fine structure (TFS) and spectrotemporal modulation (STM) detection using the PART application on an iPad.
• Speech understanding was evaluated in noise, with and without spatial separation between target and masker speech.
• Statistical models analyzed the association between auditory processing performance, age, pure-tone average (PTA), and speech perception outcomes.

Main Results:

• The best-fit statistical model included age and diotic frequency modulation (FM) detection sensitivity, but not other tested suprathreshold abilities.
• Even the most successful models explained only 31% or less of the variance in speech understanding.
• This suggests that cognitive factors likely play a substantial role in speech perception in noise, beyond auditory processing.

Conclusions:

• Suprathreshold auditory processing abilities alone do not sufficiently explain speech understanding difficulties in competition for older adults.
• Discrepancies may arise from the specific tests used (speech or auditory processing), listener characteristics, or the chosen suprathreshold measures.
• Future research should involve larger cohorts, diverse cognitive assessments, and a broader range of suprathreshold auditory processing evaluations.