Reduced processing efficiency impacts auditory detection of amplitude modulation in children: Evidence from an
Irene Lorenzini1, Christian Lorenzi2, Léo Varnet2
1Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS and Université Paris Cité, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France; Laboratoire Ethologie, Cognition, Développement, Université Paris Nanterre, 200 av. de la République, 9200, Nanterre, France.
Hearing Research
|March 14, 2024
Summary
Auditory processing efficiency for amplitude modulation (AM) detection improves with age, with children showing reduced efficiency due to internal noise and suboptimal decision strategies. This impacts speech perception development.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Speech Perception
Background:
- Auditory detection of amplitude modulation (AM) is vital for speech perception and develops throughout childhood.
- Developmental improvements may stem from sensory maturation and enhanced processing efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental changes in auditory processing efficiency for AM detection in children.
- To differentiate between sensory and processing efficiency contributions to AM detection development.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral testing of 86 children (6-9 years) and 15 adults using AM detection tasks.
- Assessed absolute sensitivity, AM masking, and response consistency via a double-pass paradigm.
- Modeled auditory system performance using internal noise and decision strategy parameters.
Main Results:
- AM sensitivity improved with age, but not between 6-9 years; AM masking remained stable, suggesting adult-like filter selectivity by age 6.
- Response consistency increased developmentally, indicating improved processing efficiency in older children and adults.
- Models showed children have higher internal noise; both children and adults benefit from models including suboptimal decision strategies.
Conclusions:
- Auditory processing efficiency for AM detection is reduced in childhood.
- Both systematic (decision strategy) and stochastic (internal noise) inefficiencies contribute to poorer AM detection in children.
- These inefficiencies likely play a role in the protracted development of speech perception.
