Improving Spatial Perception and Speech Understanding in Multitalker Mixtures
Boston University Charles River Campus
Summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate several approaches for improving spatial perception and speech intelligibility in multitalker listening situations for hearing-aid users. The hypotheses are that spatial perception and speech intelligibility will be improved by (1) increased high-frequency audibility, (2) speech envelope enhancement, and/or (3) appropriate sound image externalization.
Description
The purpose of this study is to investigate several approaches for improving spatial perception and speech intelligibility in multitalker listening situations for hearing-aid users. Aim 1 will investigate how well different amplification strategies provide access to the spectrotemporally sparse speech information that is available in multitalker mixtures. The hypothesis is that subtle differences in high-frequency audibility across different strategies may have much greater effects on the intelligibility of sparse speech than intact speech. This Aim will involve 40 subjects with hearing loss a…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–80 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: Normal-Hearing Subjects * 18 to 35 years of age * Audiometric thresholds that do not exceed 20 dB HL at any frequency from 250 to 8000 Hz * Able to provide informed consent and understand experimental instructions * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision Inclusion Criteria: Hearing-Impaired Subjects * 18 to 80 years of age * Documented sensorineural hearing loss * Able to provide informed consent and understand experimental instructions * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision Exclusion Criteria (some experiments) * Non-native speakers of English
Interventions
- Otherhearing aid condition
The intervention will be a hearing aid or a modification to the sound stimulus that simulates a hearing aid configuration, style, or processing strategy.
Location
- Boston UniversityBoston, Massachusetts