Relationship between perception of speech in noise and disordered speech: Influence of sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

It is well known that there exists substantial individual variability in the ability to understand speech in adverse listening conditions. Despite this variability, a recent study with normal-hearing listeners has revealed a strong relationship between the ability to perceive speech in noise (environmental degradation) and dysarthric speech (source degradation) [Borrie et al., Journal of Acoustical Society of America,141, 4660–4667 (2017)]. While a large body of literature on the difficulty faced by hearing-impaired listeners in understanding speech in noise exists, the difficulties faced by this population in understanding dysarthric speech has received much less attention. Further, investigations into the relationship between processing speech in noise and dysarthric speech for listeners with hearing loss do not exist. This current study extends on previous findings, investigating the relationship between processing speech in noise and dysarthric speech for listeners with sensorineural hearing loss. Preliminary results replicate previous findings of a relationship between the ability to perceive speech in noise and dysarthric speech for normal hearing listeners. This relationship is also observed for hearing-impaired listeners; however, these listeners perform substantially better with dysarthric speech relative to speech in noise. The complex interplay between hearing loss and type of degradation will be discussed.