Abstract
Older adults with age-related hearing loss exhibit substantial individual differences in speech perception in adverse listening conditions. We propose that the ability to rapidly adapt to changes in the auditory environment (i.e., perceptual learning) is among the processes contributing to these individual differences, in addition to the cognitive and sensory processes that were explored in the past. Seventy older adults with age-related hearing loss participated in this study. We assessed the relative contribution of hearing acuity, cognitive factors (working memory, vocabulary, and selective attention), rapid perceptual learning of time-compressed speech, and hearing aid use to the perception of speech presented at a natural fast rate (fast speech), speech embedded in babble noise (speech in noise), and competing speech (dichotic listening). Speech perception was modeled as a function of the other variables. For fast speech, age [odds ratio (OR) = 0.79], hearing acuity (OR = 0.62), pre-learning (baseline) perception of time-compressed speech (OR = 1.47), and rapid perceptual learning (OR = 1.36) were all significant predictors. For speech in noise, only hearing and pre-learning perception of time-compressed speech were significant predictors (OR = 0.51 and OR = 1.53, respectively). Consistent with previous findings, the severity of hearing loss and auditory processing (as captured by pre-learning perception of time-compressed speech) was strong contributors to individual differences in fast speech and speech in noise perception. Furthermore, older adults with good rapid perceptual learning can use this capacity to partially offset the effects of age and hearing loss on the perception of speech presented at fast conversational rates. Our results highlight the potential contribution of dynamic processes to speech perception.
Highlights
Aging is often accompanied by sensorineural hearing loss and poor speech perception in daily listening environments (Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics and Biomechanics (CHABA), 1988; Humes, 1996; Morrell et al, 1996; Pichora-Fuller, 1997; Gordon-Salant and Fitzgibbons, 2001; Dubno et al, 2008), especially under adverse listening conditions
We hypothesize that individuals who retain good rapid perceptual learning despite aging and hearing loss, can offset some of their negative impacts through rapid online learning (Banai and Lavie, 2021). To further explore this hypothesis, we focus on the unique contribution of rapid perceptual learning to other challenging listening conditions, after accounting for sensory and cognitive factors and for the use of hearing aids
We assessed the relative contribution of hearing acuity, cognitive factors, and rapid perceptual learning to the identification of fast speech, speech in noise, and dichotic speech in older adults with hearing loss
Summary
Aging is often accompanied by sensorineural hearing loss (presbycusis) and poor speech perception in daily listening environments (Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics and Biomechanics (CHABA), 1988; Humes, 1996; Morrell et al, 1996; Pichora-Fuller, 1997; Gordon-Salant and Fitzgibbons, 2001; Dubno et al, 2008), especially under adverse listening conditions (e.g., in the presence of fast speech or competing noise; Pichora-Fuller and Singh, 2006; Schneider et al, 2010). Speech Perception in Older Adults perception among older adults This variability is associated with sensory and cognitive factors (Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics and Biomechanics (CHABA), 1988; Souza, 2016), as well as with individual differences in perceptual learning for speech (Karawani et al, 2017; Manheim et al, 2018; Rotman et al, 2020b). Hearing aids are the most common rehabilitation for speech perception difficulties in older adults with age-related hearing loss (Souza, 2016). Like their non-hearing aid using peers, older adults who use hearing aids vary widely on measures of speech perception. Whereas the challenges associated with fast speech result from source degradation (speaking rapidly changes the temporal and spectral characteristics of speech, Koreman, 2006), the challenges associated with speech in babble noise and competing speech are associated with the listening environment (transmission degradation according to the terminology proposed by Mattys et al, 2012)
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