Spectral Modulation Detection Research Articles

Developmental hearing loss–induced perceptual deficits are rescued by genetic restoration of cortical inhibition

Even a transient period of hearing loss during the developmental critical period can induce long-lasting deficits in temporal and spectral perception. These perceptual deficits correlate with speech perception in humans. In gerbils, these hearing loss-induced perceptual deficits are correlated with a reduction of both ionotropic GABAA and metabotropic GABAB receptor-mediated synaptic inhibition in auditory cortex, but most research on critical period plasticity has focused on GABAA receptors. Therefore, we developed viral vectors to express proteins that would upregulate gerbil postsynaptic inhibitory receptor subunits (GABAA, Gabra1; GABAB, Gabbr1b) in pyramidal neurons, and an enzyme that mediates GABA synthesis (GAD65) presynaptically in parvalbumin-expressing interneurons. A transient period of developmental hearing loss during the auditory critical period significantly impaired perceptual performance on two auditory tasks: amplitude modulation depth detection and spectral modulation depth detection. We then tested the capacity of each vector to restore perceptual performance on these auditory tasks. While both GABA receptor vectors increased the amplitude of cortical inhibitory postsynaptic potentials, only viral expression of postsynaptic GABAB receptors improved perceptual thresholds to control levels. Similarly, presynaptic GAD65 expression improved perceptual performance on spectral modulation detection. These findings suggest that recovering performance on auditory perceptual tasks depends on GABAB receptor-dependent transmission at the auditory cortex parvalbumin to pyramidal synapse and point to potential therapeutic targets for developmental sensory disorders.

Comparison of Spectral and Temporal Processing Abilities between Adults with Stroke and Healthy Peers

Background and Aim: Perception of speech in noise (SIN) is based on the accurate extraction of spectral and temporal cues. Disruption of this process can reduce the productivity of the spectral and temporal features of the target stimulus and speech recognition in noise. Auditory processing disorder is one of the main challenges of people with stroke, which leads to social, mental, and even physical failures. This study aimed to investigate the spectral and temporal processing abilities of people with stroke compared to healthy peers. Methods: In this study, participants were 15 patients with stroke referred to the neurology clinic of Imam Khomeini Hospital and 30 healthy people aged 20–60 years. Spectral Modulation Detection Test (SMDT), Pitch Pattern Sequencing Test (PPST), Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT) and QuickSIN tests were performed for all participants. The mean scores of the two groups were compared. Results: Patients with stroke had poorer performance in SMDT, PPST, RGDT and QuickSIN tests (p<0.001) compared to healthy subjects. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between SIN test with temporal and spectral processing in the normal group, but the correlation pattern was different in people with stroke. The scores of all the tests were not significantly different between the right and left ears. Conclusion: The results showed that people with stroke have poorer performance in all tests compared to normal people and have more problems in speech perception in challenging areas. Keywords: Auditory processing disorder; speech perception in noise; spectral modulation; temporal processing; stroke

Asynchronies in Auditory and Language Development Obscure Connections to Phonological Deficits in Children

Purpose: For half a century, psycholinguists have been exploring the idea that developmental language disorders may have their roots in suprathreshold auditory dysfunctions, but results are inconclusive. Typical studies focus on relationships between temporal processing abilities and measures of various language skills at the time of testing, a proximal account. This study expanded that focus by testing three novel hypotheses: (a) Spectral processing impairments may be more responsible for language-learning deficits than temporal processing impairments. (b) Phonological sensitivity is likely the specific language skill most strongly affected by auditory (dys)functions. (c) Poor auditory functioning observed at young ages may wholly or partly recover, reducing the magnitude of relationship between those recovered functions and persistent language skills at older ages. Method: Sixty-six children (31 boys, 35 girls) 7–10 years of age participated: 36 with typical language and 30 with reading or speech disorder; from this sample two subsamples were designated: younger (7–8 years) and older (9–10 years) children. Four auditory measures were obtained of spectral modulation detection (0.5 and 2.0 cycles per octave) and temporal modulation detection (16 and 64 Hz). Four language measures were obtained, two lexicosyntactic and two phonological. Results: Younger children showed deficits in all auditory skills, but most strongly for spectral modulation detection at 0.5 cycles per octave; that measure was the only one for which older children showed deficits. Spectral modulation detection was the auditory function most strongly correlated with a language skill, and that language skill was phonological sensitivity. Conclusions: Early impairments in suprathreshold auditory functions, especially spectral processing, interfere with language acquisition at early stages, especially phonological sensitivity. Although auditory functions can recover to some extent, impairments in language skills persist, indicating that a distal account may more appropriately explain the relationship. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24730128

Portable automated rapid testing: Validation of automated testing on listeners from India

Portable Automated Rapid Testing (PART) is an iPad application (https://braingamecenter.ucr.edu/games/p-a-r-t/) capable of measuring various psychoacoustic thresholds (speech on speech masking, temporal, spectral, and spectrotemporal modulation detection, temporal gap detection, frequency modulation tasks, and pure tone detection in noise) in an automated and rapid format using commercially available headphones. The app has been validated previously in native speakers of English and an adapted version of the app has been validated in young normal hearing listeners from Mexico. Here, we present psychoacoustic threshold data for a large cohort of younger college going listeners from India whose native language is not English but are proficient in English. The thresholds obtained from this group will be compared against previously published thresholds based on native speakers of English. It is hypothesized that there will not be any significant differences in thresholds between listeners from India and the thresholds published in the literature. These results will give us the required evidence to start using this freely available app to measure reliable thresholds of various central auditory processing measures in non-native speakers of English who are proficient in the language as well.

Spectral processing deficits appear to underlie developmental language disorders

More than 50 years of research has suggested something is awry in the auditory functioning of children with language disorders, yet there remains no consensus on exactly what the problem is. To address this gap in knowledge, we have proposed a model termed the Auditory Bases of Phonological Acquisition. This model is based on the language feature known as dual patterning, which describes two levels of structure: one consisting of meaningful words and how they can be combined and the other consisting of word-internal, meaningless units and how they can be combined. We hypothesized that acquisition of this second level—phonological structure—is most affected by deficits in auditory functions, especially those involving the spectral domain. To test this hypothesis, we assessed children with and without language disorders between 7 and 10 years old on their abilities to detect spectral and temporal modulation and to perform relevant language tasks. The largest group differences were found at younger ages for spectral modulation detection (SMD). SMD thresholds were also found to correlate most strongly with language measures, especially those based on phonological structure. Outcomes suggest that keen sensitivity to spectral structure in the speech signal is necessary for acquiring precise phonological representations.

Assessing bottom-up and top-down effects on speech-in-noise recognition by adolescents with normal hearing or cochlear implants

The terms “bottom-up” and “top-down” effects are commonly used when measuring speech recognition in competing sounds to refer to listeners’ abilities to exploit details of the sensory input and to use linguistic constraints, respectively. The magnitude of each effect has been assessed for listeners with cochlear implants, but typically in separate studies. We varied the availability of bottom-up and top-down information in a single experiment by generating sentences with three kinds of clause structure, from less to more restrictive, in three different babbled backgrounds, with sex and number of talkers varied. Next we examined the factors that might explain abilities to use bottom-up and top-down information in speech-in-noise recognition. Predictor variables included spectral modulation detection abilities, lexical-syntactic knowledge, verbal working memory, and phonological sensitivity. Participants were 14-year-olds with normal hearing (NH; 46) or with cochlear implants (CIs; 46). Adolescents with cochlear implants showed deficits in their abilities both to segregate the target speech from background babble and to benefit from restrictive syntactic constructions. For adolescents with NH, only verbal working memory explained variability in abilities to use bottom-up or top-down information in speech-in-noise recognition. For adolescents with CIs, only spectral modulation detection abilities explained their abilities to apply these effects.

Spectral Modulation Detection Performance and Speech Perception in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients.

The aims of this study were, for pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients, (a) to determine the effect of age on their spectral modulation detection (SMD) ability and compare their age effect to that of their typically hearing (TH) peers; (b) to identify demographic, cognitive, and audiological factors associated with SMD ability; and (c) to determine the unique contribution of SMD ability to segmental and suprasegmental speech perception performance. A total of 104 pediatric CI recipients and 38 TH peers (ages 6-11 years) completed a test of SMD. CI recipients completed tests of segmental (e.g., word recognition in noise and vowels and consonants in quiet) and suprasegmental (e.g., talker discrimination, stress discrimination, and emotion identification) perception, nonverbal intelligence, and working memory. Regressions analyses were used to examine the effects of group and age on percent-correct SMD scores. For the CI group, the effects of demographic, audiological, and cognitive variables on SMD performance and the effects of SMD on speech perception were examined. The TH group performed significantly better than the CI group on SMD. Both groups showed better performance with increasing age. Significant predictors of SMD performance for the CI group were age and nonverbal intelligence. SMD performance predicted significant variance in segmental and suprasegmental perception. The variance predicted by SMD performance was nearly double for suprasegmental than for segmental perception. Children in the CI group, on average, scored lower than their TH peers. The slopes of improvement in SMD with age did not differ between the groups. The significant effect of nonverbal intelligence on SMD performance in CI recipients indicates that difficulties inherent in the task affect outcomes. SMD ability predicted speech perception scores, with a more prominent role in suprasegmental than in segmental speech perception. SMD ability may provide a useful nonlinguistic tool for predicting speech perception benefit, with cautious interpretation based on age and cognitive function.

Effects of modulator shape at thresholds and supra-thresholds spectral modulation perception

Spectral modulation detection is common method to assess spectral envelope perception in research and clinical settings. Prior investigations into spectral modulation (SM) detection have used two different modulator shapes: a sinusoidal envelope on a logarithmic amplitude scale or a sinusoidal envelope on a linear amplitude scale. The former creates a sinusoidally shaped excitation pattern, while the latter creates an excitation pattern with broad peaks and sharp valleys. What impact, if any, modulator shape has on SM perception at detection threshold or at supra-threshold levels is unknown. To investigate potential perceptual differences between waveform shapes: (1) SM detection was measured for modulation frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 8.0 cycles/octave; (2) Spectral modulation masking was measured for SM frequencies of 0.5 and 2.0 cycles/octave. The SM phase of the masker was manipulated (0, 90, or 180 degrees) so that maskers had a peak, a midpoint, or a valley at 1147 Hz. Tone detection (1147 Hz) was measured for the logarithmic and linear sinusoidal SM envelope shapes for each of the three phases. Results revealed significant differences between the two spectral envelope shapes for both spectral modulation detection and for spectral modulation masking. [Work supported by NIH R01DC015051].

Hemispheric lateralization during spectral envelope perception is dynamic and individualized

The spectral envelope is an important acoustic cue for vowel and consonant perception. Sensitivity to the spectral envelope is commonly studied with a spectral modulation detection task in which two co-occurring spectral cues (spectral modulation—SM, carrier frequency—CF) may be available. Neuroimaging studies indicate that spectral cues are often processed asymmetrically in the cortex, but it is unknown if such lateralization depends on perceptual weighting of the available cues. Here we simultaneously measured SM discrimination and electroencephalography (EEG) in young adult listeners in a single-interval, two-alternative task during passive and active attention conditions as well as in a separate perceptual decision-weights task. Using condition-on-a-single-stimulus (COSS) analyses, individual differences in perceptual weights of spectral cues (SM, CF) were obtained for each listener. EEG source localized results showed that hemispheric lateralization was dynamically modulated over time between left and right auditory cortices and that lateralization was dependent on individual perceptual weighting patterns for SM and CF. [Work supported by NIH/NIA P01-AG09524 (ACE) and NIH/NIDCD R01- DC001262 (RL, ACE).]

The contribution of spectral processing to the acquisition of phonological sensitivity by adolescent cochlear implant users and normal-hearing controls.

This study tested the hypotheses that (1) adolescents with cochlear implants (CIs) experience impaired spectral processing abilities, and (2) those impaired spectral processing abilities constrain acquisition of skills based on sensitivity to phonological structure but not those based on lexical or syntactic (lexicosyntactic) knowledge. To test these hypotheses, spectral modulation detection (SMD) thresholds were measured for 14-year-olds with normal hearing (NH) or CIs. Three measures each of phonological and lexicosyntactic skills were obtained and used to generate latent scores of each kind of skill. Relationships between SMD thresholds and both latent scores were assessed. Mean SMD threshold was poorer for adolescents with CIs than for adolescents with NH. Both latent lexicosyntactic and phonological scores were poorer for the adolescents with CIs, but the latent phonological score was disproportionately so. SMD thresholds were significantly associated with phonological but not lexicosyntactic skill for both groups. The only audiologic factor that also correlated with phonological latent scores for adolescents with CIs was the aided threshold, but it did not explain the observed relationship between SMD thresholds and phonological latent scores. Continued research is required to find ways of enhancing spectral processing for children with CIs to support their acquisition of phonological sensitivity.

Forward Digit Span and Word Familiarity Do Not Correlate With Differences in Speech Recognition in Individuals With Cochlear Implants After Accounting for Auditory Resolution.

Purpose In individuals with cochlear implants, speech recognition is not associated with tests of working memory that primarily reflect storage, such as forward digit span. In contrast, our previous work found that vocoded speech recognition in individuals with normal hearing was correlated with performance on a forward digit span task. A possible explanation for this difference across groups is that variability in auditory resolution across individuals with cochlear implants could conceal the true relationship between speech and memory tasks. Here, our goal was to determine if performance on forward digit span and speech recognition tasks are correlated in individuals with cochlear implants after controlling for individual differences in auditory resolution. Method We measured sentence recognition ability in 20 individuals with cochlear implants with Perceptually Robust English Sentence Test Open-set sentences. Spectral and temporal modulation detection tasks were used to assess individual differences in auditory resolution, auditory forward digit span was used to assess working memory storage, and self-reported word familiarity was used to assess vocabulary. Results Individual differences in speech recognition were predicted by spectral and temporal resolution. A correlation was found between forward digit span and speech recognition, but this correlation was not significant after controlling for spectral and temporal resolution. No relationship was found between word familiarity and speech recognition. Forward digit span performance was not associated with individual differences in auditory resolution. Conclusions Our findings support the idea that sentence recognition in individuals with cochlear implants is primarily limited by individual differences in working memory processing, not storage. Studies examining the relationship between speech and memory should control for individual differences in auditory resolution.

Clinical Application of Spectral Modulation Detection: Speech Recognition Benefit for Combining a Cochlear Implant and Contralateral Hearing Aid.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between speech recognition benefit derived from the addition of a hearing aid (HA) to the nonimplanted ear (i.e., bimodal benefit) and spectral modulation detection (SMD) performance in the nonimplanted ear in a large clinical sample. An additional purpose was to investigate the influence of low-frequency pure-tone average (PTA) of the nonimplanted ear and age at implantation on the variance in bimodal benefit. Method Participants included 311 unilateral cochlear implant (CI) users who wore an HA in the nonimplanted ear. Participants completed speech recognition testing in quiet and in noise with the CI-alone and in the bimodal condition (i.e., CI and contralateral HA) and SMD in the nonimplanted ear. Results SMD performance in the nonimplanted ear was significantly correlated with bimodal benefit in quiet and in noise. However, this relationship was much weaker than previous reports with smaller samples. SMD, low-frequency PTA of the nonimplanted ear from 125 to 750 Hz, and age at implantation together accounted for, at most, 19.1% of the variance in bimodal benefit. Conclusions Taken together, SMD, low-frequency PTA, and age at implantation account for the greatest amount of variance in bimodal benefit than each variable alone. A large portion of variance (~80%) in bimodal benefit is not explained by these variables. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12185493.

Speech recognition with cochlear implants as a function of the number of channels: Effects of electrode placement

This study investigated the effects of cochlear implant (CI) electrode array type and scalar location on the number of channels available to CI recipients for maximum speech understanding and sound quality. Eighteen post-lingually deafened adult CI recipients participated, including 11 recipients with straight electrode arrays entirely in scala tympani and 7 recipients with translocated precurved electrode arrays. Computerized tomography was used to determine electrode placement and scalar location. In each condition, the number of channels varied from 4 to 22 with equal spatial distribution across the array. Speech recognition (monosyllables, sentences in quiet and in noise), subjective speech sound quality, and closed-set auditory tasks (vowels, consonants, and spectral modulation detection) were measured acutely. Recipients with well-placed straight electrode arrays and translocated precurved electrode arrays performed similarly, demonstrating asymptotic speech recognition scores with 8-10 channels, consistent with the classic literature. This finding contrasts with recent work [Berg, Noble, Dawant, Dwyer, Labadie, and Gifford. (2019). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 145, 1556-1564] that found precurved electrode arrays well-placed in scala tympani demonstrate continuous performance gains beyond 8-10 channels. Given these results, straight and translocated precurved electrode arrays are theorized to have less channel independence secondary to their placement farther away from neural targets.

Musical Emotion Perception in Bimodal Patients: Relative Weighting of Musical Mode and Tempo Cues.

Several cues are used to convey musical emotion, the two primary being musical mode and musical tempo. Specifically, major and minor modes tend to be associated with positive and negative valence, respectively, and songs at fast tempi have been associated with more positive valence compared to songs at slow tempi (Balkwill and Thompson, 1999; Webster and Weir, 2005). In Experiment I, we examined the relative weighting of musical tempo and musical mode among adult cochlear implant (CI) users combining electric and contralateral acoustic stimulation, or “bimodal” hearing. Our primary hypothesis was that bimodal listeners would utilize both tempo and mode cues in their musical emotion judgments in a manner similar to normal-hearing listeners. Our secondary hypothesis was that low-frequency (LF) spectral resolution in the non-implanted ear, as quantified via psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) at 262 and 440 Hz, would be significantly correlated with degree of bimodal benefit for musical emotion perception. In Experiment II, we investigated across-channel spectral resolution using a spectral modulation detection (SMD) task and neural representation of temporal fine structure via the frequency following response (FFR) for a 170-ms /da/ stimulus. Results indicate that CI-alone performance was driven almost exclusively by tempo cues, whereas bimodal listening demonstrated use of both tempo and mode. Additionally, bimodal benefit for musical emotion perception may be correlated with spectral resolution in the non-implanted ear via SMD, as well as neural representation of F0 amplitude via FFR – though further study with a larger sample size is warranted. Thus, contralateral acoustic hearing can offer significant benefit for musical emotion perception, and the degree of benefit may be dependent upon spectral resolution of the non-implanted ear.

The Effects of Duration and Level on Spectral Modulation Perception.

Purpose Spectral modulation detection is an increasingly common assay of suprathreshold auditory perception and has been correlated with speech perception performance. Here, the potential effects of stimulus duration and stimulus presentation level on spectral modulation detection were investigated. Method Spectral modulation detection thresholds were measured as a function of modulation frequency in young, normal-hearing listeners. The standard stimulus was a bandpass noise, and signal stimuli were created by superimposing sinusoidal spectral modulation on the bandpass noise carrier. The modulation was sinusoidal on a log2 frequency axis and a log10 (dB) amplitude scale with a random starting phase (0-2π radians). In 1 experiment, stimulus durations were 50, 100, 200, or 400 ms (at fixed level 81 dB SPL). In a 2nd experiment, stimuli were presented at sensation levels of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 dB SL (fixed at a duration of 400 ms). Results Spectral modulation detection thresholds were similarly low for the 400- and 200-ms durations, increased slightly for the 100-ms duration, and increased markedly for the 50-ms duration. Thresholds were lowest for 40 dB SL; increased slightly for 20, 30, and 60 dB SL; and markedly higher for the 10-dB SL condition. Conclusions The increase in thresholds for the shortest durations and lowest sensational levels is consistent with previous investigations of auditory spectral profile analysis. The effects of presentation level and stimulus duration are important considerations in the context of understanding potential relationships between the perception of spectral cues and speech perception, when designing investigations and interpreting data related to spectral envelope perception, and in the context of models of auditory perception. As examples, 2 simple models based on auditory nerve output that have been used to explain spectrotemporal modulation in previous investigations produced an output inconsistent with the present results. Plain language summary Intensity variations across audio frequency lead to spectral shapes that are essential and sometimes signature features of various sounds in the environment, including speech. Here, we show how laboratory measures of spectral shape perception depend on presentation level and stimulus duration.

Speech recognition as a function of the number of channels in perimodiolar electrode recipients

This study investigated the number of channels needed for maximum speech understanding and sound quality in 30 adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients with perimodiolar electrode arrays verified via imaging to be completely within scala tympani (ST). Performance was assessed using a continuous interleaved sampling (CIS) strategy with 4, 8, 10, and 16 channels and n-of-m with 16 maxima. Listeners were administered auditory tasks of speech understanding [monosyllables, sentences (quiet and +5 dB signal-to-noise ratio, SNR), vowels, consonants], spectral modulation detection, as well as subjective estimates of sound quality. Results were as follows: (1) significant performance gains were observed for speech in quiet (monosyllables and sentences) with 16- as compared to 8-channel CIS, (2) 16 channels in a 16-of-m strategy yielded significantly higher outcomes than 16-channel CIS for sentences in noise (percent correct and subjective sound quality) and spectral modulation detection, (3) 16 channels in a 16-of-m strategy yielded significantly higher outcomes as compared to 8- and 10-channel CIS for monosyllables, sentences (quiet and noise), consonants, spectral modulation detection, and subjective sound quality, (4) 16 versus 8 maxima yielded significantly higher speech recognition for monosyllables and sentences in noise using an n-of-m strategy, and (5) the degree of benefit afforded by 16 versus 8 maxima was inversely correlated with mean electrode-to-modiolus distance. These data demonstrate greater channel independence with perimodiolar electrode arrays as compared to previous studies with straight electrodes and warrant further investigation of the minimum number of maxima and number of channels needed for maximum auditory outcomes.

The effects of modulator shape and methods for expressing modulation depth on spectral modulation detection thresholds

The detection of sinusoidal modulation is commonly used for assessing the auditory perception of temporal, spectral, and spectro-temporal acoustic features. For temporal (amplitude) modulation, the sinusoidal modulator usually is expressed on a linear amplitude scale. For spectral modulation, the sinusoidal modulator has been specified on a linear amplitude scale, consistent with temporal modulation, or on a logarithmic amplitude scale, with the notion of approximating a sinusoidal excitation pattern. The definition of modulation depth depends on the measurement points (i.e., midpoint to peak or peak to peak) and order of operations when expressing depth in dB. Such differences can make it difficult to compare results for similar tasks among investigations. Here we quantify differences among methods and provide a complete matrix for translating among methods. Spectral modulation detection was measured for 9 normal-hearing listeners in ten conditions (linear vs. logarithmic shape at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 cycles/octave). Peak-to-peak values of the modulation envelope were equalized, thus only modulation waveform shape differed. Noise carriers had a passband from 400 to 3200 Hz. Thresholds revealed statistically significant effects of both spectral shape and spectral modulation frequency. Several methods for expressing threshold modulation depth were compared to highlight differences among the methods.

Age-Related Changes in the Auditory Brainstem Response and Suprathreshold Processing of Temporal and Spectral Modulation.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether cochlear synaptopathy can be shown to be a viable basis for age-related hearing difficulties in humans and whether it manifests as deficient suprathreshold processing of temporal and spectral modulation. Three experiments were undertaken evaluating the effects of age on (a) the auditory brainstem response as a function of level, (b) temporal modulation detection as a function of level and background noise, and (c) spectral modulation as a function of level. Across the three experiments, a total of 21 older listeners with near-normal audiograms and 29 young listeners with audiometrically normal hearing participated. The auditory brainstem response experiment demonstrated reduced Wave I amplitudes and concomitant reductions in the amplitude ratios of Wave I to Wave V in the older listener group. These findings were interpreted as consistent with an electrophysiological profile of cochlear synaptopathy. The temporal and spectral modulation detection experiments, however, provided no support for the hypothesis of compromised suprathreshold processing in these domains. This pattern of results suggests that even if cochlear synaptopathy can be shown to be a viable basis for age-related hearing difficulties, then temporal and spectral modulation detection paradigms are not sensitive to its presence.

Validating a Quick Spectral Modulation Detection Task.

The Quick Spectral Modulation Detection (QSMD) test provides a quick and clinically implementable spectral resolution estimate for cochlear implant (CI) users. However, the original QSMD software (QSMD(MySound)) has technical and usability limitations that prevent widespread distribution and implementation. In this article, we introduce a new software package EasyQSMD, which is freely available software with the goal of both simplifying and standardizing spectral resolution measurements. QSMD was measured for 20 CI users using both software packages. No differences between the two software packages were detected, and based on the 95% confidence interval of the difference between tests, the difference between the tests is expected to be <2% points. The average test duration was under 4 minutes. EasyQSMD is considered functionally equivalent to QSMD(MySound) providing a clinically feasible and quick estimate of spectral resolution for CI users.

Speech Recognition in Noise for Adults With Normal Hearing: Age-Normative Performance for AzBio, BKB-SIN, and QuickSIN.

Characterize performance for adults aged 20 to 79 years with normal hearing on tasks of AzBio, Bamford-Kowal-Bench speech-in-noise (BKB-SIN), quick speech-in-noise (QuickSIN), and acoustic Quick Spectral Modulation Detection (QSMD) in the sound field. Cochlear implant (CI) program. Eighty-one adults with normal hearing and cognitive function were recruited evenly across four age groups (20-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70-79 yr). Subjects completed AzBio sentence recognition testing in quiet and in five signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs: +10, +5, 0, -5, -10 dB), as well as the BKB-SIN, QuickSIN, and QSMD tasks. AzBio, BKB-SIN, QuickSIN, and acoustic QSMD scores were analyzed to characterize typical sound field performance in an older adult population with normal hearing. AzBio sentence recognition performance approached ceiling for sentences presented at ≥ 0 dB SNR with mean scores ranging from 3.5% at -10 dB SNR to 99% at +10 dB SNR. Mean QuickSIN SNR-50 was -0.02. Mean BKB-SIN SNR-50 was -1.31 dB. Mean acoustic QSMD score was 88%. Performance for all measures decreased with age. Adults with age-normative hearing achieve ceiling-level performance for AzBio sentence recognition at SNRs used for clinical cochlear implant and/or hearing aid testing. Thus, these tasks are not inherently contraindicated for older listeners. Older adults with normal hearing, however, demonstrated greater deficits for speech in noise compared to younger listeners-an effect most pronounced at negative SNRs. Lastly, BKB-SIN data obtained in the sound field replicated previous normative data for only the youngest age group, suggesting that new norms should be considered for older populations.