Cognitive Compensation of Speech Perception With Hearing Impairment, Cochlear Implants, and Aging: How and to What Degree Can It Be Achieved?

External degradations in incoming speech reduce understanding, and hearing impairment further compounds the problem. While cognitive mechanisms alleviate some of the difficulties, their effectiveness may change with age. In our research, reviewed here, we investigated cognitive compensation with hearing impairment, cochlear implants, and aging, via (a) phonemic restoration as a measure of top-down filling of missing speech, (b) listening effort and response times as a measure of increased cognitive processing, and (c) visual world paradigm and eye gazing as a measure of the use of context and its time course. Our results indicate that between speech degradations and their cognitive compensation, there is a fine balance that seems to vary greatly across individuals. Hearing impairment or inadequate hearing device settings may limit compensation benefits. Cochlear implants seem to allow the effective use of sentential context, but likely at the cost of delayed processing. Linguistic and lexical knowledge, which play an important role in compensation, may be successfully employed in advanced age, as some compensatory mechanisms seem to be preserved. These findings indicate that cognitive compensation in hearing impairment can be highly complicated—not always absent, but also not easily predicted by speech intelligibility tests only.

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Normal and Time-Compressed Speech: How Does Learning Affect Speech Recognition Thresholds in Noise?

Short-term and long-term learning effects were investigated for the German Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA) using original and time-compressed fast speech in noise. Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants completed six lists of the OLSA in five sessions. Two groups of normal-hearing listeners (24 and 12 listeners) and two groups of hearing-impaired listeners (9 listeners each) performed the test with original or time-compressed speech. In general, original speech resulted in better speech recognition thresholds than time-compressed speech. Thresholds decreased with repetition for both speech materials. Confirming earlier results, the largest improvements were observed within the first measurements of the first session, indicating a rapid initial adaptation phase. The improvements were larger for time-compressed than for original speech. The novel results on long-term learning effects when using the OLSA indicate a longer phase of ongoing learning, especially for time-compressed speech, which seems to be limited by a floor effect. In addition, for normal-hearing participants, no complete transfer of learning benefits from time-compressed to original speech was observed. These effects should be borne in mind when inviting listeners repeatedly, for example, in research settings.

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Neural Spike-Train Analyses of the Speech-Based Envelope Power Spectrum Model: Application to Predicting Individual Differences with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Diagnosing and treating hearing impairment is challenging because people with similar degrees of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) often have different speech-recognition abilities. The speech-based envelope power spectrum model (sEPSM) has demonstrated that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR_ENV) from a modulation filter bank provides a robust speech-intelligibility measure across a wider range of degraded conditions than many long-standing models. In the sEPSM, noise (N) is assumed to: (a) reduce S + N envelope power by filling in dips within clean speech (S) and (b) introduce an envelope noise floor from intrinsic fluctuations in the noise itself. While the promise of SNR_ENV has been demonstrated for normal-hearing listeners, it has not been thoroughly extended to hearing-impaired listeners because of limited physiological knowledge of how SNHL affects speech-in-noise envelope coding relative to noise alone. Here, envelope coding to speech-in-noise stimuli was quantified from auditory-nerve model spike trains using shuffled correlograms, which were analyzed in the modulation-frequency domain to compute modulation-band estimates of neural SNR_ENV. Preliminary spike-train analyses show strong similarities to the sEPSM, demonstrating feasibility of neural SNR_ENV computations. Results suggest that individual differences can occur based on differential degrees of outer- and inner-hair-cell dysfunction in listeners currently diagnosed into the single audiological SNHL category. The predicted acoustic-SNR dependence in individual differences suggests that the SNR-dependent rate of susceptibility could be an important metric in diagnosing individual differences. Future measurements of the neural SNR_ENV in animal studies with various forms of SNHL will provide valuable insight for understanding individual differences in speech-in-noise intelligibility.

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Cognitive Compensation of Speech Perception With Hearing Impairment, Cochlear Implants, and Aging: How and to What Degree Can It Be Achieved?

External degradations in incoming speech reduce understanding, and hearing impairment further compounds the problem. While cognitive mechanisms alleviate some of the difficulties, their effectiveness may change with age. In our research, reviewed here, we investigated cognitive compensation with hearing impairment, cochlear implants, and aging, via (a) phonemic restoration as a measure of top-down filling of missing speech, (b) listening effort and response times as a measure of increased cognitive processing, and (c) visual world paradigm and eye gazing as a measure of the use of context and its time course. Our results indicate that between speech degradations and their cognitive compensation, there is a fine balance that seems to vary greatly across individuals. Hearing impairment or inadequate hearing device settings may limit compensation benefits. Cochlear implants seem to allow the effective use of sentential context, but likely at the cost of delayed processing. Linguistic and lexical knowledge, which play an important role in compensation, may be successfully employed in advanced age, as some compensatory mechanisms seem to be preserved. These findings indicate that cognitive compensation in hearing impairment can be highly complicated—not always absent, but also not easily predicted by speech intelligibility tests only.

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Normal and Time-Compressed Speech: How Does Learning Affect Speech Recognition Thresholds in Noise?

Short-term and long-term learning effects were investigated for the German Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA) using original and time-compressed fast speech in noise. Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants completed six lists of the OLSA in five sessions. Two groups of normal-hearing listeners (24 and 12 listeners) and two groups of hearing-impaired listeners (9 listeners each) performed the test with original or time-compressed speech. In general, original speech resulted in better speech recognition thresholds than time-compressed speech. Thresholds decreased with repetition for both speech materials. Confirming earlier results, the largest improvements were observed within the first measurements of the first session, indicating a rapid initial adaptation phase. The improvements were larger for time-compressed than for original speech. The novel results on long-term learning effects when using the OLSA indicate a longer phase of ongoing learning, especially for time-compressed speech, which seems to be limited by a floor effect. In addition, for normal-hearing participants, no complete transfer of learning benefits from time-compressed to original speech was observed. These effects should be borne in mind when inviting listeners repeatedly, for example, in research settings.

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Neural Spike-Train Analyses of the Speech-Based Envelope Power Spectrum Model: Application to Predicting Individual Differences with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Diagnosing and treating hearing impairment is challenging because people with similar degrees of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) often have different speech-recognition abilities. The speech-based envelope power spectrum model (sEPSM) has demonstrated that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR_ENV) from a modulation filter bank provides a robust speech-intelligibility measure across a wider range of degraded conditions than many long-standing models. In the sEPSM, noise (N) is assumed to: (a) reduce S + N envelope power by filling in dips within clean speech (S) and (b) introduce an envelope noise floor from intrinsic fluctuations in the noise itself. While the promise of SNR_ENV has been demonstrated for normal-hearing listeners, it has not been thoroughly extended to hearing-impaired listeners because of limited physiological knowledge of how SNHL affects speech-in-noise envelope coding relative to noise alone. Here, envelope coding to speech-in-noise stimuli was quantified from auditory-nerve model spike trains using shuffled correlograms, which were analyzed in the modulation-frequency domain to compute modulation-band estimates of neural SNR_ENV. Preliminary spike-train analyses show strong similarities to the sEPSM, demonstrating feasibility of neural SNR_ENV computations. Results suggest that individual differences can occur based on differential degrees of outer- and inner-hair-cell dysfunction in listeners currently diagnosed into the single audiological SNHL category. The predicted acoustic-SNR dependence in individual differences suggests that the SNR-dependent rate of susceptibility could be an important metric in diagnosing individual differences. Future measurements of the neural SNR_ENV in animal studies with various forms of SNHL will provide valuable insight for understanding individual differences in speech-in-noise intelligibility.

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Cognitive Compensation of Speech Perception With Hearing Impairment, Cochlear Implants, and Aging: How and to What Degree Can It Be Achieved?

External degradations in incoming speech reduce understanding, and hearing impairment further compounds the problem. While cognitive mechanisms alleviate some of the difficulties, their effectiveness may change with age. In our research, reviewed here, we investigated cognitive compensation with hearing impairment, cochlear implants, and aging, via (a) phonemic restoration as a measure of top-down filling of missing speech, (b) listening effort and response times as a measure of increased cognitive processing, and (c) visual world paradigm and eye gazing as a measure of the use of context and its time course. Our results indicate that between speech degradations and their cognitive compensation, there is a fine balance that seems to vary greatly across individuals. Hearing impairment or inadequate hearing device settings may limit compensation benefits. Cochlear implants seem to allow the effective use of sentential context, but likely at the cost of delayed processing. Linguistic and lexical knowledge, which play an important role in compensation, may be successfully employed in advanced age, as some compensatory mechanisms seem to be preserved. These findings indicate that cognitive compensation in hearing impairment can be highly complicated—not always absent, but also not easily predicted by speech intelligibility tests only.

from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2dTV94h
via IFTTT

Normal and Time-Compressed Speech: How Does Learning Affect Speech Recognition Thresholds in Noise?

Short-term and long-term learning effects were investigated for the German Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA) using original and time-compressed fast speech in noise. Normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants completed six lists of the OLSA in five sessions. Two groups of normal-hearing listeners (24 and 12 listeners) and two groups of hearing-impaired listeners (9 listeners each) performed the test with original or time-compressed speech. In general, original speech resulted in better speech recognition thresholds than time-compressed speech. Thresholds decreased with repetition for both speech materials. Confirming earlier results, the largest improvements were observed within the first measurements of the first session, indicating a rapid initial adaptation phase. The improvements were larger for time-compressed than for original speech. The novel results on long-term learning effects when using the OLSA indicate a longer phase of ongoing learning, especially for time-compressed speech, which seems to be limited by a floor effect. In addition, for normal-hearing participants, no complete transfer of learning benefits from time-compressed to original speech was observed. These effects should be borne in mind when inviting listeners repeatedly, for example, in research settings.

from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2d1hmHe
via IFTTT

Neural Spike-Train Analyses of the Speech-Based Envelope Power Spectrum Model: Application to Predicting Individual Differences with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Diagnosing and treating hearing impairment is challenging because people with similar degrees of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) often have different speech-recognition abilities. The speech-based envelope power spectrum model (sEPSM) has demonstrated that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR_ENV) from a modulation filter bank provides a robust speech-intelligibility measure across a wider range of degraded conditions than many long-standing models. In the sEPSM, noise (N) is assumed to: (a) reduce S + N envelope power by filling in dips within clean speech (S) and (b) introduce an envelope noise floor from intrinsic fluctuations in the noise itself. While the promise of SNR_ENV has been demonstrated for normal-hearing listeners, it has not been thoroughly extended to hearing-impaired listeners because of limited physiological knowledge of how SNHL affects speech-in-noise envelope coding relative to noise alone. Here, envelope coding to speech-in-noise stimuli was quantified from auditory-nerve model spike trains using shuffled correlograms, which were analyzed in the modulation-frequency domain to compute modulation-band estimates of neural SNR_ENV. Preliminary spike-train analyses show strong similarities to the sEPSM, demonstrating feasibility of neural SNR_ENV computations. Results suggest that individual differences can occur based on differential degrees of outer- and inner-hair-cell dysfunction in listeners currently diagnosed into the single audiological SNHL category. The predicted acoustic-SNR dependence in individual differences suggests that the SNR-dependent rate of susceptibility could be an important metric in diagnosing individual differences. Future measurements of the neural SNR_ENV in animal studies with various forms of SNHL will provide valuable insight for understanding individual differences in speech-in-noise intelligibility.

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Finite-Element Modelling of the Acoustic Input Admittance of the Newborn Ear Canal and Middle Ear

Abstract

Admittance measurement is a promising tool for evaluating the status of the middle ear in newborns. However, the newborn ear is anatomically very different from the adult one, and the acoustic input admittance is different than in adults. To aid in understanding the differences, a finite-element model of the newborn ear canal and middle ear was developed and its behaviour was studied for frequencies up to 2000 Hz. Material properties were taken from previous measurements and estimates. The simulation results were within the range of clinical admittance measurements made in newborns. Sensitivity analyses of the material properties show that in the canal model, the maximum admittance and the frequency at which that maximum admittance occurs are affected mainly by the stiffness parameter; in the middle-ear model, the damping is as important as the stiffness in influencing the maximum admittance magnitude but its effect on the corresponding frequency is negligible. Scaling up the geometries increases the admittance magnitude and shifts the resonances to lower frequencies. The results suggest that admittance measurements can provide more information about the condition of the middle ear when made at multiple frequencies around its resonance.

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Concurrent validity and reliability of wireless instrumented insoles measuring postural balance and temporal gait parameters

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Michiel S. Oerbekke, Mirelle J. Stukstette, Kurt Schütte, Rob A. de Bie, Martijn F. Pisters, Benedicte Vanwanseele
BackgroundThe OpenGo seems promising to take gait analysis out of laboratory settings due to its capability of long-term measurements and mobility. However, the OpenGo’s concurrent validity and reliability need to be assessed to determine if the instrument is suitable for validation in patient samples.MethodsTwenty healthy volunteers participated. Center of pressure data were collected under eyes open and closed conditions with participants performing unilateral stance trials on the gold standard (AMTI OR6-7 force plate) while wearing the OpenGo. Temporal gait data (stance time, gait cycle time, and cadence) were collected at a self-selected comfortable walking speed with participants performing test-retest trials on an instrumented treadmill while wearing the OpenGo. Validity was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. Reliability was assessed with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (2,1) and smallest detectable changes were calculated.FindingsNegative means of differences were found in all measured parameters, illustrating lower scores for the OpenGo on average. The OpenGo showed negative upper limits of agreement in center of pressure parameters on the mediolateral axis. Temporal reliability ICCs ranged from 0.90–0.93. Smallest detectable changes for both stance times were 0.04 (left) and 0.05 (right) seconds, for gait cycle time 0.08s, and for cadence 4.5 steps per minute.InterpretationThe OpenGo is valid and reliable for the measurement of temporal gait parameters during walking. Measurements of center of pressure parameters during unilateral stance are not considered valid. The OpenGo seems a promising instrument for clinically screening and monitoring temporal gait parameters in patients, however validation in patient populations is needed.



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Changes of posture and muscle activities in the trunk and legs during walking in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis after decompression surgery. A preliminary report

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Tsuyoshi Goto, Toshinori Sakai, Tetsuya Enishi, Nori Sato, Koji Komatsu, Koichi Sairyo, Shinsuke Katoh
Neurogenic intermittent claudication is a main symptom in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), and postural change is often observed during walking. This study aimed to identify the changes in posture and muscle activity in the trunk and legs during walking in patients with LSS by examining 6 patients who had undergone decompression surgery. None of them had significant paralysis. Gait analysis using Vicon motion capture system^® with electromyographic recordings of the paravertebral muscles (PVM) and vastus lateralis muscle (VL) was performed preoperatively and 2 weeks postoperatively. Results showed that the thorax angle indicating the degree of trunk flexion after walking decreased significantly and the pelvic angle tended to decrease after surgery. However, there were no difference in the spine angle, which is a measure of the motion of the thoraco-lumbar spine among the evaluations. The knee angle increased significantly after surgery both at the beginning and at the end of walking, but the angles of the hip and ankle did not change significantly after surgery. Knee torques increased significantly after surgery both at the beginning and at the end of walking. The activity of the PVM decreased and that of the VL increased after surgery. The results indicate that patients with LSS walk in a forward-bending position without flexing the spine, which can be one of the neurologic symptoms. Increases in knee torque and VL activity seemed to reflect the increase of walking speed, and the decrease of PVM activity appeared to be caused by postural improvement after surgery.



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Concurrent validity and reliability of wireless instrumented insoles measuring postural balance and temporal gait parameters

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Michiel S. Oerbekke, Mirelle J. Stukstette, Kurt Schütte, Rob A. de Bie, Martijn F. Pisters, Benedicte Vanwanseele
BackgroundThe OpenGo seems promising to take gait analysis out of laboratory settings due to its capability of long-term measurements and mobility. However, the OpenGo’s concurrent validity and reliability need to be assessed to determine if the instrument is suitable for validation in patient samples.MethodsTwenty healthy volunteers participated. Center of pressure data were collected under eyes open and closed conditions with participants performing unilateral stance trials on the gold standard (AMTI OR6-7 force plate) while wearing the OpenGo. Temporal gait data (stance time, gait cycle time, and cadence) were collected at a self-selected comfortable walking speed with participants performing test-retest trials on an instrumented treadmill while wearing the OpenGo. Validity was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. Reliability was assessed with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (2,1) and smallest detectable changes were calculated.FindingsNegative means of differences were found in all measured parameters, illustrating lower scores for the OpenGo on average. The OpenGo showed negative upper limits of agreement in center of pressure parameters on the mediolateral axis. Temporal reliability ICCs ranged from 0.90–0.93. Smallest detectable changes for both stance times were 0.04 (left) and 0.05 (right) seconds, for gait cycle time 0.08s, and for cadence 4.5 steps per minute.InterpretationThe OpenGo is valid and reliable for the measurement of temporal gait parameters during walking. Measurements of center of pressure parameters during unilateral stance are not considered valid. The OpenGo seems a promising instrument for clinically screening and monitoring temporal gait parameters in patients, however validation in patient populations is needed.



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Changes of posture and muscle activities in the trunk and legs during walking in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis after decompression surgery. A preliminary report

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Tsuyoshi Goto, Toshinori Sakai, Tetsuya Enishi, Nori Sato, Koji Komatsu, Koichi Sairyo, Shinsuke Katoh
Neurogenic intermittent claudication is a main symptom in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), and postural change is often observed during walking. This study aimed to identify the changes in posture and muscle activity in the trunk and legs during walking in patients with LSS by examining 6 patients who had undergone decompression surgery. None of them had significant paralysis. Gait analysis using Vicon motion capture system^® with electromyographic recordings of the paravertebral muscles (PVM) and vastus lateralis muscle (VL) was performed preoperatively and 2 weeks postoperatively. Results showed that the thorax angle indicating the degree of trunk flexion after walking decreased significantly and the pelvic angle tended to decrease after surgery. However, there were no difference in the spine angle, which is a measure of the motion of the thoraco-lumbar spine among the evaluations. The knee angle increased significantly after surgery both at the beginning and at the end of walking, but the angles of the hip and ankle did not change significantly after surgery. Knee torques increased significantly after surgery both at the beginning and at the end of walking. The activity of the PVM decreased and that of the VL increased after surgery. The results indicate that patients with LSS walk in a forward-bending position without flexing the spine, which can be one of the neurologic symptoms. Increases in knee torque and VL activity seemed to reflect the increase of walking speed, and the decrease of PVM activity appeared to be caused by postural improvement after surgery.



from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2dRf5iB
via IFTTT

Concurrent validity and reliability of wireless instrumented insoles measuring postural balance and temporal gait parameters

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Michiel S. Oerbekke, Mirelle J. Stukstette, Kurt Schütte, Rob A. de Bie, Martijn F. Pisters, Benedicte Vanwanseele
BackgroundThe OpenGo seems promising to take gait analysis out of laboratory settings due to its capability of long-term measurements and mobility. However, the OpenGo’s concurrent validity and reliability need to be assessed to determine if the instrument is suitable for validation in patient samples.MethodsTwenty healthy volunteers participated. Center of pressure data were collected under eyes open and closed conditions with participants performing unilateral stance trials on the gold standard (AMTI OR6-7 force plate) while wearing the OpenGo. Temporal gait data (stance time, gait cycle time, and cadence) were collected at a self-selected comfortable walking speed with participants performing test-retest trials on an instrumented treadmill while wearing the OpenGo. Validity was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. Reliability was assessed with Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (2,1) and smallest detectable changes were calculated.FindingsNegative means of differences were found in all measured parameters, illustrating lower scores for the OpenGo on average. The OpenGo showed negative upper limits of agreement in center of pressure parameters on the mediolateral axis. Temporal reliability ICCs ranged from 0.90–0.93. Smallest detectable changes for both stance times were 0.04 (left) and 0.05 (right) seconds, for gait cycle time 0.08s, and for cadence 4.5 steps per minute.InterpretationThe OpenGo is valid and reliable for the measurement of temporal gait parameters during walking. Measurements of center of pressure parameters during unilateral stance are not considered valid. The OpenGo seems a promising instrument for clinically screening and monitoring temporal gait parameters in patients, however validation in patient populations is needed.



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via IFTTT

Changes of posture and muscle activities in the trunk and legs during walking in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis after decompression surgery. A preliminary report

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Tsuyoshi Goto, Toshinori Sakai, Tetsuya Enishi, Nori Sato, Koji Komatsu, Koichi Sairyo, Shinsuke Katoh
Neurogenic intermittent claudication is a main symptom in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), and postural change is often observed during walking. This study aimed to identify the changes in posture and muscle activity in the trunk and legs during walking in patients with LSS by examining 6 patients who had undergone decompression surgery. None of them had significant paralysis. Gait analysis using Vicon motion capture system^® with electromyographic recordings of the paravertebral muscles (PVM) and vastus lateralis muscle (VL) was performed preoperatively and 2 weeks postoperatively. Results showed that the thorax angle indicating the degree of trunk flexion after walking decreased significantly and the pelvic angle tended to decrease after surgery. However, there were no difference in the spine angle, which is a measure of the motion of the thoraco-lumbar spine among the evaluations. The knee angle increased significantly after surgery both at the beginning and at the end of walking, but the angles of the hip and ankle did not change significantly after surgery. Knee torques increased significantly after surgery both at the beginning and at the end of walking. The activity of the PVM decreased and that of the VL increased after surgery. The results indicate that patients with LSS walk in a forward-bending position without flexing the spine, which can be one of the neurologic symptoms. Increases in knee torque and VL activity seemed to reflect the increase of walking speed, and the decrease of PVM activity appeared to be caused by postural improvement after surgery.



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