Non-linguistic auditory speech processing

Abstract

Objectives: A method for testing auditory processing of non-linguistic speech-like stimuli was developed and evaluated.

Design: Monosyllabic words were temporally reversed and distorted. Stimuli were matched for spectrum and level. Listeners discriminated between distorted and undistorted stimuli.

Study sample: Three groups were tested. The Normal group was comprised of 12 normal-hearing participants. The Senior group was comprised of 12 seniors. The Hearing Loss group was comprised of 12 participants with thresholds of at least 35 dB HL at one or more frequencies.

Results: The Senior group scored lower than the Normal group, and the Hearing Loss group scored lower than the Senior group. Scores for forward compressed speech were slightly higher than backward compressed speech but the difference was not statistically significant. Retest scores were slightly higher than scores on the first test, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Large differences in discrimination of distorted speech were observed among the three groups. Age and hearing loss separately affected performance. The depressed performance of the Senior group may be a result of "hidden hearing loss" that is attributed to cochlear synaptopathy. The backward-distorted speech task may be a useful non-linguistic test of speech processing that is language independent.

Keywords: Speech recognition; backward speech; distorted speech; hearing impairment; spectro-temporal analysis; speech perception; synaptopathy.