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. 2024 May-Jun;45(3):710-720.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001465. Epub 2024 Jan 26.

Electrophysiological Measures of Listening-in-Noise With and Without Remote Microphone System Use in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth

Alexandra P Key  1   2   3 , Emily C Thompson  4 , Carlos Benítez-Barrera  4 , Jacob I Feldman  1   5 , Tiffany Woynaroski  1   2   3   5   6 , Erin Picou  1   6 , Anne Marie Tharpe  1   2   4   6
Affiliations

Electrophysiological Measures of Listening-in-Noise With and Without Remote Microphone System Use in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth

Alexandra P Key et al. Ear Hear. 2024 May-Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the neural mechanisms by which remote microphone (RM) systems might lead to improved behavioral performance on listening-in-noise tasks in autistic and non-autistic youth.

Design: Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were recorded in autistic (n = 25) and non-autistic (n = 22) youth who were matched at the group level on chronological age ( M = 14.21 ± 3.39 years) and biological sex. Potentials were recorded during an active syllable identification task completed in quiet and in multi-talker babble noise with and without the use of an RM system. The effects of noise and RM system use on speech-sound-evoked P1-N1-P2 responses and the associations between the cortical responses and behavioral performance on syllable identification were examined.

Results: No group differences were observed for behavioral or CAEP measures of speech processing in quiet or in noise. In the combined sample, syllable identification in noise was less accurate and slower than in the quiet condition. The addition of the RM system to the noise condition restored accuracy, but not the response speed, to the levels observed in quiet. The CAEP analyses noted amplitude reductions and latency delays in the noise compared with the quiet condition. The RM system use increased the N1 amplitude as well as reduced and delayed the P2 response relative to the quiet and noise conditions. Exploratory brain-behavior correlations revealed that larger N1 amplitudes in the RM condition were associated with greater behavioral accuracy of syllable identification. Reduced N1 amplitude and accelerated P2 response were associated with shorter syllable identification response times when listening with the RM system.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that although listening-in-noise with an RM system might remain effortful, the improved signal to noise ratio facilitates attention to the sensory features of the stimuli and increases speech sound identification accuracy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

This research was conducted independently of Sonova AG, who made no contribution to the design, data collection, analysis, or write up. Alexandra P. Key, Jacob I. Feldman, Anne Marie Tharpe, Tiffany Woynaroski, and Erin M. Picou are employed by the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which trains clinicians to use RM systems and utilizes RM systems in interventions in their outpatient clinics. Anne Marie Tharpe serves as the Chair of the Phonak Pediatric Research Advisory Board. Phonak, a division of Sonova AG, is a Swiss company that specializes in hearing care.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Experimental Room Configuration.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Group-Averaged Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential Responses for the Autistic (left) and Non-Autistic (right) Groups by Listening Condition.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Scatterplots of the Associations Between the Neural Responses (N1 Amplitude, P2 latency) in Quiet and Remote Microphone (RM) Listening Conditions and Behavioral Syllable Identification Accuracy and Reaction Time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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