Effects of Sensorineural Hearing Loss on Cortical Synchronization to Competing Speech during Selective Attention.

ABSTRACT: When selectively attending to a speech stream in multi-talker scenarios, low-frequency cortical activity is known to synchronize selectively to fluctuations in the attended speech signal. Older listeners with age-related sensorineural hearing loss (presbycusis) often struggle to understand speech in such situations, even when wearing a hearing aid. Yet, it is unclear whether a peripheral hearing loss degrades the attentional modulation of cortical speech tracking. Here, we used psychoacoustics and electroencephalography (EEG) in male and female human listeners to examine potential effects of hearing loss on EEG correlates of speech envelope synchronization in cortex. Behaviorally, older hearing-impaired (HI) listeners showed degraded speech-in-noise recognition and reduced temporal acuity

SUBMITTER: Fuglsang SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7083526 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature