It is well established that older listeners have more difficulty understanding speech in background noise than younger listeners (e.g. Dubno et. al., 1984). Some have attributed this increased difficulty to peripheral hearing loss, while others suggest that older listeners may perceive listening in noise as difficult and effortful because it requires them to exert more cognitive resources . The purpose of the present study was to directly evaluate the relationship between cognitive function, listening effort and speech recognition for a group of younger and older normal hearing adults, and a group of older adults with hearing impairment, in various types of background noise.

The NR algorithm reduced the listening effort adults with hearing loss must expend to understand speech in noise.