This paper summarizes twenty studies, published since 1989, that have measured experimentally the relationship between speech recognition in noise and some aspect of cognition, using statistical techniques such as correlation or factor analysis. The results demonstrate that there is a link, but it is secondary to the predictive effects of hearing loss, and it is somewhat mixed across study. No one cognitive test always gave a significant result, but measures of working memory (especially reading span) were mostly effective, whereas measures of general ability, such as IQ, were mostly ineffective. Some of the studies included aided listening, and two reported the benefits from aided listening: again mixed results were found, and in some circumstances cognition was a useful predictor of hearing-aid benefit.

The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore central auditory function may be compromised by the intense bursts of stray acoustic noise produced by the scanner whenever the magnetic resonance signal is read out. We present results evaluating the use of one method to reduce the effect of the scanner noise: "sparse" temporal sampling. Using this technique, single volumes of brain images are acquired at the end of stimulus and baseline conditions. To optimize detection of the activation, images are taken near to the maxima and minima of the hemodynamic response during the experimental cycle. Thus, the effective auditory stimulus for the activation is not masked by the scanner noise. In experiment 1, the course of the hemodynamic response to auditory stimulation was mapped during continuous task performance. The mean peak of the response was at 10.5 sec after stimulus onset, with little further change until stimulus offset. In experiment 2, sparse imaging was used to acquire activation images. Despite the fewer samples with sparse imaging, this method successfully delimited broadly the same regions of activation as conventional continuous imaging. However, the mean percentage MR signal change within the region of interest was greater using sparse imaging. Auditory experiments that use continuous imaging methods may measure activation that is a result of an interaction between the stimulus and task factors (e.g., attentive effort) induced by the intense background noise. We suggest that sparse imaging is advantageous in auditory experiments as it ensures that the obtained activation depends on the stimulus alone.

Objective-To develop and evaluate a 12-item version of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale for use in clinical research and rehabilitation settings, and provide a formula for converting scores between the full (SSQ49) and abbreviated (SSQ12) versions.Design-Items were selected independently at the three centres (Eriksholm, MRC Institute of Hearing Research, University of New England) to be representative of the complete scale. A consensus was achieved after discussion.Study Sample-The data set (n=1220) used for a factor analysis (Akeroyd et al., submitted) was re-analysed to compare original SSQ scores (SSQ49) with scores on the short version (SSQ12).Results-A scatter-plot of SSQ12 scores against SSQ49 scores showed that SSQ12 score was about 0.6 of a scale point lower than the SSQ49 (0-10 scale) in the re-analysis of the Akeroyd et al. data. SSQ12 scores lay on a slightly steeper slope than scores on the SSQ49. Conclusions-The SSQ12 provides similar results to SSQ49 in a large clinical research sample. The slightly lower average SSQ12 score and the slightly steeper slope reflect the composition of this short form relative to the SSQ49.