Differences in Speech Recognition Between Children with Attention Deficits and Typically Developed Children Disappear When Exposed to 65 dB of Auditory Noise

Söderlund, Göran; Jobs, Elisabeth

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00034

Cited by 25 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Research also suggests that the effects of noise may be mediated by the attentional capacity of participants. For instance, in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), listening to white noise has been shown to improve performance on memory 4 and go/no-go tasks 5 , as well as improve speech recognition thresholds 6 . White noise has also been shown to improve cognitive performance in typically developing school children rated as inattentive by their teachers, and worsen performance in those rated as attentive or highly attentive 7,8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

White noise enhances new-word learning in healthy adults

Angwin

Wilson

Arnott

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Research suggests that listening to white noise may improve some aspects of cognitive performance in individuals with lower attention. This study investigated the impact of white noise on new word learning in healthy young adults, and whether this effect was mediated by executive attention skills. Eighty participants completed a single training session to learn the names of twenty novel objects. The session comprised 5 learning phases, each followed by a recall test. A final recognition test was also administered. Half the participants listened to white noise during the learning phases, and half completed the learning in silence. The noise group demonstrated superior recall accuracy over time, which was not impacted by participant attentional capacity. Recognition accuracy was near ceiling for both groups. These findings suggest that white noise has the capacity to enhance lexical acquisition.Stochastic resonance (SR), a phenomenon whereby signal processing is enhanced by the addition of random noise, has been widely demonstrated across various modalities, including visual, auditory, tactile and cross-modal forms of processing 1,2 . Of particular interest are findings that auditory noise has the capacity to enhance some aspects of human cognitive performance, such as the speed of arithmetical computations 3 . Research also suggests that the effects of noise may be mediated by the attentional capacity of participants. For instance, in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), listening to white noise has been shown to improve performance on memory 4 and go/no-go tasks 5 , as well as improve speech recognition thresholds 6 . White noise has also been shown to improve cognitive performance in typically developing school children rated as inattentive by their teachers, and worsen performance in those rated as attentive or highly attentive 7,8 . Such findings may be consistent with the moderate brain arousal (MBA) model 9 , which postulates a link between dopamine function and the effects of white noise on cognitive performance. The model proposes that suboptimal dopamine levels, such as may be found in people with ADHD, can result in reduced levels of neural noise which may impact cognitive performance. In such cases, the provision of a moderate level of white noise can optimize cognitive performance by increasing neural noise via the perceptual system. The model therefore predicts that adding white noise can be beneficial to cognitive performance in those with lower attention, but that the same level of noise may impair performance in those with normal attention where neural noise levels are already optimal.Recent neuroimaging evidence supports the notion that dopamine may underpin the modulatory influence of white noise on cognitive performance. Rausch et al. 10 demonstrated that the provision of white noise during the encoding of scene images resulted in mild improvements to subsequent recognition memory. More importantly, their analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

White noise enhances new-word learning in healthy adults

Angwin

Wilson

Arnott

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Section: Auditory Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Moreover, symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity were found to be related to reduced speech recognition thresholds (Söderlund and Jobs 2016). Notably, Söderlund and Jobs (2016) did not include any girls in their study, and Lucker et al (1996) included around 79 and 65% males in the ADHD and NC group, respectively. Lucker et al (1996) also examined perceived loudness and found that children with ADHD required significantly softer levels to judge speech as comfortable or as tolerable compared to NCs, with large effect sizes; Cohen's d ranged from 0.88 to 1.06, with slightly smaller effects found in the left ear condition than in the right ear condition .…”

Section: Auditory Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Two auditory perception studies investigated recognition thresholds for speech sounds and reported thresholds to be significantly reduced in children with ADHD when compared to NCs, with medium to large effect sizes; Cohen's d ranged from 0.74 to 0.89 Söderlund and Jobs 2016). Moreover, symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity were found to be related to reduced speech recognition thresholds (Söderlund and Jobs 2016).…”

Section: Auditory Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity were found to be related to reduced speech recognition thresholds (Söderlund and Jobs 2016), auditory processing problems (Shimizu et al 2014), and possibly moderate performance on contrast sensitivity (Bartgis et al 2009). Moreover, individuals with ADHD appear to have more visual perceptual problems in tasks requiring attention.…”

Section: Potential Moderator Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Perception in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Fuermaier

Hüpen

Vries

et al. 2017

ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord

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A large body of research demonstrated that individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suffer from various neuropsychological deficits. In contrast, less is known and only divergent evidence exists on perceptual functions of individuals with ADHD. This is problematic as neuropsychological and perceptual functions are closely interrelated and are often difficult to disentangle in behavioral assessments. This study presents the conduct and results of a systematic literature review on perceptual functions in children and adults with ADHD. This review considers studies using psychophysical methods (objective measurements) and self-and informant reports (subjective measurements). Results indicate that individuals with ADHD have altered perceptual functions in various domains as compared to typically developing individuals. Increased perceptual functions in individuals with ADHD were found with regard to olfactory detection thresholds, whereas reduced perceptual functions were evident for aspects of visual and speech perception. Moreover, individuals with ADHD were found to experience discomfort to sensory stimuli at a lower level than typically developing individuals. Alterations of perceptual functions in individuals with ADHD were shown to be moderated by various factors, such as pharmacological treatment, cognitive functions, and symptom severity. We conclude by giving implications for daily life functioning and clinical practice.

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