Evaluation of speech perception in noise in Kurd-Persian bilinguals

Abstract

Background and Aim: In most everyday sett­ings, speech is heard in the presence of com­peting sounds and speech perception in noise is affected by various factors, including cognitive factors. In this regard, bilingualism is a pheno­menon that changes cognitive and behavioral processes as well as the nervous system. This study aimed to evaluate speech perception in noise and compare differences in Kurd-Persian bilinguals versus Persian monolinguals.
 Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was performed on 92 students with normal hearing, 46 of whom were bilingual Kurd-Persian with a mean (SD) age of 22.73 (1.92) years, and 46 other Persian monolinguals with a mean (SD) age of 22.71 (2.28) years. They were examined by consonant-vowel in noise (CV in noise) test and quick speech in noise (Q-SIN) test. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS 21. Results: The comparison of the results showed differences in both tests between bilingual and monolingual subjects. In both groups, the reduc­tion of signal-to-noise ratio led to lower scores, but decrease in CV in noise test in bilinguals was less than monolinguals (p < 0.001) and in the Q-SIN test, the drop in bilinguals’ score was 
 more than monolinguals (p = 0.002).
 Conclusion: Kurd-Persian bilinguals had a bet­ter performance in CV in noise test but had a worse performance in Q-SIN test than Persian monolinguals.

Auditory Efferent System; A Review on Anatomical Structure and Functional Bases

“…The findings of the recent papers suggesting that a lack of the relationship between the performance of the medial olivocochlear bundle and speech perception in noise despite the signal-to-noise ratio improvement have noted the role of higher auditory structures in controlling and modifying the purely reflexive function of the medial olivocochlear bundle [58,76,79]. Therefore, despite the confirmation of the effect of auditory efferent system on improving the the signal in the presence of noise in normal people and even in people with more auditory experiences, such as bilingual subjects [83], the need to determine the effects of higher levels of auditory efferent system on the speech perception in noise has suggested. The limited studies on the relationship between the rostral and caudal levels of auditory efferent system on the performance of speech perception in the presence of noise have shown the independent effect of these two paths [84], but still a verified assessment method for survey higher levels are not clinically provided just test like S-ABR/coN was suggested recently.…”