Evaluation of the NAL Dynamic Conversations Test in older listeners with hearing loss

Abstract

Objective: The National Acoustic Laboratories Dynamic Conversations Test (NAL-DCT) is a new test of speech comprehension that incorporates a realistic environment and dynamic speech materials that capture certain features of everyday conversations. The goal of this study was to assess the suitability of the test for studying the consequences of hearing loss and amplification in older listeners. Design: Unaided and aided comprehension scores were measured for single-, two- and three-talker passages, along with unaided and aided sentence recall. To characterise the relevant cognitive abilities of the group, measures of short-term working memory, verbal information-processing speed, and reading comprehension speed were collected. Study Sample: Participants were 41 older listeners with varying degrees of hearing loss. Results: Performance on both the NAL-DCT and the sentence test was strongly driven by hearing loss, but performance on the NAL-DCT was additionally related to a composite cognitive deficit score. Benefits of amplification were measurable but influenced by individual test SNRs. Conclusions: The NAL-DCT is sensitive to the same factors as a traditional sentence recall test, but in addition is sensitive to cognitive factors required for speech processing. The test shows promise as a tool for research concerned with real-world listening.

Do Visual Cues Aid Comprehension of a Dialogue?

“…However, larger variation, relative to a standardized speech test, has also been reported in normal-hearing people for a comprehension test with equalized sets and is possibly due to individual variation in cognition associated with higher-level speech processing. 13,14 The fact that the two tests – word and comprehension – were similarly sensitive to changes in SNR and visual cues on a group level lends some credibility to the newly developed comprehension test.…”

Listening-Based Communication Ability in Adults With Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review of Existing Measures

“…Comprehension measures in this review sought to clarify these mechanisms relative to hearing loss and included, for example: processing structurally complex sentences and degraded speech ( Carroll et al, 2016 ); neural activation in speech understanding ( Zhou et al, 2018 ); suitability of dynamic speech materials to capture features specific to conversation ( Best et al, 2016a ); and the influence of syntactic form on plausibility ( Amichetti et al, 2016 ). Interestingly, studies comparing measures of recognition and comprehension suggest that existing comprehension paradigms in the assessment of listening may be inadequate ( Best et al, 2018 ).…”

Animal-to-Human Translation Difficulties and Problems With Proposed Coding-in-Noise Deficits in Noise-Induced Synaptopathy and Hidden Hearing Loss

“…Two limitations make the data interpretation difficult: (1) the pre-pulse inhibition of the startle responses involves the central auditory system, which may compensate for changes in cochlear function related to synaptopathy; and (2) the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between the pre-pulse inhibitor and the masker must be at least 20 dB in order to show clear inhibition in this paradigm. This is much higher than the SNR used in most signal-in-noise tasks, such as speech-in-noise measures conducted at ratios between –10 and +10 dB ( Billings et al, 2017 ; Maamor and Billings, 2017 ; Best et al, 2018 ; Billings and Madsen, 2018 ; Yeend et al, 2018 ).…”