Speech perception in noise: Masking and unmasking

Wang, Xianhui; Xu, Li

doi:10.1016/j.joto.2020.12.001

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 116 publications

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“…Previous studies on non-musicians have shown that spatially separating the target speech from the masker facilitates SPiN perception, a phenomenon referred to as “spatial release from masking” (SRM) (for a review, see Wang and Xu (2021) ). Spatially separating stimuli improves perception by allowing binaural processes of interaural time and level differences ( Glyde et al, 2011 ; Yost, 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are musical activities associated with enhanced speech perception in noise in adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Maillard

Joyal

Murray

et al. 2023

Current Research in Neurobiology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are musical activities associated with enhanced speech perception in noise in adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Maillard

Joyal

Murray

et al. 2023

Current Research in Neurobiology

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“…It was a mix of two conversations from two couples (one French and one English). This signal corresponds to cocktail party noise (Wang & Xu 2021) to imitate the circumstance where a listener needs to selectively pay attention to specific speech among other concurrent speech. The characteristics are as follows: discontinued, assimilated to long-term average speech spectrum, not understandable.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Tonotopic and Default Frequency Fitting for Speech Understanding in Noise in New Cochlear Implantees: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Cross-Over Study

Creff,

Lambert,

Coudert

et al. 2023

Ear &Amp; Hearing

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Objectives: While cochlear implants (CIs) have provided benefits for speech recognition in quiet for subjects with severe-to-profound hearing loss, speech recognition in noise remains challenging. A body of evidence suggests that reducing frequency-to-place mismatch may positively affect speech perception. Thus, a fitting method based on a tonotopic map may improve speech perception results in quiet and noise. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of a tonotopic map on speech perception in noise and quiet in new CI users. Design: A prospective, randomized, double-blind, two-period cross-over study in 26 new CI users was performed over a 6-month period. New CI users older than 18 years with bilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss or complete hearing loss for less than 5 years were selected in the University Hospital Centre of Rennes in France. An anatomical tonotopic map was created using postoperative flat-panel computed tomography and a reconstruction software based on the Greenwood function. Each participant was randomized to receive a conventional map followed by a tonotopic map or vice versa. Each setting was maintained for 6 weeks, at the end of which participants performed speech perception tasks. The primary outcome measure was speech recognition in noise. Participants were allocated to sequences by block randomization of size two with a ratio 1:1 (CONSORT Guidelines). Participants and those assessing the outcomes were blinded to the intervention. Results: Thirteen participants were randomized to each sequence. Two of the 26 participants recruited (one in each sequence) had to be excluded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-four participants were analyzed. Speech recognition in noise was significantly better with the tonotopic fitting at all signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels tested [SNR = +9 dB, p = 0.002, mean effect (ME) = 12.1%, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 4.9 to 19.2, standardized effect size (SES) = 0.71; SNR = +6 dB, p < 0.001, ME = 16.3%, 95% CI = 9.8 to 22.7, SES = 1.07; SNR = +3 dB, p < 0.001 ME = 13.8%, 95% CI = 6.9 to 20.6, SES = 0.84; SNR = 0 dB, p = 0.003, ME = 10.8%, 95% CI = 4.1 to 17.6, SES = 0.68]. Neither period nor interaction effects were observed for any signal level. Speech recognition in quiet (p = 0.66) and tonal audiometry (p = 0.203) did not significantly differ between the two settings. 92% of the participants kept the tonotopy-based map after the study period. No correlation was found between speech-in-noise perception and age, duration of hearing deprivation, angular insertion depth, or position or width of the frequency filters allocated to the electrodes. Conclusion: For new CI users, tonotopic fitting appears to be more efficient than the default frequency fitting because it allows for better speech recognition in noise without compromising understanding in quiet.

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“…Here, we used the babble noise, which is a non-stationary noise that works well both as an energetic and informational masker, efficiently reducing intelligibility and speech quality (Brungart, 2001; X. Wang & Xu, 2021). The babble noise was a mixture of five different voices (2 females, 3 males, all native Italian speakers).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We combined the target stories with a five-talker babble to construct stimuli in which the target story was embedded in the noise. Here, we used the babble noise, which is a nonstationary noise that works well both as an energetic and informational masker, efficiently reducing intelligibility and speech quality (Brungart, 2001;X. Wang & Xu, 2021).…”

Section: Stimulimentioning

confidence: 99%

Early visual cortex tracks speech envelope in the absence of visual input

Bednaya

Mirkovic²,

Berto

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Neural entrainment to continuous speech is typically observed within the language network and can be modulated by both low-level acoustic features and high-level meaningful linguistic units (e.g., phonemes, phrases, and sentences). Recent evidence showed that visual cortex may entrain to speech envelope, however its putative role in the hierarchy of speech processing remains unknown. We tested blindfolded participants who listened to semantically meaningful or meaningless stories, either in quiet or embedded in multi-talker babble noise. Entrainment to speech was assessed with forward linear modeling of participants' EEG activity. We investigated (1) low-level acoustic effects by contrasting neural tracking of speech presented in quiet or noise and (2) high-level linguistic effects by contrasting neural tracking to meaningful or meaningless stories. Results showed that envelope tracking was enhanced and delayed for speech embedded in noise compared to quiet. When semantic information was missing, entrainment to speech envelope was fastened and reduced. Source modeling revealed that envelope tracking engaged wide neural networks beyond the auditory cortex, including early visual cortex. Surprisingly, while no clear influence of semantic content was found, the magnitude of visual cortex entrainment was affected by low-level features. The decrease of sound SNR-level dampened visual cortex tracking, suggesting an active suppressing mechanism in challenging listening conditions. Altogether, these findings provide further evidence of a functional role of early visual cortex in the entrainment to continuous speech.

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Speech perception in noise: Masking and unmasking

Cited by 19 publications

References 116 publications

Are musical activities associated with enhanced speech perception in noise in adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Are musical activities associated with enhanced speech perception in noise in adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Comparison of Tonotopic and Default Frequency Fitting for Speech Understanding in Noise in New Cochlear Implantees: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Cross-Over Study

Early visual cortex tracks speech envelope in the absence of visual input

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