Perception of Speech in Context by Listeners With Healthy and Impaired Hearing

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · Jun 18, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how people with healthy hearing and those with hearing loss understand speech, especially when there are other sounds in the background. Researchers want to learn how these surrounding sounds can help or hinder speech recognition. They believe that people with hearing loss may face more challenges in understanding speech when there's background noise, and they are also interested in how cochlear implant users process speech differently compared to those with normal hearing. By using computer models, they aim to simulate how our brains respond to speech sounds in various contexts.

To participate in this study, individuals must be between 18 and 65 years old and should be able to recognize spoken English. Participants should not have significant hearing loss (beyond certain limits) and should not have any cognitive disabilities that affect their understanding of language. Those who qualify will help researchers gain valuable insights that could improve hearing aids and cochlear implants, making it easier for people with hearing difficulties to understand speech in real-life situations.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Be able to recognize spoken words in English
• • Be a competent speaker of north American English
• • Be an adult between the age of 18 to 65 years
• • Have normal audiometric thresholds below 25 decibels hearing loss (dB HL) at frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz OR have audiometric thresholds not exceeding 40 dB HL at frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz OR have audiometric thresholds not exceeding 55 dB HL at frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz OR use a cochlear implant
• • Lack language-learning or other cognitive disabilities
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Inability to recognize spoken words in English
• • Not a competent speaker of north American English
• • Be younger than 18 years of age
• • Be older than 65 years of age
• • Have normal audiometric thresholds exceeding 25 dB HL at frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz OR have audiometric thresholds exceeding 40 dB HL at frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz OR have audiometric thresholds exceeding 55 dB HL at frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz
• • Language-learning or other cognitive disabilities