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Fulltext Reference-Free Assessment of Speech Intelligibility Using Bispectrum of an Auditory Neurogram

Hossain ME, Jassim WA, Zilany MS

PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0150415.
PMID: 26967160 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150415

Sensorineural hearing loss occurs due to damage to the inner and outer hair cells of the peripheral auditory system. Hearing loss can cause decreases in audibility, dynamic range, frequency and temporal resolution of the auditory system, and all of these effects are known to affect speech intelligibility. In this study, a new reference-free speech intelligibility metric is proposed using 2-D neurograms constructed from the output of a computational model of the auditory periphery. The responses of the auditory-nerve fibers with a wide range of characteristic frequencies were simulated to construct neurograms. The features of the neurograms were extracted using third-order statistics referred to as bispectrum. The phase coupling of neurogram bispectrum provides a unique insight for the presence (or deficit) of supra-threshold nonlinearities beyond audibility for listeners with normal hearing (or hearing loss). The speech intelligibility scores predicted by the proposed method were compared to the behavioral scores for listeners with normal hearing and hearing loss both in quiet and under noisy background conditions. The results were also compared to the performance of some existing methods. The predicted results showed a good fit with a small error suggesting that the subjective scores can be estimated reliably using the proposed neural-response-based metric. The proposed metric also had a wide dynamic range, and the predicted scores were well-separated as a function of hearing loss. The proposed metric successfully captures the effects of hearing loss and supra-threshold nonlinearities on speech intelligibility. This metric could be applied to evaluate the performance of various speech-processing algorithms designed for hearing aids and cochlear implants.

Matched MeSH terms: Audiometry, Speech/methods*
The effect of non-native and non-regional speech testing on a multi-lingual population

Quar TK, Soli SD, Chan YF, Ishak WS, Abdul Wahat NH

Int J Audiol, 2017 02;56(2):92-98.
PMID: 27686009 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2016.1210828

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the speech perception of Malaysian Chinese adults using the Taiwanese Mandarin HINT (MHINT-T) and the Malay HINT (MyHINT).
DESIGN: The MHINT-T and the MyHINT were presented in quiet and noise (front, right and left) conditions under headphones. Results for the two tests were compared with each other and with the norms for each test.
STUDY SAMPLE: Malaysian Chinese native speakers of Mandarin (N = 58), 18-31 years of age with normal hearing.
RESULTS: On average, subjects demonstrated poorer speech perception ability than the normative samples for these tests. Repeated measures ANOVA showed that speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were slightly poorer on the MHINT-T than on the MyHINT for all test conditions. However, normalized SRTs were poorer by 0.6 standard deviations for MyHINT as compared with MHINT-T.
CONCLUSIONS: MyHINT and MHINT-T can be used as norm-referenced speech perception measures for Mandarin-speaking Chinese in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Audiometry, Speech/methods*
Efficacy of a newly developed auditory-cognitive training system on speech recognition, central auditory processing and cognitive ability among older adults with normal cognition and with neurocognitive impairment

Yusof Y, Mukari SZS, Dzulkifli MA, Chellapan K, Ahmad K, Ishak I, et al.

Geriatr Gerontol Int, 2019 Aug;19(8):768-773.
PMID: 31237107 DOI: 10.1111/ggi.13710

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of a newly developed auditory-cognitive training system on speech recognition, central auditory processing and cognition among older adults with normal cognition (NC) and with neurocognitive impairment (NCI).
METHODS: A double-blind quasi-experiment was carried out on NC (n = 43) and NCI (n = 33) groups. Participants in each group were randomly assigned into treatment and control programs groups. The treatment group underwent auditory-cognitive training, whereas the control group was assigned to watch documentary videos, three times per week, for 8 consecutive weeks. Study outcomes that included Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Malay Hearing in Noise Test, Dichotic Digit Test, Gaps in Noise Test and Pitch Pattern Sequence Test were measured at 4-week intervals at baseline, and weeks 4, 8 and 12.
RESULTS: Mixed design anova showed significant training effects in total Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Dichotic Digit Test in both groups, NC (P

Matched MeSH terms: Audiometry, Speech/methods

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