Better speech-in-noise ability correlated with worse brainstem encoding

Evidence

In summary, we found that in our group of normally-hearing adults (with a variety of ages), speech-in-noise performance was negatively correlated with TFS sensitivity and age. TFS sensitivity was also positively correlated with stimulus encoding accuracy for the complex harmonic stimulus, while increasing age was associated with lower stimulus encoding accuracy for the modulated tone stimulus. Surprisingly, we found that better speech in noise understanding was associated with worse stimulus encoding accuracy. Despite this unexpected direction of correlation the measures did contribute modestly to a regression model predicting the speech in noise scores. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4216

Surprisingly, we found that better speech in noise understanding was associated with worse stimulus encoding accuracy. Despite this unexpected direction of correlation the measures did contribute modestly to a regression model predicting the speech in noise scores. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4157

The regression indicated that QuickSIN scores were best predicted by a combination of all variables except the hearing thresholds (R 2 = 64.4, F (4,26) = 6.32, p = 0.004). A follow-up standard linear regression using the four predictors identified by the best-subsets procedure echoed these results, although TFS sensitivity was not a significant factor. The main model was significant (R 2 = 41.8, F (4,26) = 4.49, p = 0.007), with age accounting for most of the variance in the model (18.1 %), followed by the stimulus encoding accuracy variables contributing 13.7 and 10.0 % for the modulated and complex harmonic tones respectively. When the pure-tone average hearing thresholds were added to the model, they contributed only 2 % variance. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4187

In summary, we found that in our group of normally-hearing adults (with a variety of ages), speech-in-noise performance was negatively correlated with TFS sensitivity and age. TFS sensitivity was also positively correlated with stimulus encoding accuracy for the complex harmonic stimulus, while increasing age was associated with lower stimulus encoding accuracy for the modulated tone stimulus. Surprisingly, we found that better speech in noise understanding was associated with worse stimulus encoding accuracy. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4215

Categorization

• QUESTION: This counterintuitive direction — better speech understanding paired with worse stimulus encoding accuracy in EEG — is worth probing: is it an artifact of stimulus choice, a ceiling effect, or a genuine dissociation between cortical encoding fidelity and behavioral performance?
• XREF: Parallels the predictive-coding/estimation literature where skilled performers show less neural response to predictable input. — connects to: Reverberation and noise alter early brainstem speech coding differently than cortical coding; Brainstem encoding accuracy declines with age only for modulated tones — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4157
• SEED: Angle: why the standard audiology pure-tone audiogram misses most of what limits hearing in everyday noisy environments.
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4216; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4157; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4187 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Reverberation and noise alter early brainstem speech coding differently than cortical coding #expands (0.78)
• Brainstem encoding accuracy declines with age only for modulated tones #qualifies (0.72) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4157