Outer hair cell damage widens critical bands and worsens speech-in-noise

Evidence

The decreased frequency resolution caused by outer hair cell damage effectively makes the critical bands broader with a lower centre frequency and more overlapping. As more energy is added at each critical band, each band receives input from a wider frequency range, the frequency masking effect is stronger. The result is degraded speech intelligibility in noise. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2670

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s wider interest in acoustic communication applications — a concrete mechanism for why hearing-impaired listeners struggle specifically with speech in noisy environments, relevant to hearing aid and cochlear implant design. — connects to: Noise-induced hearing loss begins with impairment of outer hair cells; Outer-hair-cell damage destroys the cochlea’s compressive nonlinearity, which hearing aids try to rebuild.; Outer-hair-cell damage raises high-side but not low-side suppression thresholds. (+5 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2670

Broader Connections

• Sensorineural hearing loss damages pitch, harming speech-in-noise communication #expands (0.85) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1324
• Hidden hearing loss can impair speech in noise without raising thresholds #corroborates (0.75)