Musician-Advantage on Listening Effort for Speech in Noise Perception: A Dual-Task Paradigm Measure

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Speech in noise (SIN) perception is essential for effective day-to-day communication, as everyday conversations seldom transpire in silent environments. Numerous studies have documented how musical training can aid in SIN discrimination through various neural-pathways, such as experience-dependent plasticity and overlapping processes between music and speech perception. However, empirical evidence regarding the impact of musical training on SIN perception remains inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate whether musicians trained in South Indian classical “Carnatic” style of music exhibited a distinct advantage over their non-musician counterparts in SIN perception. The study also attempted to explore whether the listening effort (LE) associated in this process was different across musicians and non-musicians, an area that has received limited attention. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving two groups comprising 25 musicians and 35 non-musicians, aged 18-35 years, with normal hearing. In phase 1, participants’ musical abilities were assessed using the Mini-Profile of Music Perception Skills (Mini-PROMS). In phase 2, SIN abilities were tested using the Tamil phonemically balanced words and Tamil Matrix Sentence Test at -5 dB, 0 dB, and +5 dB SNR. Phase 3 tested LE using a dual-task paradigm including auditory and visual stimuli as primary and secondary tasks. RESULTS: Fractional logit and linear regression models demonstrated that musicians outperformed non-musicians in the Mini-PROMS assessment. Musicians also fared better than non-musicians in SIN and LE at 0 dB SNR for words and +5 dB SNR for sentences. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provided limited evidence to support the claim that musical training improves speech perception in noisy environments or reduces the associated listening effort.