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Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech

In quiet environments, hearing aids improve the perception of low-intensity sounds. However, for high-intensity sounds in background noise, the aids often fail to provide a benefit to the wearer. Here, by using large-scale single-neuron recordings from hearing-impaired gerbils — an established anima...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Armstrong, Alex, Lam, Chi Chung, Sabesan, Shievanie, Lesica, Nicholas A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7612903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33941898
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00707-y
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author Armstrong, Alex
Lam, Chi Chung
Sabesan, Shievanie
Lesica, Nicholas A.
author_facet Armstrong, Alex
Lam, Chi Chung
Sabesan, Shievanie
Lesica, Nicholas A.
author_sort Armstrong, Alex
collection PubMed
description In quiet environments, hearing aids improve the perception of low-intensity sounds. However, for high-intensity sounds in background noise, the aids often fail to provide a benefit to the wearer. Here, by using large-scale single-neuron recordings from hearing-impaired gerbils — an established animal model of human hearing — we show that hearing aids restore the sensitivity of neural responses to speech, but not their selectivity. Rather than reflecting a deficit in supra-threshold auditory processing, the low selectivity is a consequence of hearing-aid compression (which decreases the spectral and temporal contrasts of incoming sound) and of amplification (which distorts neural responses, regardless of whether hearing is impaired). Processing strategies that avoid the trade-off between neural sensitivity and selectivity should improve the performance of hearing aids.
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spelling pubmed-76129032022-06-26 Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech Armstrong, Alex Lam, Chi Chung Sabesan, Shievanie Lesica, Nicholas A. Nat Biomed Eng Article In quiet environments, hearing aids improve the perception of low-intensity sounds. However, for high-intensity sounds in background noise, the aids often fail to provide a benefit to the wearer. Here, by using large-scale single-neuron recordings from hearing-impaired gerbils — an established animal model of human hearing — we show that hearing aids restore the sensitivity of neural responses to speech, but not their selectivity. Rather than reflecting a deficit in supra-threshold auditory processing, the low selectivity is a consequence of hearing-aid compression (which decreases the spectral and temporal contrasts of incoming sound) and of amplification (which distorts neural responses, regardless of whether hearing is impaired). Processing strategies that avoid the trade-off between neural sensitivity and selectivity should improve the performance of hearing aids. 2022-06-01 2021-05-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7612903/ /pubmed/33941898 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00707-y Text en Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:http://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/license.html#terms
spellingShingle Article
Armstrong, Alex
Lam, Chi Chung
Sabesan, Shievanie
Lesica, Nicholas A.
Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
title Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
title_full Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
title_fullStr Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
title_full_unstemmed Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
title_short Compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
title_sort compression and amplification algorithms in hearing aids impair the selectivity of neural responses to speech
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7612903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33941898
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00707-y
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