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Research Article

Perception of temporally modified speech in auditory neuropathy

Pages 41-49 | Received 21 Sep 2009, Accepted 27 Aug 2010, Published online: 04 Nov 2010
 

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: Disrupted auditory nerve activity in auditory neuropathy (AN) significantly impairs the sequential processing of auditory information, resulting in poor speech perception. This study investigated the ability of AN subjects to perceive temporally modified consonant-vowel (CV) pairs and shed light on their phonological awareness skills. Design: Four Arabic CV pairs were selected: /ki/-/gi/, /to/-/do/, /si/-/sti/ and /so/-/zo/. The formant transitions in consonants and the pauses between CV pairs were prolonged. Rhyming, segmentation and blending skills were tested using words at a natural rate of speech and with prolongation of the speech stream. Study sample: Fourteen adult AN subjects were compared to a matched group of cochlear-impaired patients in their perception of acoustically processed speech. Results: The AN group distinguished the CV pairs at a low speech rate, in particular with modification of the consonant duration. Phonological awareness skills deteriorated in adult AN subjects but improved with prolongation of the speech inter-syllabic time interval. Conclusions: A rehabilitation program for AN should consider temporal modification of speech, training for auditory temporal processing and the use of devices with innovative signal processing schemes. Verbal modifications as well as visual imaging appear to be promising compensatory strategies for remediating the affected phonological processing skills.

Sumario

Objetivo: En la neuropatía auditiva (AN) la disrupción de la actividad del nervio auditivo impide significativamente el procesamiento secuencial de la información auditiva con la consecuente pobre percepción del habla. Este estudio investiga la habilidad de los sujetos con neuropatía auditiva para percibir pares temporalmente modificados de consonante vocal (CV) y nos da luz sobre sus habilidades en el reconocimiento fonológico. Diseño: Se seleccionaron cuatro pares de CV en árabe: /ki/-/gi/, /to/-/do/, /si/-/sti/ y /so/-/zo/. La transición de la formante en las consonantes y las pausas entre los pares de CV fueron prolongados. Se probaron las habilidades de rima, segmentación y combinación utilizando palabras a una tasa normal del habla y con prolongación del flujo del habla. Muestra: Se compararon catorce adultos con neuropatía auditiva con un grupo pareado en su percepción del habla acústicamente procesada, de pacientes con implante coclear. Resultados: El grupo de AN distinguió los pares CV a tasa de velocidad baja, en particular con modificaciones en la duración de las consonantes. Las habilidades de reconocimiento fonológico se deterioraron en los adultos con AN pero mejoraron con la prolongación del intervalo de tiempo inter-silábico. Conclusiones: Un programa de rehabilitación auditiva debe considerar las modificaciones temporales del lenguaje, el entrenamiento del procesamiento auditivo temporal y el uso de equipos con esquemas innovadores de procesamiento de la señal. Las modificaciones verbales así como las imágenes visuales parecen ser prometedoras estrategias compensatorias para remediar las afecciones en las habilidades del procesamiento fonológico.

Acknowledgements

This article was presented in the ‘Composium on Central Auditory Processing Disorders’ organized by the Audiology Committee of International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) in collaboration with the Audiology Unit, Ain Shams University. The composium was held in Cairo, Egypt on March 15–19, 2009. Many thanks are given to the central team, Audiology Unit, Ain Shams University for development and standardization of the Arabic computer-based auditory training program. Last but not least, the participation of the patients in this study is highly appreciated.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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