Samira Anderson|Erika Skoe|Bharath Chandrasekaran|Nina Kraus
Neural Timing Is Linked to Speech Perception in Noise
Institute of Neurobiology|Northwestern University
understanding speech background noise challenging every listener including normal peripheral hearing difficulty attributable part disruptive effects noise neural synchrony resulting degraded representation speech cortical subcortical levels reflected electrophysiological responses problems especially pronounced clinical populations children learning impairments given established effects noise evoked responses hypothesized listeninginnoise problems associated degraded processing timing information brainstem level participants 66 children ages 814 years 22 females divided groups based performance clinical measures speechinnoise sin perception reading compared brainstem responses speech syllables top bottom sin reading groups presence absence competing multitalker babble quiet condition neural response timing equivalent groups noise however bottom groups exhibited greater neural delays relative top groups groupspecific timing delays occurred exclusively response noisevulnerable formant transition perceptually robust steadystate portion stimulus results demonstrate neural timing disrupted background noise greater disruptions associated inability perceive speech challenging listening conditions