![]() However, this effect has only been found in aged participants or those with hearing loss. Previous work 5, 6, 7 has shown that tasks measuring the ability to segregate sound based on frequency characteristics of complex sounds can be related to individual SiN perception ability. These working memory and figure-ground perception measures both allow robust psychophysical characterisation with the potential to predict SiN in a way that is independent of language and education. The current work investigates another aspect of auditory cognition that might help to account for individual differences in SiN ability: auditory working memory for frequency and amplitude modulation. Previous work has shown that fundamental auditory grouping processes involved in separating non-speech figures from an acoustic background (‘figure-ground perception’) explains a sizable portion of individual differences in SiN ability 4 however, not all of the variance in SiN was accounted for by these processes. From first principles, the ability to hold in mind sound features that are characteristic of particular sources, including voices, might aid SiN perception by allowing sequential outputs from a particular source to be grouped. We consider here the idea that more fundamental forms of working memory that apply to all sounds, including speech, are relevant to SiN perception. However, other studies have suggested that phonological working memory only comes into play in older participants or when a participant has high-frequency hearing loss 3. Phonological working measures such as the reading span and digit span were found to have an effect on SiN detection after accounting for hearing loss. Akeroyd 2 summarised studies describing the relationship of ccognitive measures to speech-in-noise performance. Deficits in SiN are one of the most common problems in patients with cochlear hearing loss, but there has been increasing interest in cognitive abilities that determine SiN perception 1. Speech-in-noise (SiN) perception is the ability to identify spoken words when background noise is present. Working memory performance for frequency also correlated with years of musical instrument experience suggesting that the former is potentially modifiable. We suggest that working memory for frequency facilitates the identification and tracking of foreground objects like speech during natural listening. Our results demonstrate a specific relationship between working memory for frequency and SiN. Measures of phonological working memory did not correlate with SiN detection ability. Frequency precision also correlated with the number of years of musical training. Across participants, frequency precision correlated significantly with SiN thresholds. The paradigm yields measures of precision in frequency and AM domains, based on the distribution of participants’ estimates of the target. We used a novel paradigm that tests auditory working memory for non-speech sounds that vary in frequency and amplitude modulation (AM) rate. We investigated the relationship between auditory working memory precision and SiN thresholds in listeners with normal hearing. This process might help combine foreground elements, like speech, over seconds to aid their separation from the background of an auditory scene. ![]() We consider here the idea that SiN perception is linked to a more general ability to hold sound objects in mind, auditory working memory, irrespective of whether the objects are speech sounds. ![]() Studies suggest that SiN perception correlates with cognitive skills, particularly phonological working memory: the ability to hold and manipulate phonemes or words in mind. Speech-in-noise (SiN) perception is a critical aspect of natural listening, deficits in which are a major contributor to the hearing handicap in cochlear hearing loss. ![]()
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