Hearing-Aid Directionality Improves Neural Speech Tracking in Older Hearing-Impaired Listeners.
Eline Borch Petersen
PMID 35730193WHAT IT FOUND
In 11 older hearing-impaired adults, directional hearing-aid processing, with amplification in both aided conditions, made the brain's tracking of a target speaker clearer in noise and improved question answering.
It did not lower self-rated listening effort compared with omni-directional amplification.
Key findings
01Brain activity tracked the target speaker more clearly with directional processing than with omni-directional amplification.
02Directional processing improved task performance compared with omni-directional amplification, while subjective listening effort did not differ between these two aided conditions.
03The brain response between 117 and 149 ms after speech onset was lower with omni-directional amplification than in quiet, but directional processing did not significantly differ from either.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 11 EEG datasets were analysed because two datasets were lost and triggers were missing, so the sample is small. Participants were experienced hearing aid users with mild-to-moderate loss and a narrow range of hearing loss, so the study may not apply to new users or more severe loss. The directional pattern was fixed from logged measurements and noise reduction was disabled, so it does not test the adaptive settings used in daily hearing-aid use. The experiment used a single story, a single canteen noise, individualized speaker-to-noise levels, and forced-choice questions, so it may not reflect real conversations. Listening effort was rated only five times per condition, and the paper describes the scale as a 100-point scale from 1 to 10, which is unclear.
Declared interests
An author is employed by WS Audiology, and the background noise was recorded at WS Audiology's headquarters. The paper states that the authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that directional hearing-aid processing reduces listening effort or is proven for everyday use. The study showed better task performance and brain tracking with directionality, but self-rated effort did not differ between omni-directional amplification and directional amplification, and only 11 EEG datasets from a small lab experiment were analysed.