The role of working memory in speech recognition by hearing-impaired older listeners: does the task matter?
Dorina Strori, Pamela E Souza
PMID 36285707WHAT IT FOUND
Reading span scores linked to speech-in-noise ability in 19 older adults with hearing loss.
An auditory selective attention task added some predictive value, but visual and divided attention tasks did not. Neither test should guide clinical decisions yet.
Key findings
01Higher reading span scores correlated with better speech-in-noise recognition, accounting for 29% of the variance in performance.
02Hearing loss alone accounted for 32% of variance in speech-in-noise scores, a comparable contribution to reading span capacity.
03Only the auditory selective attention component of the divided attention test predicted speech-in-noise scores after controlling for hearing loss.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only nineteen participants were studied, which limits confidence in any observed relationships. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether working memory causes better speech recognition or simply correlates with it. The divided attention test components did not correlate with each other, raising questions about what the test actually measures. Speech-in-noise presentation levels varied based on hearing loss severity, which may have influenced performance differences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat a poor reading span score as evidence that a patient's working memory is limiting their speech recognition. Reading span correlated with hearing loss severity, and the test requires sentence comprehension that may be harder for people with significant hearing impairment. The link to speech-in-noise performance may reflect shared hearing difficulty rather than a distinct cognitive capacity.