Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T09:41:52.917Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Speech perception in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony: effect of lengthening of voice onset time and burst duration of speech segments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2013

U A Kumar*
Affiliation:
Department of Audiology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Naimisham Campus, Manasagangothri, Mysore, India
M Jayaram
Affiliation:
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India
*
Address for correspondence: Dr U A Kumar, Reader, Department of Audiology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Naimisham Campus, Manasagangothri, Mysore 570006, India E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of lengthening of voice onset time and burst duration of selected speech stimuli on perception by individuals with auditory dys-synchrony. This is the second of a series of articles reporting the effect of signal enhancing strategies on speech perception by such individuals.

Methods:

Two experiments were conducted: (1) assessment of the ‘just-noticeable difference' for voice onset time and burst duration of speech sounds; and (2) assessment of speech identification scores when speech sounds were modified by lengthening the voice onset time and the burst duration in units of one just-noticeable difference, both in isolation and in combination with each other plus transition duration modification.

Results:

Lengthening of voice onset time as well as burst duration improved perception of voicing. However, the effect of voice onset time modification was greater than that of burst duration modification. Although combined lengthening of voice onset time, burst duration and transition duration resulted in improved speech perception, the improvement was less than that due to lengthening of transition duration alone.

Conclusion:

These results suggest that innovative speech processing strategies that enhance temporal cues may benefit individuals with auditory dys-synchrony.

Type
Main Articles
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Starr, A, Picton, TW, Sininger, Y, Hood, L, Berlin, CI. Auditory neuropathy. Brain 1996;119:741–53CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Kumar, UA, Jayaram, M. Prevalence and audiological charecteristics in individuals with auditory neuropathy/auditory dys-synchrony. Int J Audiol 2006;45:360–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Kumar, UA, Jayaram, M. Speech perception in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony: I. Effect of lengthening of transition duration of speech segments. J Laryngol Otol 2011;125:236–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Rance, G, McKay, C, Grayden, D. Perceptual characterization of children with auditory neuropathy. Ear Hear 2004;25:3446CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Kraus, N, Bradlow, AR, Cheatham, MA, Cunningham, J, King, CD, Koch, CD. Consequences of neural asynchrony: a case of auditory neuropathy. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2000;1:3345CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Zeng, FG, Kong, YY, Michalewski, HJ, Starr, A. Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity. J Neurophysiol 2005;93:3050–63CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Plomp, R. The negative effect of amplitude compression in multichannel hearing aids in the light of the modulation-transfer function. J Acoust Soc Am 1988;83:2322–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Berlin, CI, Hood, LJ, Hurely, A, Wen, H. Hair Cells and Hearing Aids. San Diego: Singular, 1996Google Scholar
9Zeng, FG, Oba, S, Garde, S, Sininger, Y, Starr, A. Temporal and speech processing deficits in auditory neuropathy. Neuroreport 1999;10:3429–35CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Dreschler, WA, Plomp, R. Relation between psychophysical data and speech perception for hearing impaired subjects II. J Acoust Soc Am 1985;78:1261–70CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Tyler, RS, Summerfield, Q, Wood, EJ, Farnandes, MA. Psychoacoustic and phonetic temporal processing in normal and hearing impaired listeners. J Acoust Soc Am 1982;72:740–52CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Moulines, E, Lorche, J. Non parametric techniques for pitch scale and time scale modification of speech. Speech Commun 1995;16:175205CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Wang, MD, Bilger, RC. Consonsant confusions in noise: a study of perceptual features. J Acoust Soc Am 1973;54:1248–66CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Miller, AJ, Nicely, PE. An analysis of perceptual confusions among some English consonants. J Acoust Soc Am 1955;27:338–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Dorman, MF, Studdert-Kennedy, M, Raphael, LJ. Stop-consonant recognition: release bursts and formant transitions as functionally equivalent, context dependent cues. Percept Psychophys 1977;22:109–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar