Evidence for Relationship Between Speech Perception in Noise and Spectrotemporal Modulation Processing in Children With Mild Bilateral Hearing Loss: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

OBJECTIVES: Children with mild bilateral hearing loss (CHL), defined as having thresholds between 20 and 40 dB HL, experience difficulties conversing in adverse acoustic conditions with background noise, despite having near-normal speech perception in quiet....

Continue reading at PubMed

✦ The floor

Discussion

Signed responses from readers of the wire.

✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦

This study strengthens the case for assessing spectrotemporal processing in children with mild bilateral hearing loss who struggle with speech-in-noise, but fNIRS is not yet a routine clinical tool — no immediate practice change is warranted pending broader validation.

✦ Why It Matters ✦

Demonstrating a neural basis for speech-in-noise difficulties in children with mild hearing loss (often under-served clinically) supports the argument for earlier and more comprehensive audiological intervention in this group.

✦ Key Points ✦

01fNIRS used to measure brain activity during speech-in-noise and spectrotemporal modulation tasks in children.
02Participants had mild bilateral hearing loss (20–40 dB HL) — a population often overlooked clinically.
03A significant relationship was found between spectrotemporal modulation processing and speech perception in noise.
04Published in Ear and Hearing, a high-impact peer-reviewed audiology journal.
05Findings support a neural explanation for why mild hearing loss causes real-world listening difficulties.

✦ Claims & Evidence ✦

ClaimEvidenceSupport

Children with mild bilateral hearing loss show a relationship between spectrotemporal modulation processing and speech perception in noise.

studysupported

fNIRS can detect neural correlates of speech-in-noise processing in children with mild hearing loss.

studypartially supported

✦ Research metadata ✦

PMID: 42765930
DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001893.
Journal: Ear and Hearing
Publication type: research_article
Evidence level: 2b
Population: Children with mild bilateral hearing loss (20–40 dB HL)
Intervention: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measurement of spectrotemporal modulation processing

Primary outcomes

Relationship between spectrotemporal modulation processing and speech perception in noise; Neural activation patterns during speech-in-noise tasks measured via fNIRS

✦ Related stories ✦

PubMed·Journal article·Research (general)·2mo ago

Impaired speech-in-noise perception in individuals with a history of hearing symptoms after noise exposure

Audiologists should consider supplementing standard audiograms with speech-in-noise testing for patients reporting noise-exposure symptoms, as normal thresholds alone may miss clinically meaningful hearing dysfunction consistent with cochlear synaptopathy (hidden hearing loss).

PubMed·Journal article·Research (general)·3mo ago

Effects of Hearing Intervention on Cognitive Function in Patients with Presbycusis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis provides the strongest available evidence that hearing intervention positively impacts cognitive function in older adults with age-related hearing loss; audiologists should use these findings to counsel patients and reinforce the...

PubMed·Journal article·Research (general)·3mo ago

The Genetic Causes of Auditory Neuropathy: A Systematic Review

Genetic testing for auditory neuropathy is clinically meaningful because the causative gene can influence cochlear implant candidacy and expected outcomes; audiologists should advocate for genetic workup in confirmed auditory neuropathy cases.

PubMed·Journal article·Research (general)·3mo ago

Hearing Loss in Adults With Diabetes and Prediabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Audiologists should consider routine hearing screening for adult patients with known diabetes or prediabetes, as this meta-analysis provides strong epidemiological evidence linking both conditions to increased prevalence and severity of hearing loss.

PubMed·Journal article·Research (general)·3d ago

Increased listening effort and decreased speech perception at high presentation sound levels in older hearing-impaired adult listeners

Audiologists should avoid assuming that higher presentation levels always benefit older hearing-impaired listeners; fitting and counselling protocols should account for the paradoxical degradation in speech perception and increased listening effort at high levels.

PubMed·Clinical trial·Research (general)·7d ago

Effects of hearing intervention on blood-based biomarkers of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration: a secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE randomised controlled trial

are secondary and exploratory — audiologists should not change practice based on these biomarker findings alone, but the study adds biological plausibility to hearing intervention as a potential tool for brain health preservation.

PubMed·Preprint·Research (general)·2mo ago

Older adults show overexaggerated and larger noise-related degradation in their neural tracking of speech

This finding suggests age-related declines in how the brain tracks speech in noise go beyond peripheral hearing loss; audiologists should be cautious attributing all speech-in-noise difficulty in older adults to the audiogram alone, though the preprint has not yet been...

PubMed·Journal article·Research (general)·2mo ago

ATP6V1B1-A Novel Genetic Association Between Pendred Imaging Phenotype and Renal Tubular Acidosis

Audiologists and otolaryngologists encountering patients with the Pendred imaging phenotype (enlarged vestibular aqueduct/cochlear malformation pattern) should consider ATP6V1B1 mutation testing and prompt referral for renal evaluation, as co-existing distal renal tubular...