Infants use spatial hearing cues to pick out speech in noise, study finds

Although infants demonstrated the same fundamental listening strategy as adults, their brain responses differed markedly. Image: 2x Samara/stock.adobe.com. Infants can use spatial hearing cues to distinguish a speaker’s voice from background noise during the first year of life, according to new research that sheds light on how the developing brain supports listening in challenging environments....

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No actionable change for current practice — this is foundational developmental research, but it reinforces the importance of early spatial hearing assessment and supports the rationale for early hearing aid or cochlear implant fitting in infants.

Demonstrating that spatial hearing (the ability to locate and separate sounds by direction) is functional in the first year of life challenges previous assumptions about infant auditory development and has implications for early intervention timing and hearing device design.

1. 01Infants in their first year can use spatial hearing cues to separate speech from background noise.
2. 02Brain responses (neural activity) in infants performing this task differ markedly from adult patterns.
3. 03Findings suggest spatial hearing abilities emerge earlier in development than previously understood.
4. 04Results have potential implications for early hearing intervention and hearing device fitting in infants.
5. 05The neural mechanisms underlying this early spatial hearing skill require further investigation.

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Infants in the first year of life

Intervention

Exposure to spatial hearing cues (spatially separated speech and background noise)

Comparator

Adult participants or age-matched controls