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Evaluating the benefit of hearing aids in solving the cocktail party problem.
Evaluating the benefit of hearing AIDS in solving the cocktail party problem. Trends Amplif. 2008 Dec;12(4):300-15 Authors: Marrone N, Mason CR, Kidd G The benefit of wearing hearing aids in multitalker, reverberant listening environments was evaluated in a study of speech-on-speech masking with two groups of listeners with hearing loss (younger/older). Listeners selectively attended a known spatial location in two room conditions (low/high reverberation) and identified target speech in the presence of two competing talkers that were either colocated or symmetrically spatially separated from the target. The amount of spatial release from masking (SRM) with bilateral aids was similar to that when listening unaided at or near an equivalent sensation level and was negatively corre...
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Using therapeutic sound with progressive audiologic tinnitus management.
Related Articles
Using Therapeutic Sound With Progressive Audiologic Tinnitus Management.
Trends Amplif. 2008 Jul 29;
Authors: Henry JA, Zaugg TL, Myers PJ, Schechter MA
Management of tinnitus generally involves educational counseling, stress reduction, and/or the use of therapeutic sound. This article focuses on therapeutic sound, which can involve three objectives: (a) producing a sense of relief from tinnitus-associated stress (using soothing sound); (b) passively diverting attention away from tinnitus by reducing contrast between tinnitus and the acoustic environment (using background sound); and (c) actively diverting attention away from tinnitus (using interesting sound). Each of these goals can be accomplished using three different types of sound-broadly categorized as environmental sound, music, and speech-resulting in nine combinations of uses of sound and types of sound to manage tinnitus. The authors explain the uses and types of sound, how they can be combined, and how the different combinations are used with Progressive Audiologic Tinnitus Management. They also describe how sound is used with other sound-based methods of tinnitus management (Tinnitus Masking, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, and Neuromonics).
PMID: 18664499 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
(Source: Trends in Amplification)
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Hearing loss affects millions of us adults
According to a report published in the July 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, the prevalence of hearing loss in American adults may be higher than previously thought. It is widely accepted that hearing impairment is a highly common condition, and it is considered by many to be a societal problem. (Source: Hearing / Deafness News From Medical News Today)
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Perceptual integration between target speech and target-speech reflection reduces masking for target-speech recognition in younger adults and older adults.
Related Articles
Perceptual integration between target speech and target-speech reflection reduces masking for target-speech recognition in younger adults and older adults.
Hear Res. 2008 Jul 30;
Authors: Huang Y, Huang Q, Chen X, Qu T, Wu X, Li L
This study evaluated unmasking functions of perceptual integration of target speech and simulated target-speech reflection, which were presented by two spatially separated loudspeakers. In both younger-adult listeners with normal hearing and older-adult listeners in the early stages of presbycusis, reducing the time interval between target speech and target-reflection simulation (inter-target interval, ITI) from 64 to 0ms not only progressively enhanced perceptual integration of target-speech signals, but also progressively released target speech from either speech masking or noise masking. When the signal-to-noise ratio was low, the release from speech masking was significantly larger than the release from noise masking in both younger listeners and older listeners, but the longest ITI at which a significant release from speech masking occurred was significantly shorter in older listeners than in younger listeners. These results suggest that in reverberant environments with multi-talker speech, perceptual integration between the direct sound wave and correlated reflections, which facilitates perceptual segregation of various sources, is critical for unmasking attended speech. The age-related reduction of the ITI range for releasing speech from speech masking may be one of the causes for the speech-recognition difficulties experienced by older listeners in such adverse environments.
PMID: 18694813 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
(Source: Hearing Research)
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Zounds hearing develops and releases power bte hearing aid
As a promise to his daughter, Zounds Founder Sam Thomasson spent more than 10 years developing the patented technology behind Zounds Z1 hearing aids. That same advanced technology, reduced price-point and overall comfort is now available in the Zounds Z1 Power BTE (Behind the Ear) Hearing Aid released this month. (Source: Hearing / Deafness News From Medical News Today)
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Mandarin chinese tone identification in cochlear implants: predictions from acoustic models.
Related Articles
Mandarin Chinese tone identification in cochlear implants: Predictions from acoustic models.
Hear Res. 2008 Jul 31;
Authors: Morton KD, Torrione PA, Throckmorton CS, Collins LM
It has been established that current cochlear implants do not supply adequate spectral information for perception of tonal languages. Comprehension of a tonal language, such as Mandarin Chinese, requires recognition of lexical tones. New strategies of cochlear stimulation such as variable stimulation rate and current steering may provide the means of delivering more spectral information and thus may provide the auditory fine-structure required for tone recognition. Several cochlear implant signal processing strategies are examined in this study, the continuous interleaved sampling (CIS) algorithm, the frequency amplitude modulation encoding (FAME) algorithm, and the multiple carrier frequency algorithm (MCFA). These strategies provide different types and amounts of spectral information. Pattern recognition techniques can be applied to data from Mandarin Chinese tone recognition tasks using acoustic models as a means of testing the abilities of these algorithms to transmit the changes in fundamental frequency indicative of the four lexical tones. The ability of processed Mandarin Chinese tones to be correctly classified may predict trends in the effectiveness of different signal processing algorithms in cochlear implants. The proposed techniques can predict trends in performance of the signal processing techniques in quiet conditions but fail to do so in noise.
PMID: 18706497 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
(Source: Hearing Research)
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