Relationship between Consonant Perception and Psychoacoustic Measures in Auditory Dys-Synchrony

Abstract

The speech perception deficit has been attributed mainly to the impaired supra-threshold temporal processing abilities in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony. Most studies on speech perception in auditory dys-synchrony focus on the speech identification scores and not the specific pattern of errors seen. Simulation studies and temporal modifications of speech, hint that there is some other aspect of sound signal processing which affects the speech perception in addition to the impaired temporal processing. The current study aimed at analyzing the frequency and temporal resolution abilities and their relation to perception of the place and manner of articulation and the voicing feature of speech in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony and the comparison of the results in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony with that of individuals with cochlear hearing loss and individuals with normal hearing sensitivity. The results of the study showed that the auditory filters in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony were broader than that of the normal hearing and cochlear hearing loss ears with age and audiometric configuration matched to the individuals with auditory dys-synchrony. The impairment was more so in the lower frequencies. The peak sensitivity and the bandwidth of the temporal modulation transfer function were reduced relative to the controls. The voicing errors were most prominent followed by errors in place and manner. The errors in manner and place correlated with the temporal resolution and the frequency resolution at 500 Hz and 1000 Hz. The voicing errors were correlated with the frequency resolution at 500 Hz and 1000 Hz.