Segmental Speech Characteristics in Individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Speech primarily is learnt through auditory mode. Disruption in the auditory feedback, as in instances of cochlear hearing loss, is reported to have deleterious in uence on speech production. Individuals with ANSD are reported to have severe speech perception decits especially in spectral and temporal processing. In light of these ndings, the present study hypothe sized that long standing ANSD could aect speech production characteristics similar to that of cochlear hearing loss and thus aimed to investigate the segmental speech characteristics in individuals with ANSD. Twenty individuals each with ANSD and normal auditory abilities were recruited as participants. Word lists consisting of target vowels and consonants in initial and medial positions were prepared and speech samples of all participants were recorded. The samples were acoustically analyzed in terms of spectral and temporal parameters of speech. Results revealed signicant diferences between the two groups of participants for several acoustic measures, especially in case of plosives. The temporal measures such as voice onset time, burst duration and transition duration were among the variables which diered signicantly between the two groups. The ndings are discussed in light of the existing literature on speech perception and support the closed loop models of speech production. The study was a preliminary investigation on speech production in ANSD and highlights the importance of auditory feedback in speech production.