Speech Recognition With Informational and Energetic Maskers in Patients With Single-Sided Deafness After Cochlear Implantation

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the susceptibility to energetic and informational masking in patients with single sided deafness (SSD) with one normal-hearing (NH) ear and a cochlear implant (CI) in the contralateral ear, understand the effect on speech recognition when spatially separating noise and speech maskers, and investigate the influence of the CI in situations with energetic and informational masking. Method: Speech recognition was measured in the presence of either a modulated speech-shaped noise or one of two competing speech maskers in 11 SSD-CI listeners. The speech maskers were manipulated with respect to fundamental frequency to consider the effect of different voices. Measurements were conducted in the unaided (NH) and aided (NHCI) conditions. Spatial release from masking (SRM) was calculated for each masker type and both listening conditions (NH and NHCI) by subtracting scores of the colocated target and masker condition (S0N0) from the spatially separated target and masker conditions (S0N not equal 0). Results: Speech recognition was highly variable depending on the type of masker. SRM occurred in the unaided (NH) and aided (NHCI) conditions when the speech masker had the same gender as the target talker. Adding the CI improved speech recognition when this speech masker was ipsilateral to the NH ear. Conclusions: The amount of informational masking is substantial in SSD-CI listeners with both colocated and spatially separated target and masker signals. The contribution of SRM to better speech recognition largely depends on the masker and is considerable when no differences in voices between the target and the competing talker occur. There is only a slight improvement in speech recognition by adding the CI.

Automated summary

Speech recognition in SSD-CI listeners is affected by different types of maskers, with spatial release from masking occurring when the speech masker matches the gender of the target talker in both unaided and aided conditions. The presence of a CI improves speech recognition when the speech masker is ipsilateral to the NH ear.