Previous research has shown deficits in vocal emotion recognition in sub-populations of individuals with hearing loss. As emotion recognition is an essential ability that affects social interaction, and in extension, can impact well-being, understanding vocal emotion recognition difficulties is a high priority research topic. Furthermore, it has been shown that although hearing aids improves word recognition, it does not improve emotion recognition. To explore emotion recognition and the effect of amplification in individuals with hearing loss, we examined recognition of vocal emotions expressed both verbally and non-verbally in middle-aged to older individuals with and without linear amplification (similar amplification across sound levels). Twenty-one experienced hearing aid users with bilateral mild-to-moderate hearing loss, and 20 individuals with normal hearing performed a vocal emotion recognition task on sentences and non-verbal vocalizations. The hearing loss group had poorer emotion recognition for both sentences (F(1,38)=15.24, p <0.001, η2p=0.29, without linear amplification, and F(1, 38)= 5.62, p=0.023, η2p=0.13, with linear amplification) and non-verbal vocalizations(F(1,38)= 25.18, p <0.001, η2p=0.40, without linear amplification, and F(1, 38)= 10.30, p=0.003, η2p=0.21, with linear amplification). However, linear amplification significantly improved the recognition of happiness (p < 0.001), which is distinguished by frequency parameters, for sentences. For non-verbal vocalizations, recognition of fear (p = 0.004) and anger (p = 0.004), were improved by linear amplification. Patterns of confusion were similar for the two groups, which may suggest that both groups perceived the emotions similarly, but that the degree of perceptual precision was lower in the hearing loss group. In sum, hearing loss negatively impacts vocal emotion recognition, but linear amplification can enhance recognition for some emotions.

This study investigates the impact of hearing aid (HA) use on visual lexical decision (LD) performance in individuals with hearing loss. We hypothesize that HA use benefits phonological processing and leads to faster and more accurate visual LD. We compared the visual LD performance among three groups: 92 short-term HA users (<5 years), 98 long-term HA users, and 55 nonusers, while controlling for hearing level, age, and years of education. Results showed that, compared with non-HA users, HA users showed significantly faster reaction times in visual LD, specifically, long-term HA use was associated with smaller difference in reaction time for pseudowords compared to nonwords. These results suggest that HA use is associated with faster visual word recognition, potentially reflecting enhanced cognitive functions beyond auditory processing. These findings point to possible cognitive advantages linked to HA use.

Hearing impairment (HI) disrupts social interaction by hindering the ability to follow conversations in noisy environments. While hearing aids (HAs) with noise reduction (NR) partially address this, the "cocktail-party problem" persists, where individuals struggle to attend to specific voices amidst background noise. This study investigated how NR and an advanced signal processing method for compensating for nonlinearities in Electroencephalography (EEG) signals can improve neural speech processing in HI listeners. Participants wore HAs with NR, either activated or deactivated, while focusing on target speech amidst competing masker speech and background noise. Analysis focused on temporal response functions to assess neural tracking of relevant target and masker speech. Results revealed enhanced neural responses (N1 and P2) to target speech, particularly in frontal and central scalp regions, when NR was activated. Additionally, a novel method compensated for nonlinearities in EEG data, leading to improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and potentially revealing more precise neural tracking of relevant speech. This effect was most prominent in the left-frontal scalp region. Importantly, NR activation significantly improved the effectiveness of this method, leading to stronger responses and reduced variance in EEG data and potentially revealing more precise neural tracking of relevant speech. This study provides valuable insights into the neural mechanisms under- lying NR benefits and introduces a promising EEG analysis approach sensitive to NR effects, paving the way for potential improvements in HAs.

Background

Hearing loss is a common workplace disability that presents communication challenges. While digital communication platforms can offer opportunities for flexibility and inclusion, they may also present barriers for individuals with hearing loss. More research is needed to understand how video meetings are experienced by these employees and how to create more inclusive and effective work environments.

Objective

This study aimed to explore the positive and negative aspects of video meetings for employees with hearing loss and identify strategies they use to enhance communication.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative study using an abductive approach to thematic analysis. Fourteen employees with hearing loss, aged 35 to 67 years, were interviewed. All participants used hearing aids except for one who had a cochlear implant. They were recruited through professional networks and audiology clinics.

Results

Listening effort emerged as the overarching theme, experienced as both physically and mentally demanding. Sub-themes included both positive and negative experiences, the effects on participation, and strategies for managing communication challenges. Participants emphasized the importance of high-quality audio, video, captioning, and structured turn-taking. Workplace support, technical solutions, and remote work opportunities were described as helpful in reducing listening effort and improving inclusion.

Conclusions

Employees with hearing loss report both benefits and challenges in video meetings. Based on participants’ experiences, workplace measures such as captioning, high-quality audio, and inclusive communication practices may support participation. Allowing remote work and structuring hybrid meetings with clear turn-taking rules may support well-being and participation. Future research should assess the effectiveness of these approaches.

Purpose Individuals with acquired hearing impairment often experience declines in phonological processing abilities, a phenomenon thought to be mediated by working memory capacity (WMC). However, the role of hearing aid use in this context remains underexplored. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed (1) to tease apart the effect of hearing impairment and hearing aid use on phonological processing performance, and (2) to investigate the effect of hearing aid use on phonological processing in more detail, while considering the involvement of WMC.Method Using mixed effect models, we investigated rhyme judgment performance and its reliance on WMC among three groups of participants: a group of hearing aid users (n = 202), a group of hearing-impaired individuals without hearing aid (n = 54), and a group of normal hearing controls (n = 201). We also examined how years of hearing aid use was associated with rhyme judgment performance and its reliance on WMC in hearing aid users.Results We found that hearing impairment was associated with increased dependence of rhyme judgment performance on WMC regardless of the use of hearing aids. Furthermore, hearing aid use was overall positively associated with rhyme judgment performance, with this relationship influenced by variations in WMC.Conclusion WMC influences the effectiveness of hearing aids for phonological processing. This role may result from working memory's involvement in the processing of output signals from hearing aids, as well as in the strategies hearing aid users implement to deal with phonological processing tasks.

This report documents a proof-of-concept (POC) study carried out to assess the feasibility of an experimental procedure to be used in a full-fledged project that aims to improve the understanding of the neurocognitive characteristics of the processes of different domain-specific design for environmental sustainability (DfS) activities performed by designers with different levels of domain knowledge. The neural-imaging technique of electroencephalography (EEG) is used to carry out the data-collection. In brief, the full-fledged project aims to investigate and compare the neural characteristics specific to the processes of designing. The comparison can be between different tasks, for instance, 1) a product DfS task and 2) a product-service system (PSS) DfS task, and between different cohorts of designers, for instance, 1) designers with PSS design knowledge and 2) designers without PSS design knowledge.

Background Numerous resting-state studies on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have reported aberrant functional connectivity (FC) between the default-mode network (DMN) and the ventral attention/salience network (VA/SN). This finding has commonly been interpreted as an index of poorer DMN regulation associated with symptoms of mind wandering in ADHD literature. However, a competing perspective suggests that dysfunctional organization of the DMN and VA/SN may additionally index increased sensitivity to the external environment. The goal of the current study was to test this latter perspective in relation to auditory distraction by investigating whether ADHD-adults exhibit aberrant FC between DMN, VA/SN, and auditory networks. Methods Twelve minutes of resting-state fMRI data was collected from two adult groups: ADHD (n = 17) and controls (n = 17); from which the FC between predefined regions comprising the DMN, VA/SN, and auditory networks were analyzed. Results A weaker anticorrelation between the VA/SN and DMN was observed in ADHD. DMN and VA/SN hubs also exhibited aberrant FC with the auditory network in ADHD. Additionally, participants who displayed a stronger anticorrelation between the VA/SN and auditory network at rest, also performed better on a cognitively demanding behavioral task that involved ignoring a distracting auditory stimulus. Conclusion Results are consistent with the hypothesis that auditory distraction in ADHD is linked to aberrant interactions between DMN, VA/SN, and auditory systems. Our findings support models that implicate dysfunctional organization of the DMN and VA/SN in the disorder and encourage more research into sensory interactions with these major networks.

The review gives an introductory description of the successive development of data patterns based on comparisons between hearing-impaired and normal hearing participants speech understanding skills, later prompting the formulation of the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model. The model builds on the interaction between an input buffer (RAMBPHO, Rapid Automatic Multimodal Binding of PHOnology) and three memory systems: working memory (WM), semantic long-term memory (SLTM), and episodic long-term memory (ELTM). RAMBPHO input may either match or mismatch multimodal SLTM representations. Given a match, lexical access is accomplished rapidly and implicitly within approximately 100-400 ms. Given a mismatch, the prediction is that WM is engaged explicitly to repair the meaning of the input - in interaction with SLTM and ELTM - taking seconds rather than milliseconds. The multimodal and multilevel nature of representations held in WM and LTM are at the center of the review, being integral parts of the prediction and postdiction components of language understanding. Finally, some hypotheses based on a selective use-disuse of memory systems mechanism are described in relation to mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Alternative speech perception and WM models are evaluated, and recent developments and generalisations, ELU model tests, and boundaries are discussed.

Perceiving speech is not only dependent on the quality of speech sounds or the listening environment. Numerous studies in the last 10 years have demonstrated that cognitive factors and predictive mechanisms play a significant role on the perceived clarity of speech. In a series of behavioural and neuroimaging studies, I will present which cognitive factors can influence speech perception for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, and how predictive mechanisms at phonological and semantic levels can independently and cumulatively enhance speech perception.