OBJECTIVES:Hearing aids are the primary technology used to compensate for hearing loss, yet conventional signal treatment algorithms often fall short of providing optimal performance in noisy situations. The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is opening new avenues for more powerful hearing aids. However, information available for patients regarding AI and hearing aids is scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the availability of online information on AI-enhanced hearing aids for patients, focusing on the social media platform Reddit. METHODS:Data were collected on October 1st 2023 following the use of pre-determined keywords. Based on a final sample of 5046 comments distributed amongst 378 threads, the main topics of interest related to AI and hearing aids discussed by users (including patients, relatives and hearing health professionals) were identified. RESULTS:Out of 43,376 threads generated by our searches, 2678 were relevant to the topic of AI in hearing aids. Interestingly, a strong involvement of hearing health professionals was evidenced within the platform, with 52.1% self-identifying as such in some sub-communities (e.g.,r/audiology). In each user group, AI accounted for 3.3% or less of discussion topics, with most conversations instead focusing on practical aspects such as programming, physical features, costs, and connectivity. CONCLUSIONS:Overall, this study demonstrates both the potential and the limits of social media platforms as vectors for patient information on AI-derived medical devices, by identifying the paucity of information useable by uninformed patients, and emphasising the need for digital literacy, patient education. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:Social media discussions are useful vectors to inform healthcare professionals about their patient's concerns. More research is required to assess the quality of information shared online, however, professionals' presence in social media interaction with patients is essential to improve the accuracy of provided information.

Musicians are known to possess superior multisensory integration abilities but the extent to which these enhanced abilities extend beyond the context of music remains unclear. A recent study suggests that musicians might be making better use of environmental sounds in representing their bodies in space. If this is indeed the case, the enhanced use of sound sources for body representation could arguably allow for better control of posture. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the impact of sound stimuli on postural control in musicians versus non-musicians. Participants were asked to perform a challenging postural task in the presence, and absence of auditory input. No differences in sway parameters were observed between groups in the absence of auditory input. As expected, the addition of auditory cues significantly enhanced postural control performance in both groups. However, this enhanced performance in the presence of sound was significantly more pronounced in musicians as compared to non-musicians. This effect was associated with decreased activity in frequency bands known to be linked to anticipatory mechanisms, vestibular inflow and feedback-corrective mechanisms. These results support the idea that musicianship enhances postural control through the integration of auditory spatial anchors. Even more importantly, these results suggest that the positive impact of musical training extends far beyond the context of music, even going so far as to positively influence spatial abilities.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into healthcare, understanding health professionals’ perceptions and comfort with these technologies is gaining importance. This study investigated hearing health professionals’ eHealth literacy, perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI), and AI self-efficacy, examining how these constructs vary across professions and relate to use of AI. It also explored their interrelationships and documented training needs and preferred providers of that training to support the integration of AI into clinical practice. An online survey was conducted among hearing health professionals (audiologists and hearing-aid acousticians) in the province of Quebec, Canada. It included validated instruments to assess eHealth literacy (eHEALS), perceptions of AI (SHAIP), and AI self-efficacy (AISES and an adapted RUSH scale). Participants also reported their use of AI (personal and professional), sociodemographic and professional characteristics, and their AI training needs, including preferred types of organizations to deliver that training. Data from 114 professionals (mean age 38.1 ± 1 years; 75.5

IntroductionInvestigating how the auditory system processes harmonics is essential for advancing our understanding of sound segregation mechanisms and for guiding the development of technologies that support speech and music perception in complex listening environments, particularly for aging populations and individuals with hearing loss. Previous studies have investigated the extent of mistuning required for a harmonic to be perceived as distinct from a complex tone and how factors like modulation patterns, onset timing and ear of presentation can influence this threshold. However, the effect of a missing fundamental frequency on mistuned harmonic separation thresholds remains unexplored.MethodThis pilot study, conducted using an adjustment method developed in our lab for this specific application, investigated mistuning thresholds for the first harmonic in complex tones with and without F0 at 125, 200 and 440 Hz.ResultsBecause the F0 helps define the harmonic structure of a sound, its removal was expected to impair the perceptual framework used to detect pitch deviations, thereby increasing mistuning thresholds, as predicted by current models of pitch perception. Contrary to expectations, the results revealed a significant overall improvement in performance when the F0 was missing.DiscussionThese results have important implications for understanding pitch processing as it suggests that the auditory system may more effectively detect pitch irregularities by relying on the harmonic structure of a sound rather than on the presence, or relationship with, its fundamental frequency.

The octave illusion is a well-known auditory phenomenon elicited by binaural octave-separated tones alternating between the ears that engages parallel processing pathways for sound localization and pitch perception. It has mainly been studied using the central frequencies of the musical spectrum (e.g., 400–800 Hz). However, in a previous study, we measured a shift in the distribution of percepts reported by non-musicians at the upper and lower boundaries of the musical spectrum, suggesting a reduced pitch perception accuracy. This study now aims to determine if musical training, which is known to improve pitch perception, affects the relative distribution of percepts across frequencies. 24 non-musicians and 19 professional musicians listened to the illusion evoked by pairs of frequencies ranging from 40 to 80 Hz to 2000–4000 Hz, and selected which percept they heard (octave, simple, complex). In non-musicians, the results replicate the previously reported shift in the distribution of percepts at higher and lower frequencies, but no such perceptual shift was measured in musicians. At lower frequencies, musicians were more likely than non-musicians to report the octave percept and less likely to report simple percepts. For the classic paradigm frequencies (400–800 Hz), musicians were more likely to report a complex percept that more closely matched the true pattern of stimulation used to elicit the illusion. In conclusion, musical training seems to preserve pitch representation at the lower boundaries of the musical spectrum, and musicians seem to have a more consistent distribution of percept elicited by the illusion across different frequencies.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in developing auditory-to-vibrotactile sensory devices. However, the potential of these technologies is constrained by our limited understanding of which features of complex sounds can be perceived through vibrations. The present study aimed to investigate the vibrotactile perception of acoustic features related to timbre, an essential component to identify environmental, speech and musical sounds. Discrimination thresholds were measured for six features: three spectral (number of harmonics, harmonic roll-off ratio, even-harmonic attenuation) and three temporal (attack time, amplitude modulation depth and amplitude modulation frequency) using auditory, vibrotactile and combined auditory + vibrotactile stimulation in 31 adult humans with normal tactile and auditory sensitivity. Result revealed that all spectral and temporal features can be reliably discriminated via vibrotactile stimulation only. However, for spectral features, vibrotactile thresholds were significantly higher (i.e., worse) than auditory thresholds whereas, for temporal features, only vibrotactile amplitude modulation frequency was significantly higher. With simultaneous auditory and tactile presentation, thresholds significantly improved for attack time and amplitude modulation depth, but not for any of the spectral acoustic features. These results suggest that vibrotactile temporal cues have a more straightforward potential for assisting auditory perception, while vibrotactile spectral cues may require specialized signal processing schemes.

PURPOSE:The comprehension of emotions through speech, known as affective prosody comprehension, is an ability that decreases with healthy aging. Affective prosody comprehension is underpinned by three cognitive components (perceptual, lexical, and semantic). However, no data indicate which one(s) is/are impacted by aging. Affective prosody comprehension is based on the analysis of the emotional state of our interlocutor. However, it is still unknown if psycholinguistic variables permitting to access this emotional state such as emotion category, valence, or arousal impact affective prosody comprehension abilities differently according to age. This study aims to investigate the impacts of aging on affective prosody comprehension abilities, exploring the links with the underlying cognitive components and psycholinguistic variables. METHOD:Sixty healthy adults were recruited: 30 younger (18-35 years old) and 30 older individuals (63+ years old). Participants completed a general task of affective prosody comprehension and three specific tasks each evaluating an underlying cognitive component (perceptual, lexical, semantic). RESULTS:Older adults showed a decreased performance in general affective prosody comprehension abilities and in lexical abilities specifically in comparison with younger adults. Also, psycholinguistic variables such as emotion category and arousal played a role in the decreased performance of older adults. CONCLUSION:These results constitute an additional advancement in understanding the normal functioning of affective prosody comprehension processes. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.29330603.

Objectives: The goal of this project was to investigate the impact of musical experience, hearing loss, and age on music perception in older adults. The authors hypothesized that older adults with a varying degree of musical experience would perform better at music perception tasks than their counterparts without musical experience while controlling for age and hearing loss. Design: This study used a descriptive correlational cross-sectional design. Seventy-seven older adults aged 60 to 90 years were recruited and divided into two groups based on their lifetime musical experience: the group without musical experience (n = 39) and the M group (with musical experience; n = 38). Participants in the M group had either played an instrument for 5 years or more and/or taken at least 1 year of music lessons. Following a hearing screening and a musical experience questionnaire, participants completed two music perception tasks: (1) a short version of the Montreal Battery Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) measuring melodic (scale and contour) and rhythm perception, and (2) an instrument discrimination task measuring timbre perception. Results: Results revealed that participants of the M group had a significantly higher accuracy in both tasks compared with the group without musical experience while controlling for age and hearing loss. Moreover, a significant interaction was found between group effect and hearing loss for the MBEA, suggesting that musical experience moderates the impact of hearing loss on melodic and rhythm perception abilities. Finally, the amount of musical experience was the most important positive predictor for MBEA accuracy in the M group. Conclusions: These results suggest that despite age-related hearing loss, older adults with musical experience still benefit from their experience-driven enhancement in melodic, rhythm, and timbre perception. Findings from this study support the notion that music training is beneficial for music perception abilities, providing protection against the impact of presbycusis.

Research exploring the impact of stimulation rate modifications on perception in cochlear implant users continues to expand. The existing body of research remains contradictory, making it difficult to establish a clear consensus that could inform clinical recommendations. In this context, this article aims to question the usefulness of such adjustments as a clinical intervention beyond the initial fitting, particularly for optimizing non-speech processing. To do so, we combined an overview of the existing literature on the effects of stimulation-rate changes on speech and non-speech processing with a discussion of observational data. The current evidence base is sparse, often contradictory, and affected by interoperability challenges that limit cross-study comparability. Consequently, it is not possible to formulate robust, evidence-based clinical recommendations at this time. Clinicians should be cautious about implementing stimulation-rate adjustments beyond the initial fitting and should wait for more robust evidence to emerge before considering such changes.

Spatial cognition refers to the general ability to represent space, manipulate spatial information, and use concepts relating to this notion. Recent evidence suggests that brief multisensory training might improve this process, but the impact of long-term and intensive multisensory training on spatial cognition remains unexplored. The present study aims to examine the impact of musical training, a multisensory training involving the auditory function, on a body disorientation task with and without auditory cues. Thirty-eight participants were recruited and divided into two groups based on their musical experience (musicians and controls). They were asked to complete the Fukuda-Unterberger stepping task under four conditions: without any auditory input, and with auditory input originating at 0°, 45°, and 90° azimuth. This task is well known to create body disorientation as over the course of the task, the body position in space changes, unbeknownst to the participant. Results suggest that musicians are less susceptible to body disorientation, as measured in the stepping task, both in the absence and in the presence of auditory stimuli. The findings extend beyond recent research indicating that musical training can influence a wide range of auditory abilities, suggesting that it could also modulate a broader cognitive process, specifically spatial cognition. The demonstration that extensive multisensory training significantly enhances spatial cognition has relevance for rehabilitation in clinical settings.

There is a growing interest in using the tactile modality as a compensation or sensory augmentation tool in various fields. The Multichannel Vibrotactile Glove was designed to meet the needs of these diverse disciplines and overcome the limitations of current sound-to-touch technologies. Using 12 independent haptic exciters on each finger's back and on the palm, the device can convey acoustic information to cutaneous vibrotactile receptors with precise control of the location, frequency, timing, and intensity. A staircase method was used to model vibration detection thresholds at six frequencies (100, 200, 250, 500, 800, 1000 Hertz) for each actuator position (All, Thumb, Index, Major, Middle, Pinky, Palm) and both hands (Right, Left). No between hand difference was observed and all finger actuators provided consistent thresholds, except for the Palm which exhibited higher thresholds. Spatial summation effects were observed when all actuators were activated simultaneously. Detection thresholds significantly increased at 100 Hertz and above 500 Hertz. These findings confirm that the system provides uniform stimulation across hands and actuators. Overall, the Multichannel Vibrotactile Glove provides the freedom to send various acoustic features to individual actuators, providing a versatile tool for research and a potential technology to substitute, compensate, or extend sensory perception.

Development of devices for transmitting sounds through touch is motivated by needs coming from diverse disciplines. Hard-of-hearing individuals could benefit from vibrations to overcome the limitations of existing hearing technologies. Adding tactile cues can be useful for all in contexts where the acoustic information is limited due to sounds coming from multiple sources or noise. The potential sensory augmentation provided by the technology is also interesting in an entertainment context in order to offer immersive experiences. A transdisciplinary approach based on a framework recently developed in our laboratory was used to design this technology that enables the transmission of acoustic signals through touch. Validation experiments were carried out via electro-acoustic measurements as well as behavioral measurements in human subjects (n = 5). Electro-acoustic and behavioral measures support that the system provides uniform stimulation across hands and actuators. The frequency response curve as well as the summation effect measured via behavioral threshold measurements support that the tactile receptors are accurately stimulated by the devices. The multichannel vibrotactile gloves offer the flexibility to transmit diverse acoustic features to individual actuators, making them a valuable tool for research and a prospective technology capable of substituting, compensating, or extending sensory perception.

Auditory perception is often influence by other senses. Prior studies have documented that the auditory cortex can respond to vibration, but the nature of this neural response remains unclear. The frequency-following response (FFR) is a non-invasive evoked brain response that can be used to study the fidelity of periodicity encoding of complex sounds. The main goal of this study was to investigate if tactile processing of sounds retains periodicity information as measured by the FFR. We acquired electroencephalography while participants were presented with repetitions of a synthesized speech syllable /da/ under three conditions (Auditory, Tactile, and both). A technology developed within our laboratory (Multichannel Vibrotactile Glove) was used to present sounds to all fingers. Results reveal that it is possible to measure a tactile FFR using vibrotactile stimulation, which is similar to the auditory FFR, but exhibits somewhat different characteristics as compared to unimodal auditory FFR, including lower amplitude and no sensitivity to harmonics. These findings suggest that these modalities interact, opening up questions about the origins and pathways responsible for the phenomena and introduces potential uses of tactile perception to mitigate the effect of hearing loss in speech and music perception.

PURPOSE:The COVID-19 pandemic led to the implementation of preventive measures that exacerbated communication difficulties for individuals with hearing loss. This study aims to explore the perception of adults with hearing loss about the communication difficulties caused by the preventive measures and about their experiences with communication 1 year after the adoption of these preventive measures.METHOD:Individual semistructured interviews were conducted via videoconference with six adults who have hearing loss from the province of Québec, Canada. Data were examined using qualitative content analysis.RESULTS:The study found that face masks and in-person work (i.e., in opposition to remote work) were important barriers to communication because of hindered lipreading and competing noise in many workplaces. In contrast, preventive measures that allowed visual information transmission (e.g., transparent face masks, fixed plastic partitions) were considered favorable for communication. Communication partners were perceived as playing an important role in communication success with preventive measures: Familiar communication partners improved communication, whereas those with poor attitude or strategies hindered communication. Participants found that videoconferences could provide satisfactory communication but were sometimes hindered by issues such as bad audiovisual quality or too many participants.CONCLUSIONS:This study identified reduced access to speech reading and lack of general awareness about hearing issues as key barriers to communication during the pandemic. The decreased communication capabilities were perceived to be most problematic at work and during health appointments, and tended to cause frustration, anxiety, self-esteem issues, and social isolation. Suggestions are outlined for current and future public health measures to better consider the experience of people with hearing loss.

Technology advancements have enabled humans to go beyond restauration leading to a new reality where human enhancement is no longer fiction. Besides the major societal impacts they will have, these evolutions of technology are also raising complex philosophical and ethical questions. Notwithstanding the widespread interest for augmentation technologies, there are few frameworks available to categorise and compare the varied variety of existing and prospective technologies in this field. A structured framework is needed to harness the full potential of sensory technologies while facilitating the discussion and management of potential risks and challenges. This article presents a framework that aims to bridge the gap between technologies designed for compensating disabilities, enhancing human perception beyond the abilities of individuals without disabilities, and those intended for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, in the past, research on sensory perception tended to isolate sensory modalities based on the stimuli to which they are most sensitive. This new proposed framework allows for the analysis of technologies on a continuum ranging from unimodality to transmodality and to take in account the degree of integration with biological system. In addition, this framework answers the need to classify these technologies based on the crucial aspect of social acceptability, specifically by taking into consideration their varying degrees of invasiveness. All of these elements included into the suggested framework will enable researchers to map and analyse not just existing technologies, but also those that have not even been invented yet.

The octave illusion (Deutsch, 1974) is a well-known auditory illusion elicited by presenting a dichotic sequence of two tones separated by an octave during which the high and low tones alternate between both ears. This illusion engages an important mechanism of auditory perception, which is pitch perception. Previous studies used central frequencies of the useful musical spectrum to elicit the illusion. However, these studies did not cover part of that spectrum where musical pitch perception decreases (below 200 and above 1600 Hz). The present study aimed to investigate how the relative frequency distribution of percepts changes across a greater proportion of the musical scale to better understand the influence of pitch on illusion perception. Participants were presented with 7 pairs of frequencies from 40–80 Hz to 2000–4000 Hz and had to select a choice (octave, simple, complex) corresponding to their perception. When using pairs of stimuli towards the upper and lower boundaries of the selected range: (1) distributions of percepts significantly differ from the classic 400–800 Hz, (2) the octave percept was reported less frequently, particularly at very low frequencies. Results from this study revealed that the illusion perception differs significantly at the low and high limits of the musical spectrum where reduced accuracy of pitch perception is known to occur. These results support past studies who investigated pitch perception. Furthermore, these results support the model proposed by Deutsch where pitch perception is one of the central frameworks of illusion perception.

Objective To understand the communicational and psychosocial effects of COVID-19 protective measures in real-life everyday communication settings. Design An online survey consisting of close-set and open-ended questions aimed to describe the communication difficulties experienced in different communication activities (in-person and telecommunication) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study sample 172 individuals with hearing loss and 130 who reported not having a hearing loss completed the study. They were recruited through social media, private audiology clinics, hospitals and monthly newsletters sent by the non-profit organisation "Audition Quebec." Results Face masks were the most problematic protective measure for communication in 75-90% of participants. For all in-person communication activities, participants with hearing loss reported significantly more impact on communication than participants with normal hearing. They also exhibited more activity limitations and negative emotions associated with communication difficulties. Conclusion These results suggest that, in times of pandemic, individuals with hearing loss are more likely to exhibit communication breakdowns in their everyday activities. This may lead to social isolation and have a deleterious effect on their mental health. When interacting with individuals with hearing loss, communication strategies to optimise speech understanding should be used.

Older adults often present difficulties understanding speech that cannot be explained by age-related changes in sound audibility. Psychoacoustic and electrophysiologic studies have linked these suprathreshold difficulties to age-related deficits in the auditory processing of temporal and spectral sound information. These studies suggest the existence of an age-related temporal processing deficit in the central auditory system, but the existence of such deficit in the spectral domain remains understudied. The FFR is an electrophysiological evoked response that assesses the ability of the neural auditory system to reproduce the spectral and temporal patterns of a sound. The main goal of this short review is to investigate if the FFR can identify and measure spectral processing deficits in the elderly compared to younger adults (for both, without hearing loss or competing noise). Furthermore, we want to determine what stimuli and analyses have been used in the literature to assess the neural encoding of spectral cues in older adults. Almost all reviewed articles showed an age-related decline in the auditory processing of spectral acoustic information. Even when using different speech and non-speech stimuli, studies reported an age-related decline at the fundamental frequency, at the first formant, and at other harmonic components using different metrics, such as the response's amplitude, inter-trial phase coherence, signal-to-response correlation, and signal-to-noise ratio. These results suggest that older adults may present age-related spectral processing difficulties, but further FFR studies are needed to clarify the effect of advancing age on the neural encoding of spectral speech cues. Spectral processing research on aging would benefit from using a broader variety of stimuli and from rigorously controlling for hearing thresholds even in the absence of disabling hearing loss. Advances in the understanding of the effect of age on FFR measures of spectral encoding could lead to the development of new clinical tools, with possible applications in the field of hearing aid fitting.