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The Acoustic Change Complex for Measuring Speech Perceptual Performance in Normal Hearing Listeners in Noise, Cochlear Implant Users, and Second Language Listeners

Brint, EM; (2017) The Acoustic Change Complex for Measuring Speech Perceptual Performance in Normal Hearing Listeners in Noise, Cochlear Implant Users, and Second Language Listeners. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

A series of experiments recorded the acoustic change complex (ACC) to a broad range of speech stimuli. The ACC is an electrophysiological response to an acoustic change within an on-going stimulus. Recordings were obtained from normal hearing (NH) listeners in noise, cochlear implanted (CI) listeners, and second language listeners. Chapter 2 presented a mixture of transitions between four vowels and four fricatives in quiet and at three noise levels to NH listeners. We investigated how the ACC was affected by noise, and how the ACC relates to individuals’ behavioural speech-in-noise ability. Chapter 3 details a CI study using the same fricative and vowel stimuli but in quiet only. The ACC was measured and again compared to behavioural speech perception performance. Participants’ neural entrainment to continuous speech was also measured, and compared to their speech perception performance and ACC responses. Chapter 4 details an ACC study using a mixture of transitions between eight voiceless fricatives presented to native English, Finnish and Polish speakers. The ACC magnitude was used to create similarity matrices that were analysed by non-metric MDS and an acoustic analysis of the fricative stimuli was performed. The ACC and its relationship to the spectra of the stimuli were used to investigate cross language differences between the groups. Overall, results suggest that the ACC is not merely a measure of general auditory detection as it is often described, but rather it is a measure at the border between auditory and linguistic processing in the auditory cortex. Furthermore, the results indicate that the ACC has potential for further use in research in a variety of listener populations, as well as potential clinical benefits.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: The Acoustic Change Complex for Measuring Speech Perceptual Performance in Normal Hearing Listeners in Noise, Cochlear Implant Users, and Second Language Listeners
Event: UCL (University College London)
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1546204
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