Audiomotor Perceptual Training Enhances Speech Intelligibility in Background Noise.

Sensory and motor skills can be improved with training, but learning is often restricted to practice stimuli. As an exception, training on closed-loop (CL) sensorimotor interfaces, such as action video games and musical instruments, can impart a broad spectrum of perceptual benefits. Here we ask whether computerized CL auditory training can enhance speech understanding in levels of background noise that approximate a crowded restaurant.

Validation of a Self-Administered Audiometry Application: An Equivalence Study.

Objectives/hypothesis: To compare hearing measurements made at home using self-administered audiometric software against audiological tests performed on the same subjects in a clinical setting

Study Design: Prospective, crossover equivalence study

Methods: In experiment 1, adults with varying degrees of hearing loss (N = 19) performed air-conduction audiometry, frequency discrimination, and speech recognition in noise testing twice at home with an automated tablet application and twice in sound-treated clinical booths with an audiologist. The accuracy and reliability of computer-guided home hearing tests were compared to audiologist administered tests. In experiment 2, the reliability and accuracy of pure-tone audiometric results were examined in a separate cohort across a variety of clinical settings (N = 21).