Exam Preview

Spatial Noise Processing in Hearing Aids Modulates Neural Markers Linked to Listening Effort: An EEG Study

---

1.  Listening effort is best described as: Investment of resources to overcome an acoustic obstacle to understand speech Purely subjective experience without neural correlates Difficulties encountered when you do not understand everything A phenomenon caused by signal distortions due to wearing a hearing aid.

2.  How does listening effort differ from speech intelligibility? They don't differ, as they refer to the same construct. Measures of listening effort can still reveal differences even when speech intelligibility is at 100%. In contrast to listening effort speech intelligibility measures are not useful for negative SNRs because speech cannot be understood. Listening effort is only useful for negative SNRs and speech intelligibility for negative and positive SNRs.

3.  Alpha activity of the EEG is best defined as: The best possible performance one can achieve in a cognitive task A frequency band corresponding to the typical range of speech frequencies, namely 1 – 4 kHz Artificial noise induced by hearing aids A frequency band in the range between 8-12 Hz

4.  The functional role of alpha activity in context of listening to speech in noise is assumed to be: An inhibitory suppression of unwanted noise Enhancing visual facial cues to improve lip reading An amplification of acoustic signals Passive indicator of fatigue

5.  The effect of spatial noise processing can be comparable to: An increase in pitch by 8-12 Hz to improve speech understanding A compass as it supports the orientation in space and spatial awareness An increase of SNR by 4 dB A reduction in SNR by 1 dB

6.  As a consequence of spatial noise processing: Noise is perceived as less annoying but cognitive functions are not affected Noise is perceived as less annoying and memory for words improves Noise is perceived as louder but less annoying Noise annoyance remains unchanged but memory for words improve

7.  Spatial noise processing algorithms in modern hearing aids can reduce the subjectively experienced listening effort: By almost 50% By almost 20% By 5 - 6% The subjective experience remains unaffected and changes are only reflected on the neural level

8.  Sensory processing affects cognitive functioning. This statement is false because these processes are located in different areas of the brain and are therefore completely independent of one another This statement is true because of the limited resource hypothesis This statement is true because difficulties in sensory processing can partially be compensated by cognitive processes B and C

9.  Listening effort can be assessed (chose the best answer): With behavioral measures, subjective ratings and physiological recordings Only with EEG With EEG and pupillometry With subjective measures

10.  Spatial noise processing in hearing aids: Reduces the amount of noise entering the auditory system Enable to direct the focus on one speech source Can reduce listening effort in noisy environments All of the Above