Speech Perception in Quiet and in Noise Condition in Individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

OBJECTIVE: The study investigated the effect of noise on syllable perception in individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) and compared that with the normal hearing individuals. MATERIALS and METHODS: A total of 54 participants were considered, out of which 26 individuals were diagnosed with ANSD and 28 with normal hearing sensitivity. Syllable identification and discrimination were assessed in both the groups in quiet as well as +10 dB SNR. RESULTS: All the individuals with ANSD performed poorer on syllable identification and syllable discrimination tasks compared to individuals with normal hearing. Information transfer and d-prime analyses revealed that noise affects the perception of voicing information in individuals with ANSD compared to place and manner information. Among the consonants tested, /pa/was more resistant to noise. CONCLUSION: Noise had deleterious effects on speech perception in individuals with ANSD. Low-frequency information appears to be more susceptible to the effects of noise in individuals with ANSD.