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Disruption patterns of background noise on the neural encoding of speech sounds in newborns
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Poster D75 in Poster Session D, Wednesday, October 25, 4:45 - 6:30 pm CEST, Espace Vieux-Port
Alejandro Mondejar-Segovia1, Sonia Arenillas-Alcón1,2,3, Natàlia Gorina-Careta1,2,3,5, Amineh Koravand4, Jordi Costa-Faidella1,2,3, Teresa Ribas-Prats1,2,3, Roser Llobet-Gil1, Maria Dolores Gómez-Roig3,5, Carles Escera1,2,3; 1Brainlab – Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), 2Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), 3Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain), 4University of Ottawa, 5BCNatal – Barcelona Center for Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Hospital Clínic)
Background: Background noise impoverishes speech understanding in people across the life span. This effect can be exacerbated by developmental deficits during the first years of life and can eventually lead to language difficulties. However, the effect of background noise on the neural encoding of speech sounds during the earliest stage of life has not been studied. The present study was set hence to investigate the effects of background noise in the neural encoding of speech sounds in neonates. We analyzed the frequency-following response (FFR), a periodic auditory evoked potential derived from the electroencephalogram that phase-locks to the incoming sounds. Considering that the FFR has been used in speech-in-noise (SIN) studies due to its sound mimicking characteristics, it could emerge as an effective tool to assess this phenomenon in newborns. The present study aims to compare how background noise could modify speech encoding in neonates and adults through the analysis of their FFRs. Methods: Participants were 25 healthy-term neonates (aged <48h after birth) without auditory risk factors, and 25 normal-hearing adults (aged 20-40 years). FFRs were recorded to a 170 ms syllable /da/ with a fundamental frequency (F0) of 113 Hz presented at 65 dB sound pressure level (SPL). The noise condition was created by playing a Spanish six-talker babble noise at -10 dB signal-to-noise ratio (55dB SPL). Several FFR parameters were retrieved from the recordings in time and frequency domains. Results: Results revealed that both newborns and adults exhibited larger spectral amplitude to the speech stimulus in quiet condition than in noise condition, suggesting a better encoding of speech in a quiet environment. Conclusion: This study constitutes the first step towards understanding the development of SIN encoding from the very first moment of life. Speech-in-noise encoding in newborns showed a different pattern than adult one perhaps due to their auditory system only being exposed to low-frequency sounds during gestation.
Topic Areas: Speech Perception,