| 1. |
- Karlsson, Thomas, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Framtidens utmaningar
- 2021
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Ingår i: Leva som andra. - : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144121437 ; , s. 365-378
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 2. |
- Cardin, Velia, et al.
(författare)
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Neurobiological insights from the study of deafness and sign language
- 2019
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Ingår i: Understanding deafness, language, and cognitive development. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 9789027204493 - 9789027261861 ; , s. 159-181
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study of deafness and sign language has provided a means of dissociating modality specificity from higher level abstract processes in the brain. Differentiating these is fundamental for establishing the relationship between sensorimotor representations and functional specialisation in the brain. Early deafness in humans provides a unique insight into this problem, because the reorganisation observed in the adult deaf brain is not only due to neural development in the absence of auditory inputs, but also due to the acquisition of visual communication strategies such as sign language and speechreading. Here we report research by scholars who have collaborated with Bencie Woll in understanding the neural reorganisation that occurs as a consequence of early deafness, and its relation to the use of different visual strategies for language. We concentrate on three main topics: functional specialisation of sensory cortices, language and working memory.
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| 3. |
- Homman, Lina, et al.
(författare)
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A structural equation mediation model captures the predictions amongst the parameters of the ease of language understanding model
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-1078. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model through a statistical assessment of the relationships among its main parameters: processing speed, phonology, working memory (WM), and dB Speech Noise Ratio (SNR) for a given Speech Recognition Threshold (SRT) in a sample of hearing aid users from the n200 database.Methods: Hearing aid users were assessed on several hearing and cognitive tests. Latent Structural Equation Models (SEMs) were applied to investigate the relationship between the main parameters of the ELU model while controlling for age and PTA. Several competing models were assessed.Results: Analyses indicated that a mediating SEM was the best fit for the data. The results showed that (i) phonology independently predicted speech recognition threshold in both easy and adverse listening conditions and (ii) WM was not predictive of dB SNR for a given SRT in the easier listening conditions (iii) processing speed was predictive of dB SNR for a given SRT mediated via WM in the more adverse conditions.Conclusion: The results were in line with the predictions of the ELU model: (i) phonology contributed to dB SNR for a given SRT in all listening conditions, (ii) WM is only invoked when listening conditions are adverse, (iii) better WM capacity aids the understanding of what has been said in adverse listening conditions, and finally (iv) the results highlight the importance and optimization of processing speed in conditions when listening conditions are adverse and WM is activated.
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| 4. |
- Marsja, Erik, Dr, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Is Having Hearing Loss Fundamentally Different? : Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling of the Effect of Cognitive Functioning on Speech Identificatio
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ear and Hearing. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0196-0202 .- 1538-4667. ; 43:5, s. 1437-1446
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Previous research suggests that there is a robust relationship between cognitive functioning and speech-in-noise performance for older adults with age-related hearing loss. For normal-hearing adults, on the other hand, the research is not entirely clear. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the relationship between cognitive functioning, aging, and speech-in-noise, in a group of older normal-hearing persons and older persons with hearing loss who wear hearing aids.Design: We analyzed data from 199 older normal-hearing individuals (mean age = 61.2) and 200 older individuals with hearing loss (mean age = 60.9) using multigroup structural equation modeling. Four cognitively related tasks were used to create a cognitive functioning construct: the reading span task, a visuospatial working memory task, the semantic word-pairs task, and Raven’s progressive matrices. Speech-in-noise, on the other hand, was measured using Hagerman sentences. The Hagerman sentences were presented via an experimental hearing aid to both normal hearing and hearing-impaired groups. Furthermore, the sentences were presented with one of the two background noise conditions: the Hagerman original speech-shaped noise or four-talker babble. Each noise condition was also presented with three different hearing processing settings: linear processing, fast compression, and noise reduction.Results: Cognitive functioning was significantly related to speech-in-noise identification. Moreover, aging had a significant effect on both speech-in-noise and cognitive functioning. With regression weights constrained to be equal for the two groups, the final model had the best fit to the data. Importantly, the results showed that the relationship between cognitive functioning and speech-in-noise was not different for the two groups. Furthermore, the same pattern was evident for aging: the effects of aging on cognitive functioning and aging on speech-in-noise were not different between groups.Conclusion: Our findings revealed similar cognitive functioning and aging effects on speech-in-noise performance in older normal-hearing and aided hearing-impaired listeners. In conclusion, the findings support the Ease of Language Understanding model as cognitive processes play a critical role in speech-in-noise independent from the hearing status of elderly individuals.
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| 5. |
- Rönnberg, Jerker, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive Hearing Science: Three Memory Systems, Two Approaches, and the Ease of Language Understanding Model
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. - : American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. - 1558-9102. ; 64:2, s. 359-370
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThe purpose of this study was to conceptualize the subtle balancing act between language input and prediction (cognitive priming of future input) to achieve understanding of communicated content. When understanding fails, reconstructive postdiction is initiated. Three memory systems play important roles: working memory (WM), episodic long-term memory (ELTM), and semantic long-term memory (SLTM). The axiom of the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model is that explicit WM resources are invoked by a mismatch between language input—in the form of rapid automatic multimodal binding of phonology—and multimodal phonological and lexical representations in SLTM. However, if there is a match between rapid automatic multimodal binding of phonology output and SLTM/ELTM representations, language processing continues rapidly and implicitly.Method and ResultsIn our first ELU approach, we focused on experimental manipulations of signal processing in hearing aids and background noise to cause a mismatch with LTM representations; both resulted in increased dependence on WM. Our second—and main approach relevant for this review article—focuses on the relative effects of age-related hearing loss on the three memory systems. According to the ELU, WM is predicted to be frequently occupied with reconstruction of what was actually heard, resulting in a relative disuse of phonological/lexical representations in the ELTM and SLTM systems. The prediction and results do not depend on test modality per se but rather on the particular memory system. This will be further discussed.ConclusionsRelated to the literature on ELTM decline as precursors of dementia and the fact that the risk for Alzheimer's disease increases substantially over time due to hearing loss, there is a possibility that lowered ELTM due to hearing loss and disuse may be part of the causal chain linking hearing loss and dementia. Future ELU research will focus on this possibility.
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| 6. |
- Rönnberg, Jerker, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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The Ease of Language Understanding Model
- 2022
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Ingår i: The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. - 9781108955638 ; , s. 197-218
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To conceptualize the communicative role of working memory (WM), the Ease-of-Language Understanding (ELU) model was proposed (e.g., Rönnberg, 2003; Rönnberg et al., 2008, 2013, 2019, 2020). The model states that ease of language understanding is determined by the speed and accuracy with which the signal is matched to existing multimodal language representations. When matching is fast and complete, language understanding is effortless; this process may be facilitated by predictions based on the contents of WM. However, when the contents of the language signal mismatches with existing representations, WM is triggered to access knowledge in semantic long-term memory (SLTM) and personal experience from episodic long-term memory (ELTM) – promoting inference-making and postdictions in WM. The interplay between WM and LTM is fundamental to language understanding; its efficiency becomes apparent in adverse conditions and its breakdown may explain cognitive decline and dementia. Empirical support, limitations, and future studies will be discussed.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Stenbäck, Victoria, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Relationships between behavioural and self-report measures in speech recognition in noise
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Audiology. - Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom : Taylor & Francis. - 1499-2027 .- 1708-8186. ; 62:2, s. 101-109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectiveUsing data from the n200-study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between behavioural (the Swedish HINT and Hagerman speech-in-noise tests) and self-report (Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire (SSQ)) measures of listening under adverse conditions.DesignThe Swedish HINT was masked with a speech-shaped noise (SSN), the Hagerman was masked with a SSN and a four-talker babble, and the subscales from the SSQ were used as a self-report measure. The HINT and Hagerman were administered through an experimental hearing aid.Study sampleThis study included 191 hearing aid users with hearing loss (mean PTA4 = 37.6, SD = 10.8) and 195 normally hearing adults (mean PTA4 = 10.0, SD = 6.0).ResultsThe present study found correlations between behavioural measures of speech-in-noise and self-report scores of the SSQ in normally hearing individuals, but not in hearing aid users.ConclusionThe present study may help identify relationships between clinically used behavioural measures, and a self-report measure of speech recognition. The results from the present study suggest that use of a self-report measure as a complement to behavioural speech in noise tests might help to further our understanding of how self-report, and behavioural results can be generalised to everyday functioning.
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| 9. |
- Zekveld, Adriana A, et al.
(författare)
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Reading Behind the Lines : The Factors Affecting the Text Reception Threshold in Hearing Aid Users.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. - : American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. - 1092-4388 .- 1558-9102. ; 61:3, s. 762-775
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The visual Text Reception Threshold (TRT) test (Zekveld et al., 2007) has been designed to assess modality-general factors relevant for speech perception in noise. In the last decade, the test has been adopted in audiology labs worldwide. The 1st aim of this study was to examine which factors best predict interindividual differences in the TRT. Second, we aimed to assess the relationships between the TRT and the speech reception thresholds (SRTs) estimated in various conditions.; Method: First, we reviewed studies reporting relationships between the TRT and the auditory and/or cognitive factors and formulated specific hypotheses regarding the TRT predictors. These hypotheses were tested using a prediction model applied to a rich data set of 180 hearing aid users. In separate association models, we tested the relationships between the TRT and the various SRTs and subjective hearing difficulties, while taking into account potential confounding variables.; Results: The results of the prediction model indicate that the TRT is predicted by the ability to fill in missing words in incomplete sentences, by lexical access speed, and by working memory capacity. Furthermore, in line with previous studies, a moderate association between higher age, poorer pure-tone hearing acuity, and poorer TRTs was observed. Better TRTs were associated with better SRTs for the correct perception of 50% of Hagerman matrix sentences in a 4-talker babble, as well as with better subjective ratings of speech perception. Age and pure-tone hearing thresholds significantly confounded these associations. The associations of the TRT with SRTs estimated in other conditions and with subjective qualities of hearing were not statistically significant when adjusting for age and pure-tone average.; Conclusions: We conclude that the abilities tapped into by the TRT test include processes relevant for speeded lexical decision making when completing partly masked sentences and that these processes require working memory capacity. Furthermore, the TRT is associated with the SRT of hearing aid users as estimated in a challenging condition that includes informational masking and with experienced difficulties with speech perception in daily-life conditions. The current results underline the value of using the TRT test in studies involving speech perception and aid in the interpretation of findings acquired using the test.
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