Audiovisual Asynchrony Detection and Speech Perception in Hearing-Impaired Listeners with Cochlear Implants: A Preliminary Analysis

Abstract

This preliminary study examined the effects of hearing loss and aging on the detection of AV asynchrony in hearing-impaired listeners with cochlear implants. Additionally, the relationship between AV asynchrony detection skills and speech perception was assessed. Individuals with normal-hearing and cochlear implant recipients were asked to make judgments about the synchrony of AV speech. The cochlear implant recipients also completed three speech perception tests, the CUNY, HINT sentences, and the CNC test. No significant differences were observed in the detection of AV asynchronous speech between the normal-hearing listeners and the cochlear implant recipients. Older adults in both groups displayed wider timing windows, over which they identified AV asynchronous speech as being synchronous, than younger adults. For the cochlear implant recipients, no relationship between the size of the temporal asynchrony window and speech perception performance was observed. The findings from this preliminary experiment suggest that aging has a greater effect on the detection of AV asynchronous speech than the use of a cochlear implant. Additionally, the temporal width of the AV asynchrony function was not correlated with speech perception skills for hearing-impaired individuals who use cochlear implants.