Influence of perceptual and cognitive deficites on complex speech processing

• Applicant: Dr. Luise Wagner
• Subject Area: Otolaryngology, Phoniatrics and Audiology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 462949488

Hearing impairment leads to reduced sound distinction and makes it more difficult to understand words in a sentence. These sentence comprehension deficits restrict patients’ communication skills. With age, hearing impairments often appear parallel to a cognitive decline. German sentences with different complexities allow for the comparison of these different sources of processing difficulties. So far, studies investigating sentence processing abilities in a hearing impaired population did not systematically control for the differential influences of linguistic (processing of grammatical information) and cognitive factors (verbal working memory). Thus, the aim of this project is to disentangle these factors by comparing the processing of sentences varying in word order versus sentences with embedded sentences. While the former sentences require the specific processing of case-marking information (der/den) which is marked by differential phonemes, embedded sentence require increased cognitive resources. A prospective study with 30 normal hearing and 30 hearing impaired subjects will be conducted. Sound discrimination skills and verbal working memory will be determined by standardized tests. Sentence comprehension will be measured by a picture-selection task. In parallel, EEGs will be recorded and subsequently analysed to provide information about processing speed and processing difficulties. Latencies and amplitudes of characteristic ERP-potentials will be compared for different sentences and different subject groups. Based on these results, new strategies can be developed helping hearing impaired to understand complex structured sentences. Furthermore, recommendations for technical and therapeutic approaches can be derived.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Anja Fengler; Professor Dr. Torsten Rahne