New research shows that intelligence significantly influences how people understand speech in noisy settings. By comparing neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals, the study found that cognitive ability predicted performance in every group. The findings challenge the idea that listening problems stem solely from hearing loss, emphasizing the brain’s key role.
Picture chatting in a noisy café—what seems like a hearing issue may actually stem from how your brain processes sound.
Cognitive Ability Affects Speech Understanding in Noise
A study found that cognitive ability strongly influenced speech understanding in noisy settings. Even though everyone had normal hearing, their performance differed according to their intellectual capacity.
“The link between cognitive ability and speech perception appeared across all groups,” said lead researcher Bonnie Lau, a UW assistant professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery.
The study’s results were published in PLOS One.
Small Study Links Intelligence to Noisy Listening
Lau noted that with fewer than 50 participants, the study should be replicated with larger groups, but the results suggest intelligence influences how well people listen in noisy environments.
To test their hypothesis, researchers included participants with autism and fetal alcohol syndrome—groups with normal hearing but known listening challenges—to widen the IQ range and enable broader comparison.
The study included 12 autistic, 10 fetal alcohol syndrome, and 27 neurotypical participants matched by age and sex. Participants ranged in age from 13 to 47. Each underwent an audiology screening to confirm normal hearing before completing a computer-based listening task.
Participants Tasked with Focusing on One Voice Amid Competing Speakers
In the experiment, participants listened to a main speaker’s voice while two other voices spoke at the same time in the background. Their task was to focus on the main speaker—always male—and ignore the competing voices. Each voice gave a brief command containing a call sign, color, and number, such as “Ready, Eagle, go to green five now.”
Participants then selected the box with the correct color and number that matched the main speaker’s command as the background voices gradually increased in volume.
Afterward, they completed standardized intelligence tests assessing verbal and nonverbal skills as well as perceptual reasoning. The researchers compared these cognitive scores with participants’ performance on the multitalker listening test.
The data revealed a strong link between intelligence and listening performance.
Study Finds Strong Link Between Intelligence and Speech Perception
“We observed a highly significant association between directly measured intellectual ability and multitalker speech perception,” the researchers wrote. “Intellectual ability was significantly correlated with speech perception thresholds across all three groups.”
Lau noted that effective listening in noisy environments relies on extensive brain processing.
“You must separate voices, focus on one speaker, and filter out noise,” Lau said. “Then, you need to process language—identifying phonemes, syllables, and words—while also engaging socially by smiling or nodding. All of this adds to the cognitive effort required to communicate in noisy environments.”
Lau said the study challenges a common misconception that listening difficulties always indicate peripheral hearing loss.
“You don’t need to have hearing loss to struggle with listening in a restaurant or other noisy real-world setting,” she noted.
Researchers said neurodivergent or lower-IQ individuals may benefit from better listening setups, like front seating or assistive devices.
Lau carries out her research at the UW Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center. Her coauthors represent multiple UW departments and centers, as well as the University of Michigan’s Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
Read the original article on: Sciencedaily