Abstract: This study evaluated dual-task interactions between balance function and speech-understanding-in-noise in a healthy young adult sample. IEEE sentences were presented in varying levels of background noise to measure speech-in-noise accuracy. The Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance (mCTSIB) was used to measure postural stability/sway.
The main objectives to this study were to determine the dual-task cost to speech-in-noise accuracy when balance task difficulty was increased, and to determine the dual-task cost to balance as listening task difficulty was increased.
Results may indicate how cognitive resources are differentially allocated in dual-task situations with difficult listening or balance conditions.
Summary: Previous research has shown that postural stability and balance suffer with increased listening difficulty, even in younger populations (Carr et al, 2020; Helfer et al, 2020). This may be due to different allocation of cognitive resources with more difficult listening tasks (Pichora-Fuller et al, 2016); more cognitive resources devoted to a difficult listening task may leave less available for postural control in a concurrent balance task. This study is innovative since it examines several signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), ranging from -4 to +2, to evaluate how postural control may be affected with listening tasks varying in difficulty. Also, using the mCTSIB for the balance task allows for determining how speech-in-noise accuracies may be impacted when a balance task varies in difficulty.
Research Questions How is speech-in-noise accuracy in the speech-in-noise task (IEEE sentences in noise) impacted when performing a balance task, with varying levels of difficulty, along with the speech-in-noise task?
How are sway excursion and sway velocity in the mCTSIB impacted when performing a speech-in-noise task, with varying levels of difficulty, along with the balance task?
Methodology Pre-experimental measures for this study included administering case history and self-reported questionnaires, a comprehensive audiologic assessment, and baseline measures for the mCTSIB and speech-in-noise tasks.
The mCTSIB, which was the balance measure used in the current study, has four conditions, which increase in difficulty. Using center-of-gravity measurements provided by the force plate, participants’ sway excursion and sway velocity were recorded as mCTSIB outcome measures. For the speech understanding in noise task, five signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) were used (-4, -2, 0, +2, and quiet). Speech-in-noise accuracy (%) was recorded as the outcome measure for the speech-in-noise task. For experimental tasks, participants performed each mCTSIB condition with each speech-in-noise SNR, for a total of 20 dual-task conditions, meeting the criteria for an ideal dual-task protocol examining resource allocation, as described by McNeil et al. (2004). Dual-task cost analyses were completed for the mCTSIB and the speech-in-noise task, by comparing each measure’s baseline scores with scores with dual-task scores.
Results/Discussion At the time of submission of this abstract, 24 participants have completed the protocol thus far. Additional data collection is still underway. Preliminary statistical analyses of speech understanding in noise accuracy and balance data will be completed prior to the February 3, 2025 deadline.
Preliminary descriptive results indicated that more difficult balance conditions can impair speech-in-noise accuracy. Speech-in-noise accuracies for each SNR were higher during baseline measurements (with no balance task) compared to the accuracies for the same SNR under any dual-task condition. For sway parameters, differences between baseline balance measures and dual-task balance were relatively slight; however, there was less sway for baseline mCTSIB, compared to dual-task mCTSIB in all conditions, regardless of SNR.
The highest dual-task cost values to the speech-in-noise task (indicating the greatest accuracy difference between the baseline and dual-task conditions) were observed for the 0 dB SNR condition, regardless of balance condition. This study highlights the interaction between cognitive resource allocation during dual-task speech understanding and balance performance.
Learning Objectives:
Describe how performance on a listening-in-noise task is impacted when performing a listening and balance task concurrently, compared to when listening alone.
Describe how performance on a balance task is impacted when performing a listening and balance task concurrently, compared to when maintaining balance alone.
Discuss how cognitive resources might be differentially allocated under dual-task listening and balance scenarios.
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