ArticleEar and hearing
Sensitivity to Melody, Rhythm, and Beat in Supporting Speech-in-Noise Perception in Young Adults.
Article in Ear and hearing. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Learning to Understand Speech in Babble Noise: The Role of Rhythm Perception in English and Spanish.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR · 2026Article
- The relationship between rhythm perception abilities and perceptual learning in syllable- versus stress-timed languages.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2025Article
- Not primed to agree? Short or no effect of rhythmic priming on typical adults processing number agreement.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Listening Effort for Speech in Noise Perception Using Pupil Dilation: A Comparison Among Percussionists, Non-Percussionists, and Non-Musicians.Journal of audiology & otology · 2024Article
- Article
- The Musical Abilities, Pleiotropy, Language, and Environment (MAPLE) Framework for Understanding Musicality-Language Links Across the Lifespan.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2022Review
- Article
- Musicianship Influences Language Effect on Musical Pitch Perception.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Do Musicians and Non-musicians Differ in Speech-on-Speech Processing?Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Neurofeedback Training of Auditory Selective Attention Enhances Speech-In-Noise Perception.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Article
- Decoding of Envelope vs. Fundamental Frequency During Complex Auditory Stream Segregation.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2020Article
- Short-Term Choir Singing Supports Speech-in-Noise Perception and Neural Pitch Strength in Older Adults With Age-Related Hearing Loss.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesMusicians appear to have an enhanced ability to perceive speech-in-noise, prompting suggestions that musical training could be used to help people who struggle to communicate in noisy environments. This study assessed the role of sensitivity to beat, rhythm, and melody in supporting speech-in-noise perception.
designThis is an exploratory study based on correlation. The study included 24 normally hearing young adult participants with a wide range of musical training and experience. Formal and informal musical experience was measured with the training subscale of the Goldsmiths' Musical Sophistication Index. Speech reception thresholds (SRT) were measured using the Matrix Sentence Test and three different speech-spectrum-shaped noise maskers: unmodulated and sinusoidally amplitude-modulated (modulation frequency, fm = 8 Hz; modulation depths: 60 and 80%). Primary predictors were measures of sensitivity to beat, rhythm, and melody. Secondary predictors were pure-tone frequency discrimination and auditory working memory (digit span). Any contributions from these two predictors were to be controlled for as appropriate.
resultsParticipants with more musical experience and greater sensitivity to rhythm, beat, and melody had better SRTs. Sensitivity to beat was more strongly linked with SRT than sensitivity to either rhythm or melody. This relationship remained strong even after factoring out contributions from frequency discrimination and auditory working memory.
conclusionsSensitivity to beat predicted SRTs in unmodulated and modulated noise. We propose that this sensitivity maximizes benefit from fluctuations in signal-to-noise ratio through temporal orienting of attention to perceptually salient parts of the signal. Beat perception may be a good candidate for targeted training aimed at enhancing speech perception when listening in noise.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.