Exploring EEG Indicators to Evaluate Listening Difficulties in Noisy Environments

TL;DR

This study investigates EEG neural indicators, especially alpha wave activity, to evaluate listening difficulties in noisy environments, revealing potential biomarkers for auditory processing challenges.

Contribution

It identifies alpha wave power reduction and increased long-range temporal correlation as neural markers associated with listening difficulties in noisy settings.

Findings

Alpha wave power decreases during noisy attention tasks.

Long-range temporal correlation increases with auditory attention.

Alpha power negatively correlates with auditory processing difficulty scores.

Abstract

Auditory processing difficulties involve challenges in understanding speech in noisy environments despite normal hearing. However, the neural mechanisms remain unclear, and standardized diagnostic criteria are lacking. This study examined neural indicators using EEG under realistic noisy conditions. Ten Japanese-speaking university students participated in auditory tasks, including a resting state, a lecture attention task with background noise, and a task requiring attention to background noise. The study analyzed the peak frequency and power of alpha waves, the long-range temporal correlation of alpha oscillations, and the absolute power of delta waves. Results showed a significant reduction in the power of alpha waves during the background noise attention task, suggesting increased cognitive load. In contrast, the peak frequency of alpha waves remained stable, indicating limited sensitivity to cognitive demand changes. Long-range temporal correlation increased under tasks requiring auditory attention, reflecting sustained attention-related neural dynamics, while the absolute power of delta waves showed no significant variation across tasks. Regression analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the power of alpha waves in noisy conditions and screening scores for auditory processing difficulties, suggesting its potential as a neural indicator.