Sleep-Based Memory Consolidation Stabilizes Perceptual Learning of Noise-Vocoded Speech

What is it about?

Listeners with hearing loss who use cochlear implants may have access to the auditory signal, but because the signal transmitted through a cochlear implant is degraded, it is more difficult to understand and benefits from auditory training to improve speech comprehension. In our study, we trained normal hearing listeners on degraded speech signals in either a morning or evening time period. We found that training in the evening, prior to a period of sleep, helped to stabilize training benefit while listeners trained in the morning showed a degradation in training gains. When assessed one-week later, both morning-trained and evening-trained listeners showed comparable speech comprehension benefits, suggesting that the morning group improved after a longer period of stabilization.

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Photo by Gregory Pappas on Unsplash

Photo by Gregory Pappas on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research supports our early understanding of how to optimize auditory training paradigms for cochlear implant users in order to maximize speech comprehension benefits.

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