Authors:

Jubilee Chen

Date Created:

Not specified

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About Paper:

Listening-in-noise requires listeners to extract precise auditory cues from a mixture of target sound streams and background noise. While music-in-noise perception has garnered recent interest as an assessment of auditory processing beyond speech, the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in performance remain unclear. In particular, it is unknown whether variability in music-in-noise perception reflects distinct perceptual strategies that map onto neural encoding differences. This study aims to identify neural correlates of performance on the Music-in-Noise Test (MINT) by examining how music-in-noise perception is supported by different perceptual cues, and how these strategies relate to measures of auditory processing. Young adults aged 18-25 without extensive music experience (N = 20) completed the Music in Noise Test (MINT), which isolates performance based on pitch, rhythm, spatial, visual, and predictive cues. Principal component analysis of MINT subtests identified a single dominant component, separating pitch-based from more rhythm and visual performance strategies. Neural responses to music presented in quiet and noise were recorded using the Frequency-Following Response (FFR) and encoding strength at the fundamental frequency and harmonics was examined as a function of the behavioral strategy. Listeners with pitch-driven MINT performance exhibited stronger neural encoding of the fundamental frequency and harmonics in noise compared to those relying on non-spectral cues. These results demonstrate that behavioral strategies for music perception in noise are directly reflected in neural encoding of acoustic cues.

Source:

Northwestern University

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No topics listed

Co-authors:

Jubilee Chen