Abstract：
In recent studies, psychophysiological measures have been used as markers of listening effort, but there is limited research on the effect of hearing loss on such measures. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of hearing acuity on physiological responses and subjective measures acquired during different levels of listening demand, and to investigate the relationship between these measures. A total of 125 participants (37 males and 88 females, age range 37-72 years, pure-tone average hearing thresholds at the best ear between -5.0 to 68.8 dB HL and asymmetry between ears between 0.0 and 87.5 dB) completed a listening task. A speech reception threshold (SRT) test was used with target sentences spoken by a female voice masked by male speech. Listening demand was manipulated using three levels of intelligibility: 20 % correct speech recognition, 50 %, and 80 % (IL20 %/IL50 %/IL80 %, respectively). During the task, peak pupil dilation (PPD), heart rate (HR), pre-ejection period (PEP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and skin conductance level (SCL) were measured. For each condition, subjective ratings of effort, performance, difficulty, and tendency to give up were also collected. Linear mixed effects models tested the effect of intelligibility level, hearing acuity, hearing asymmetry, and tinnitus complaints on the physiological reactivity (compared to baseline) and subjective measures. PPD and PEP reactivity showed a non-monotonic relationship with intelligibility level, but no such effects were found for HR, RSA, or SCL reactivity. Participants with worse hearing acuity had lower PPD at all intelligibility levels and showed lower PEP baseline levels. Additionally, PPD and SCL reactivity were lower for participants who reported suffering from tinnitus complaints. For IL80 %, but not IL50 % or IL20 %, participants with worse hearing acuity rated their listening effort to be relatively high compared to participants with better hearing. The reactivity of the different physiological measures were not or only weakly correlated with each other. Together, the results suggest that hearing acuity may be associated with altered sympathetic nervous system (re)activity. Research using psychophysiological measures as markers of listening effort to study the effect of hearing acuity on such measures are best served by the use of the PPD and PEP.
摘要：
在最近的研究中,心理生理措施已被用作倾听努力的标志，但是关于听力损失对此类措施的影响的研究有限。本研究的目的是调查听力敏锐度对不同听力需求水平时获得的生理反应和主观测量的影响，并调查这些措施之间的关系。共有125名参与者（37名男性和88名女性，年龄范围37-72岁，最佳耳朵的纯音平均听力阈值在-5.0至68.8dBHL之间，耳朵之间的不对称性在0.0至87.5dB之间）完成了听力任务。语音接收阈值（SRT）测试用于由男性语音掩盖的女性语音说出的目标句子。使用三个级别的清晰度来操纵听力需求：20％正确的语音识别，50%,和80%(IL20%/IL50%/IL80%，分别)。任务期间,峰值瞳孔扩张（PPD），心率(HR),射血前期(PEP)，呼吸性窦性心律失常(RSA),测量皮肤电导水平(SCL)。对于每个条件，主观的努力评级，性能，困难,和放弃的倾向也被收集。线性混合效应模型测试了清晰度水平的影响，听力敏锐度,听力不对称，和耳鸣对生理反应性（与基线相比）和主观测量的抱怨。PPD和PEP反应性与清晰度水平呈非单调关系，但是对于HR没有发现这样的影响，RSA,或SCL反应性。听力较差的参与者在所有清晰度水平下的PPD较低，并且PEP基线水平较低。此外,报告患有耳鸣的参与者的PPD和SCL反应性较低。对于IL80%，但不是IL50%或IL20%，与听力较好的参与者相比,听力较差的参与者认为他们的听力努力相对较高.不同生理措施的反应性彼此不相关或仅弱相关。一起,结果表明，听力敏锐度可能与交感神经系统（再）活动的改变有关。使用心理生理措施作为听力努力的标志来研究听力敏锐度对此类措施的影响的研究最好使用PPD和PEP。
