In the Noise, Only Some Minds Tune into Sounds Others Overlook

Researchers from the University of Washington wanted to go further by testing this capacity under simulated conditions of controlled hubbub. They designed an immersive experience in which the participants had to follow the instructions in a target voice while other voices were trying to distract them. All had a normal hearing, but their performances have largely varied according to their Qi level.

When hearing perception in noisy environment reflects intelligence

What the team led by Bonnie Lau highlighted is a strong correlation between IQ scores and success in the listening test in a complex environment. The individuals who better understood the messages issued in the noise were not those who heard “better” in the medical sense, but those who reasoned more effectively. The study, published in PLOS One, concerned three distinct groups: autistic people, other attacks on fetal alcohol syndrome, and a control group. All have shown this same trend. Intelligence, verbal and non -verbal, directly influenced their ability to understand in noise.

This link between cognition and listening was confirmed through the four subtests of the Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (Wasi-II), the reference tool used by researchers. Whether it is to analyze matrices, find analogies or mentally handle forms, each intellectual competence seemed to bring a lever to better listen to in a congested sound environment.

This result calls into question the idea that difficulty understanding in noise would necessarily signal a peripheral hearing disorder. It becomes clear that a brain less able to organize information can also struggle to listen, even when the ears work perfectly.

Better accompany the neurodivergent profiles in front of the noise

These results raise another, more social question this time. How to adapt the environments to those whose intelligence or cognitive profile exposes them to listening difficulties in daily contexts? At school, for example, autistic children or neurodevelopmental disorders can find themselves disadvantaged in too noisy classes, even if no hearing diagnosis concerns them. However, as Scitechdaily recalls by relaying this study, a simple change of place in the room or the addition of a listening aid device can sometimes make all the difference.

These devices, called HATs (Hearing Assistif Technology Systems), do not only concern the hearing impaired. The site of the American Speech-Langoage-Hearing Association specifies that systems such as FM microphones or the speakers distributed in the class can help all students to follow better, including those who have no recognized disorder. This observation opens the way to a new inclusive approach to school acoustics, where we think as much of the brain as the ear.

Hearing perception often passes for a passive meaning. However, it reveals a much more complex mental activity than you think. Better understanding its links with intelligence allows you to open new concrete tracks. Indeed, research sheds light on the difficulties that remained long invisible. Thanks to these advances, it becomes possible to improve listening, but also the learning that depends on it. It is therefore no longer simply a question of hearing, but of fully grasping the way in which we hear.