Measuring the Evolution of Speech Perception in Noise, in Realistic Sound Environments According to Age

In clinical settings, hearing perception is typically assessed using audiometric tests administered in a controlled environment. To date, these tests are administered in silence or in the presence of noise from fixed sources at an arbitrarily predetermined signal-to-noise ratio. These assessment situations are not representative of the functional difficulties encountered by people with hearing loss or Auditory Processing Disorder in their daily lives. In real life, "soundscapes" are diverse. Hearing assessment and rehabilitation should include the child's everyday environments as well as their lifestyle habits.

The Immersion 360 System (Virtual reality system) was developed specifically to virtually reproduce complex everyday sound experiences with realistic noise types and sound presentation conditions, enabling the assessment of auditory perception under test conditions similar to those encountered in daily life. Some of the sound environments offered by this innovative system have been standardized for adults. No standards exist for children, and we have limited knowledge regarding the development of speech perception skills in noise during childhood and adolescence. It seems essential to measure the age-related development of speech perception in realistic sound environments in order to establish reference data for children and adolescents.

This work will, through functional assessments of the auditory system and linguistic tests (speech perception in noise), provide a better understanding of the functional development of the central auditory system for speech perception in noise. The results collected from normo-hearing individuals in the age groups of interest will provide a clinical baseline for comparison with patients of the same age.