Pilot Study - Validation of Speech Materials for an Auditory-cognitive Training Paradigm (NIH P01 Project - Speech Perception With High Cognitive Demand)

With advancing age, adults experience increasing speech understanding difficulties in challenging situations. Currently, speech-in-noise difficulties are rehabilitated by providing hearing aids. For older normal-hearing adults, however, hearing devices do not provide much benefit since these adults do not have a decreased hearing sensitivity. The goal of the "Speech Perception with High Cognitive Demand" Project is to evaluate the benefit of a new auditory-cognitive training paradigm. In order to provide maximal benefit for older, normal-hearing adults, a validation of the new training materials is required. In a pilot study, the investigators will evaluate the new auditory-cognitive training paradigm in 15 young, normal-hearing adults (18-30 years). Based on these results, the training paradigm can be further optimized for older adults.