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Why children struggle with the 'cocktail party effect'

With increasing background noise, children's brains struggle to focus on an intended speaker's voice

Date:
February 11, 2019
Source:
Society for Neuroscience
Summary:
Researchers have clarified the development of the ability to attend to a speaker in a noisy environment -- a phenomenon known as the 'cocktail party effect.' Published in JNeurosci, the study could have implications for helping children navigate the often-noisy surroundings in which they grow and learn.
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Researchers have clarified the development of the ability to attend to a speaker in a noisy environment -- a phenomenon known as the "cocktail party effect." Published in JNeurosci, the study could have implications for helping children navigate the often-noisy surroundings in which they grow and learn.

Marc Vander Ghinst and colleagues used magnetoencephalography to measure six- to nine-year-old children and adults' brain activity while listening to a recorded storyteller mixed with background conversations.

The researchers found that, compared to adults, children's brains struggled to focus on the intended speaker's voice with increasing background noise levels.

Children's brains also had trouble following the syllable rate regardless of the amount of background noise.

The results imply that these abilities are still developing in late childhood and may not fully mature until the teenage years. They also help to explain why children have difficulty understanding speech in noisy backgrounds.


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Materials provided by Society for Neuroscience. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Marc Vander Ghinst, Mathieu Bourguignon, Maxime Niesen, Vincent Wens, Sergio Hassid, Georges Choufani, Veikko Jousmäki, Riitta Hari, Serge Goldman, Xavier De Tiège. Cortical tracking of speech-in-noise develops from childhood to adulthood. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2019; 1732-18 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1732-18.2019

Cite This Page:

Society for Neuroscience. "Why children struggle with the 'cocktail party effect'." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 February 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190211131535.htm>.
Society for Neuroscience. (2019, February 11). Why children struggle with the 'cocktail party effect'. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 6, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190211131535.htm
Society for Neuroscience. "Why children struggle with the 'cocktail party effect'." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190211131535.htm (accessed October 6, 2024).

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