Extended high frequency hearing influences cortical response amplitudes to speech
Abstract
Since young adults hear sounds up to 20 kHz, the loss of extended high-frequency hearing (EHF; above 8 kHz) is a hallmark of age-related hearing loss, often progressing from early lifetime. However, this deficit frequently goes undetected because routine clinical hearing tests and most hearing aids are currently mostly limited to 8 kHz. EHF hearing has been linked to deficits in speech perception in noise and to self-reported hearing. However, it remains elusive how EHF hearing influences speech intelligibility. Here we recorded neuromagnetic brain responses using magnetoencephalography (MEG) within a frequency-tagging speech paradigm designed to probe hierarchical levels of attention and memory-dependent speech processing and recognition. Auditory evoked field (AEF) responses were significantly reduced in both left and right brain hemispheres in individuals with impaired EHF hearing compared to those subjects with better EHF hearing. A gradual reinforcement of left-hemispheric AEF seen over age was not observed in young adults (19-29 y) with preserved EHF hearing. This was linked to stronger auditory brainstem responses (ABR), reflecting better neural synchronized auditory responses at stimulus onset. The reinforced left-hemispheric dominance in young adults with impaired EHF hearing, in contrast, was linked to lower ABRs. Our findings suggest that through its impact on stimulus-onset synchrony to phase locking of oscillations in the auditory cortex, sound energy above 8 kHz contributes to the intelligibility of speech. Together, the results highlight the need to reconsider EHF hearing in both audiological assessment and hearing-aid design.
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BibTeX
@article{martin2026extended,
title = {{Extended high frequency hearing influences cortical response amplitudes to speech}},
author = {Rodrigo Donoso-San Martín and Stefan Fink and Konrad Dapper and Etienne Gaudrain and Deniz Başkent and Sarah Verhulst and Csaba Harasztosi and Wibke Singer and Manuel S Malmierca and Markus Siegel and Ernst Dalhoff and Stephan M Wolpert and Christoph Braun and Lukas Rüttiger and Marlies Knipper},
journal = {NeuroImage},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122281},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05820545v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Extended high frequency hearing influences cortical response amplitudes to speech
AU - Rodrigo Donoso-San Martín
AU - Stefan Fink
AU - Konrad Dapper
AU - Etienne Gaudrain
AU - Deniz Başkent
AU - Sarah Verhulst
AU - Csaba Harasztosi
AU - Wibke Singer
AU - Manuel S Malmierca
AU - Markus Siegel
AU - Ernst Dalhoff
AU - Stephan M Wolpert
AU - Christoph Braun
AU - Lukas Rüttiger
AU - Marlies Knipper
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - NeuroImage
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122281
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05820545v1
AB - Since young adults hear sounds up to 20 kHz, the loss of extended high-frequency hearing (EHF; above 8 kHz) is a hallmark of age-related hearing loss, often progressing from early lifetime. However, this deficit frequently goes undetected because routine clinical hearing tests and most hearing aids are currently mostly limited to 8 kHz. EHF hearing has been linked to deficits in speech perception in noise and to self-reported hearing. However, it remains elusive how EHF hearing influences speech intelligibility. Here we recorded neuromagnetic brain responses using magnetoencephalography (MEG) within a frequency-tagging speech paradigm designed to probe hierarchical levels of attention and memory-dependent speech processing and recognition. Auditory evoked field (AEF) responses were significantly reduced in both left and right brain hemispheres in individuals with impaired EHF hearing compared to those subjects with better EHF hearing. A gradual reinforcement of left-hemispheric AEF seen over age was not observed in young adults (19-29 y) with preserved EHF hearing. This was linked to stronger auditory brainstem responses (ABR), reflecting better neural synchronized auditory responses at stimulus onset. The reinforced left-hemispheric dominance in young adults with impaired EHF hearing, in contrast, was linked to lower ABRs. Our findings suggest that through its impact on stimulus-onset synchrony to phase locking of oscillations in the auditory cortex, sound energy above 8 kHz contributes to the intelligibility of speech. Together, the results highlight the need to reconsider EHF hearing in both audiological assessment and hearing-aid design.
SN - 1053-8119
SN - 1095-9572
ER -