Did you know that our ability to speak clearly depends on how well we can hear ourselves?
A recent study from McGill University shows that even short-term hearing loss can affect how we move our mouth and tongue when we talk.
This discovery highlights how important hearing is in controlling our speech in real-time.
The study, published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, focused on how people adjust their speech when they can’t hear themselves.
The researchers found that when participants’ hearing was temporarily blocked, their ability to move their jaw and tongue in a smooth, coordinated way was impaired.
This happened even with brief interruptions of hearing.
“People need immediate feedback from their own voice to control the movements of their mouth and vocal tract when speaking,” explained Matthew Masapollo, the lead researcher. Masapollo conducted the study as part of McGill’s Motor Neuroscience Laboratory.
To understand this better, the research team used a technique called electromagnetic articulography (EMA), which tracks jaw and tongue movements. They studied people with normal hearing under two conditions: when they could hear their own voice and when their voice was masked by loud background noise. In the noisy condition, the participants struggled to speak clearly.
This research could have big implications for people with hearing loss, especially those who use cochlear implants (CIs). Even after years of using CIs, some people still have trouble with certain aspects of speech because the sound signals they hear are not as clear as normal hearing.
Masapollo and his team are now looking into how hearing loss affects people who use CIs and how their speech is affected by the reduced quality of sound. Early results suggest that when people can’t rely on hearing, they may start using how their mouth and tongue feel to control their speech.
If further research confirms this, it could lead to new treatments that focus on oral-motor training. These therapies might help both children and adults with hearing loss improve their speech by teaching them to better sense the movements of their mouth and tongue.
This study shows that hearing is not just important for listening, but also for speaking. Understanding how hearing loss impacts speech production will help improve treatments and interventions for those affected.
If you care about hearing health, please read studies about antibiotic drug that can lead to hearing loss, and whether you should get an hearing aid or see a specialist.
For more information about health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
