Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Hearing Aid Acclimatization In The Context Of Central Gain Mechanisms, Peter J. Hutchison

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary goals of this dissertation were to 1) identify markers of central gain in the auditory system following short-term acoustic attenuation via earplugging and acoustic enhancement via sound generators, and 2) determine if acoustic enhancement is effective in modulating central gain in older adults with age-related hearing loss, and if so, to what extent. Additionally, a further goal of this dissertation was to explore the possibility that central gain is related hearing aid acclimatization. The results described in Chapter 2 are further evidence that altering acoustic input to the peripheral auditory system modulates central auditory plasticity and is evident …

Indicators Of Mild Cognitive Impairment Associated With Language Processing And Production, Diana Julbe-Delgado

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The research purpose of the present study was to (1) examine cognitive-linguistic features related to processing and production across a series of tasks that are representative of everyday discourse and (2) compare older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) across linguistic features. Twenty-seven participants, including 12 individuals with- and 15 individuals without MCI, were enrolled from a larger study (Hudak et al., 2019). Cognitive status was initially assessed as part of the larger study using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nasreddine et al., 2005). Participants who scored ≤ 25 on the MoCA received a standardized neuropsychological evaluation and …

Enhancing Intergenerational Conversation Using Visual Cues: Effects Of A Historical Timeline, Allyson Lindsay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interacting with individuals with expressive aphasia can be particularly challenging not only because of the language impairments, but also because of the frequent age difference between the clients with aphasia and student clinicians. Although students learn a variety of strategies to support language impairments, there remains a need to bridge the age gap in historical knowledge to enhance conversation. The current study explored the use of a timeline as written and pictorial cue to support conversations between individuals with aphasia and students. This study consisted of Two Experiments. The purpose of Experiment 1 was to identify the differences in knowledge …

Aligning Voice And Communication With Identity – A Survey On Transgender And Gender Diverse Populations, Rachel T. Chalom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This research has two goals. The first goal is to examine transgender (TG) and gender diverse (GD) voice and communication functioning and the impact of voice on their everyday lives. The second goal is to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs speech-language pathologists (SLP) have about the TG and GD community and to investigate the relationship between self- and listener-perception and its correspondence to quality of life (QoL).

Methods: A total of 59 participants took part in this research. The research was separated into two parts, the first included 24 TG and GD individuals who participated in a Qualtrics …

Vocal Health Of Choral Singers From Kenya And The United States: Dysphonia And Vocal Fatigue In Relation To Musical Genres, Morgan Jolley Burburan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the vocal health of choral singers from Kenya and the United States and to determine whether genre (classical choral, traditional Kenya, and Contemporary Commercial Music [CCM]) had any impact on healthy vocal production, particularly as it related to vocal fatigue. Participants were adult singers (N = 94) in two semi-professional choirs, the Nairobi Chamber Chorus (NCC) from Kenya (n = 25) and the Festival Singers of Florida (FSOF) from the United States (n = 69). Singers’ perceived overall vocal health was measured using multiparametric clinical self-reporting instruments and acoustical assessment. Singers’ …

Auditory Perception And Neural Encoding Of Spectral Modulation, Sittiprapa Isarangura

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most natural acoustic sounds consist of multiple frequencies. An important auditory perceptual ability to resolve such acoustic properties is referred to as spectral processing and includes frequency resolution, frequency selectivity and spectral envelope perception. Frequency resolution, as demonstrated by masking techniques, indicates that our auditory system functions as an auditory filter bank with overlapping bandpass filters. These filters allow for the effective separation of sounds into different frequency bands or channels. Acoustic components that fall within a given filter or passband are considered to be processed “within channel” and are perceptually resolved using “local” spectral cues, whereas components in different …