The impact of noise and dysphonic speech on children’s listening comprehension and cognitive effort: Insights from subjective, behavioral and EEG measures

This study examines the impact of background noise and voice quality on sentence comprehension and listening effort in children, using a combination of self-assessment, response times (RT), and electroencephalography (EEG). Inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM) were assessed to account for individual differences. Twenty-four children (8–12 years) completed the Test for Reception of Grammar under two signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs; 0 and 6 dB) and with two voice qualities (typical and dysphonic). EEG analysis centered on event-related spectral perturbations in the theta and alpha bands, offering physiological insights into the cognitive demands. The results demonstrated that comprehension significantly decreased in the presence of higher noise levels and dysphonic speech. Perceived effort was higher in noisier and dysphonic conditions, with greater WM linked to increased reported effort. Dysphonic speech also led to longer RT, although children with stronger IC responded faster. Finally, listening to dysphonic speech was associated with increased theta activity and decreased alpha activity, with WM enhancing theta power and IC affecting alpha power, reflecting the cognitive demands of challenging auditory conditions. These findings reveal that noise and dysphonic speech uniquely tax cognitive resources, impairing comprehension and effort while drawing on executive function to adapt to challenging acoustic conditions.