Neural tracking of continuous speech reveals enhanced late responses to degraded speech

Key Points

• Speech comprehension is better maintained through delayed neural mechanisms when intelligibility is compromised, leading to novel insights.
• Findings indicate enhanced late neural responses when participants listen to degraded speech, improving communication in difficult settings.
• Assessment of neural tracking reveals critical auditory cortical processing and its role in decoding challenging speech conditions.
• These results may enable better strategies for aiding individuals with hearing impairments in noisy environments.