Speech Master in Life

Speech Master is a feature in Primax hearing aids that reduces listening effort in noise. A study conducted at the University of Northern Colorado, 2015, examined the effectiveness of the new features of primax by collecting and analyzing ongoing EEG data while subjects performed speech testing. For both primax features SpeechMaster and EchoShield, the objective brain behavior measures revealed a significant reduction in listening effort when the feature was activated. The study is discussed at Hearing Review – http://www.hearingreview.com/2016/03/clinical-studies-show-advanced-hearing-aid-technology-reduces-listening-effort/

Listening Effort

The focus on better technology tends to overshadow the physiology of hearing. While technology improves, we have to bear in mind that hearing is not just about how much sound can we give to the ear. Hearing involves our mental capacities like attention to sound, filtering out the background noise to focus on the voice we want to hear. This is known as listening effort.

“We know that effortful listening can increase cognitive load, which will negatively impact simultaneous mental processes, such as multi-tasking. In turn, this can lead to listening fatigue associated with tiredness or a lack of energy, lack of concentration, and mental deficiency.”      – Littmann V, Froehlich M, Beilin J, Branda E, Schaefer PJ. Clinical Studies Show Advanced Hearing Aid Technology Reduces Listening Effort. Hearing Review. 2016;23(4):36.

“Effort-ful listening” is used to describe the efforts required to hear. When much effort is required to listen, it increases our cognitive load. It means we use more energy to focus on the sounds we want to hear. People with normal hearing can experience this listening effort when they are trying to follow a conversation in a noisy market. A person with hearing loss experiences much more difficulty as they have to rely on an impaired hearing organ listening through amplified noise.

Listening fatigue has also been associated with an increased risk of falling among older adults.                                                                                    – Lin FR, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss and falls among older adults in the United States. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(4):369-371. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.728.

SpeechMaster with EchoShield technology reduces this listening effort by its innovative speech focus to increase the sounds that we want to hear while reducing competing noise. Users of Primax Hearing Aids with Speech Master report less feeling of exhaustion with this new feature.

Sivantos Explains

Sivantos the company behind Signia/Siemens hearing aids also explain their Speech Master technology at their website – https://www.signia-pro.com/scientific_marketing/listening-effort/

Make an appointment with us today at 06-2881407 to experience Speech Master technology. Jensen Hearing believes in providing better hearing through better fitting with audiological follow-up. We support technologies that improve lives.

Watch the video below explaining the Speech Master feature.