Top-down auditory plasticity: Acceptable noise level predicts and reflects the effect of perceptual learning in experience-induced plasticity

In the auditory system, tinnitus and superior speech perception in noise are examples of negative and positive plasticity that can result from sensory neural hearing loss and life experiences dealing with more complex stimuli and learning, respectively. Positive plasticity occurs as a result of learned skills and sensory stimuli; plasticity involves specific neural pathways and can be observed in auditory ascending or descending pathways. In this study, we document a form of plasticity in top-down auditory pathways through the measurement of acceptable noise level in 60 adults (27 females and 33 males) with normal hearing. Individuals were assigned to one of two groups: those with and without occupational experience of speech perception in noise. The results showed that the test group had statistically significant lower acceptable noise level and significantly higher background noise level scores compared with the control group. Using acceptable noise level, we attributed differences in individuals’ abilities to tolerate varying amounts of background noise and speech perception in noise function to the auditory efferent system. We therefore concluded that working in crowded locations due to job nature can influence differences in speech perception in noise function.