Scientists map how noise blurs speech across frequencies
NCT ID NCT07822802
First seen Sep 16, 2026 · Last updated Sep 17, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers at Ohio State University are studying how background noise affects speech understanding in adults with normal hearing. About 200 native English speakers aged 18 to 70 will listen to filtered speech in different frequency ranges while noise is added at various levels. Participants report the words they hear, and researchers measure the percentage of words correctly identified. The trial asks whether noise disrupts speech understanding equally across frequencies and whether understanding declines at the same rate in each range.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Filtered speech and background noise listening tasks
- What this could lead to
- If the trial maps how noise disrupts speech across frequencies, it could inform better hearing aids and clearer communication in noisy places.
- What could go wrong
- This is a basic listening study in healthy adults, so it may not capture how real-world hearing loss or aging changes speech understanding.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 200 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Age between 18 and 70 years * Native English speakers * No known history of cognitive impairment * No known history of hearing impairment Exclusion Criteria: * Age under 18 or over 70 years * Non-native English speaker * Known history of cognitive impairment * Known history of hearing impairment
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio, 43210, United States
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