Study reveals role of brain in making sense of voices in crowded place

A new study has revealed how the brain functions to meet the challenge of hearing and differentiating amongst the voices in the crowded places like cocktail parties.

The study established that to keep hold of speech, the brain does not just rely on the incoming sounds but rather also depends upon the information gathered from other senses and prior knowledge to facilitate comprehension.

Researchers found that the hearing and understanding of a conversation is influenced by what people are used to hearing, so it becomes easier to understand a known voice than that of a stranger especially for older adults, who found more difficulty understanding new voices in events like cocktail party but they did recognize familiar voices in the same situations.

Dr. Ingrid Johnsrude was able to explain that activation of certain brain regions, the higher-order speech sensitive cortex, could be viewed as a neural signature of effortful listening.