The impact of cognitive ability on multitalker speech perception in neurodivergent individuals

The ability to selectively attend to one talker in the presence of competing talkers is crucial to communication. Here we investigate whether cognitive deficits in the absences of hearing loss can impair speech perception. We tested typical hearing, neurodivergent adolescents/adults with autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and an age- and sex-matched neurotypical group. We found a strong correlation between IQ and speech perception, with individuals with lower IQ scores having worse speech thresholds. These results demonstrate that deficits in cognitive ability, despite intact peripheral encoding, can impair listening under complex conditions. These findings have important implications for conceptual models of speech perception and for audiological services to improve communication in real-world environments for neurodivergent individuals.