Speech banana explained

The speech banana is a banana-shaped region where the sounds (phonemes) of human languages appear on an audiogram. (An audiogram is a graphical representation of someone's ability to hear over a range of frequencies and loudness levels. Hearing on an audiogram is displayed as frequency in Hertz on the x-axis and loudness in decibels on the y-axis.)

Audiologists are primarily concerned with hearing loss that occurs within the speech banana because:

• In children, it can slow the development of speech and comprehension, and that in turn can profoundly interfere with learning.
• In adults, it can hinder communication, which can cause social isolation and may be a risk factor for dementia.^[1] Hearing loss is most common in older adults (presbycusis).

People with normal hearing can also hear sounds outside of the speech banana, including both lower-pitched sounds (such bass musical notes and rumbling noises) and higher-pitched sounds (such as very high musical notes, the rustling of leaves, and the chirping of birds).

External links

• Ross . Mark . The Audiogram: Explanation and Significance . Hearing Loss . 2004 . 29–33 .
• Klangpornkun . Nittayapa . Onsuwan . Chutamanee . Tantibundhit . Charturong . Pitathawatchai . Pittayapon . Predictions from 'speech banana' and audiograms: Assessment of hearing deficits in Thai hearing loss patients . Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics . 2014 . 10.1121/1.4879262 .
• Hillis . Cory L. . Uchanski . Rosalie M. . Davidson . Lisa S. . Common Sounds Audiograms: Quantitative Analyses and Recommendations . Seminars in Hearing . February 2023 . 44 . S 01 . S49–S63 . 10.1055/s-0043-1764128 . 36970646 . 10033193 .
• Nguyen . Nicole . Bionic Hearing: When Is It Time to Get a Cochlear Implant? . Acoustics Today . 2023 . 19 . 1 . 37 . 10.1121/AT.2023.19.1.37 . 257147149 .
• http://web1.newpaltz.k12.ny.us/local/high_school/Teachers/swunderlich/speech_banana.htm

Notes and References

1. Lin . Frank R. . Metter . E. Jeffrey . O’Brien . Richard J. . Resnick . Susan M. . Zonderman . Alan B. . Ferrucci . Luigi . Hearing Loss and Incident Dementia . Archives of Neurology . February 2011 . 68 . 2 . 214–220 . 10.1001/archneurol.2010.362 . 21320988 . 3277836 .