Background: Adolescence is a period of heightened neural plasticity underlying the improvement of cognitive and perceptual skills required to succeed in complex social environments. Among these, the ability to perceive speech signals in the presence of noise or competing speakers is crucial in teenagers’ daily-life interactions. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying speech perception in noise (SIN) protracted development remain poorly understood, but likely stem from changes at the endocrine and neural levels. As part of the SensationaHL pubertal development cohort collection, this study investigates the effects of puberty on the electrophysiological changes underlying auditory and cognitive development supporting SIN.

Methods: We will present electrophysiological data from a subset of participants (9–18 years old) enrolled in a two-year longitudinal cohort providing measures of pubertal stage, hormonal levels, cognition, SIN, and multimodal neuroimaging (HD-EEG and MRI). We will focus on HD-EEG measures of cortical tracking of speech (CTS) during passive listening to continuous speech in 3 conditions: quiet, energetic masking (EM; envelope-modulated speech-shaped noise) and informational masking (IM; two-talker babble).

Results: Preliminary findings from a subset of participants at T1 suggest developmental improvements in both SIN perception and CTS, particularly in IM. Moreover, better SIN performance correlates with higher CTS, suggesting a link between behavioural and neural measures. Finally, we are investigating the role of puberty in such neurobehavioral developmental trajectories during adolescence.

Discussion: Results will be interpreted in the context of adolescent neurodevelopment, with a focus on the potential role of puberty in triggering a second sensitive period for the maturation of complex auditory perception. Furthermore, such study holds potential for practical implications: the emphasis on speech-in-noise perception addresses a real-world challenge with potential effects on academic performance and social interactions during this sensitive developmental phase.