Abstract Background and Aim: In humans, saccular acoustic sensitivity has been confirmed. The aim was to determine the effect of saccular acoustic sensitivity on word-in-noise perception. Methods: In this comparative cross-sectional study, 101 participants in the age group of 14–25 years with normal hearing and middle ear function, detecable vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP), normal states of mental health, and night sleep were investigated. The scores of word-in-noise perception and word-in-noise discrimination tests were evaluated for each person at two intensity levels, most comfortable listening (MCL) and saccular acoustic sensitivity. Mann–Whitney was used for the multiple comparisons. The significance level was <0.05. Results: There was a significant difference between the scores of the word-in-noise perception test at MCL levels and saccular acoustic sensitivity (U = 3971.50, Z = −2.10, p ’ = 0.04), and also between the scores of the word-in-noise discrimination test at the MCL level compared to saccular acoustic sensitivity level (U = 399.89, Z = −2.49, p ’ = 0.04). The mean scores of the word-in-noise discrimination test at the saccular acoustic sensitivity level were higher than the mean scores at the MCL level (U = 705.50, Z= −3.78, p ’= 0.00), and also the mean scores of the word-in-noise discrimination test, and also at the MCL level (U = 3484.00, Z = −3.72, p ’ = 0.00). Conclusion: The vestibular system participates in the lexical-semantic comprehension. Also, the performance of word-in-noise perception is more difficult than the word-in-noise discrimination for high intensity and comfort stimuli.
Emami et al. (2025) studied this question.