Aging: A Switch From Automatic to Controlled Processing of Sounds?

Alain, Claude; McDonald, Kelly L.; Ostroff, Jodi M.; Schneider, Bruce A.

doi:10.1037/0882-7974.19.1.125

Cited by 99 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Infrequent deviants occurring in a sequence of standard stimuli typically elicit the MMN wave. Previous studies have shown that more salient stimuli with longer gaps give rise to higher amplitudes and shorter latencies [9][10][11][12][13]. In those studies, both gap duration and perceptual accuracy were confounded, making it difficult to determine whether the increase in MMN amplitude with gap size reflected gap duration per se or perceptual saliency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Within- and between-channel gap detection in the human auditory cortex

Heinrich¹,

Alain²,

Schneider³

2004

NeuroReport

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We examined the neural correlates associated with a short gap between two identical pure tones (within-channel) and between two di¡erent tones (between-channel) in an odd-ball paradigm. Gap durations were selected such that a gap between identical tones was as discriminable as a gap between two di¡erent tones. Spatio-temporal dipole source modeling of electrophysiological data revealed a signi¢cant di¡erence between standard and deviant gap stimuli, with mismatch negativity responses that were comparable in amplitude and latency for within-and betweenchannel conditions.Therefore, the ability to automatically register discontinuity (i.e., gap) within and between channels is comparable despite signi¢cant di¡erences in gap size.The dipole source modeling suggests that both within-and between-gap signals are represented in or near the primary auditory cortex. NeuroReport

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Within- and between-channel gap detection in the human auditory cortex

Heinrich¹,

Alain²,

Schneider³

2004

NeuroReport

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“…Applying this to the present findings, recall that reverberation and short WDRC release times cause additive distortion to the temporal envelope of a speech signal (Reinhart et al, 2016). In addition, age and hearing loss already require compensatory top-down processing of speech (Alain, McDonald, Ostroff, & Schneider, 2004;Pichora-Fuller, Schneider, & Daneman, 1995). Thus, it may be that the additional distortion introduced by short WDRC release times overloads the cognitive compensation mechanism (i.e., task demand surpasses available cognitive resources) when listeners are already being taxed by aging, hearing loss, and reverberation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intelligibility and Clarity of Reverberant Speech: Effects of Wide Dynamic Range Compression Release Time and Working Memory

Reinhart

Souza

2016

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of varying wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) release time on intelligibility and clarity of reverberant speech. The study also considered the role of individual working memory. Method: Thirty older listeners with mild to moderatelysevere sloping sensorineural hearing loss participated. Individuals were divided into high and low working memory groups on the basis of the results of a reading span test. Participants listened binaurally to sentence stimuli simulated at a range of reverberation conditions and WDRC release times using a high compression ratio. Outcome measures included objective intelligibility and subjective clarity ratings.Results: Speech intelligibility and clarity ratings both decreased as a function of reverberation. The low working memory group demonstrated a greater decrease in intelligibility with increasing amounts of reverberation than the high working memory group. Both groups, regardless of working memory, had higher speech intelligibility and clarity ratings with longer WDRC release times. WDRC release time had a larger effect on speech intelligibility under more reverberant conditions. Conclusions: Reverberation significantly affects speech intelligibility, particularly for individuals with lower working memory. In addition, longer release times in hearing aids may improve listener speech intelligibility and clarity in reverberant environments.

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“…This effect, however, is reduced when older participants are instructed to actively attend to the temporal structure of the auditory presentations. Alain and colleagues showed that while automatic central auditory processing may be reduced in older adults (Alain, McDonald, Ostroff, & Schneider, 2004;for review: Alain, Dyson, & Snyder, 2006), older adults are as sensitive as young adults to near-threshold deviance gaps during active listening conditions.…”

Section: Visual Dominancementioning

confidence: 99%

Visual dominance and multisensory integration changes with age

2013

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Objects comprise of visual and auditory signatures that arrive through distinct sensory channels. Exposure to cross-modal events sets up expectations about what a given object most likely "sounds" like, and vice versa, thereby facilitating detection and recognition. Whereas episodic and working memory functions decline with age, the extent to which multisensory integration processes change with age remains an open question. In the present study, we examined whether multisensory integration processes play a compensatory role in normal aging. Magnetoencephalography recordings of semantically-related cross-modal and unimodal auditory and visual stimuli captured the spatiotemporal dynamics of multisensory responses in young and older adults. Whereas sensory-specific regions showed increased activity in response to cross-modal compared to unimodal stimuli 100 ms after stimulus onset in both age groups, posterior parietal and medial prefrontal regions responded preferentially to cross-modal stimuli between 150 and 300 ms in the older group only. Additionally, faster detection of cross-modal stimuli correlated with increased activity in inferior parietal and medial prefrontal regions 100 ms after stimulus onset in older compared to younger adults. Age-related differences in visual dominance were also observed with older adults exhibiting significantly larger multisensory facilitation effects relative to the auditory modality. Using structural equation modeling, we showed that age-related increases in parietal and medial prefrontal source activity predicted faster detection of cross-modal stimuli. Furthermore, the relationship between performance and source activity was mediated by age-related reductions in gray matter volume in those regions. Thus, we propose that multisensory integration processes change with age such that posterior parietal and medial prefrontal activity underlies the integrated response in older adults. AbstractObjects comprise of visual and auditory signatures that arrive through distinct sensory channels. Exposure to cross-modal events sets up expectations about what a given object most likely "sounds" like, and vice versa, thereby facilitating detection and recognition. Whereas episodic and working memory functions decline with age, the extent to which multisensory integration processes change with age remains an open question. In the present study, we examined whether multisensory integration processes play a compensatory role in normal aging. Magnetoencephalography recordings of semantically-related cross-modal and unimodal auditory and visual stimuli captured the spatiotemporal dynamics of multisensory responses in young and older adults. Whereas sensory-specific regions showed increased activity in response to cross-modal compared to unimodal stimuli 100ms after stimulus onset in both age groups, posterior parietal and medial prefrontal regions responded preferentially to cross-modal stimuli between 150 and 300ms in the older group only. Additionally, faster detection of cross-moda...

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Aging: A Switch From Automatic to Controlled Processing of Sounds?

Cited by 99 publications

References 36 publications

Within- and between-channel gap detection in the human auditory cortex

Within- and between-channel gap detection in the human auditory cortex

Intelligibility and Clarity of Reverberant Speech: Effects of Wide Dynamic Range Compression Release Time and Working Memory

Visual dominance and multisensory integration changes with age

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