scholarly journals Rate discrimination training may partially restore temporal processing abilities from age-related deficits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samira Anderson ◽  
Lindsay DeVries ◽  
Edward Wilson Smith ◽  
Matthew J Goupell ◽  
Sandra Gordon-Salant
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Training ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Pulse Trains ◽  
Sentence Recognition ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Rate Discrimination

The ability to understand speech in complex environments depends on the ability of the brain to preserve the precise timing characteristics of the speech signal. Age-related declines in temporal processing may contribute to the communication difficulties in challenging listening conditions experienced by older adults. The study purpose was to evaluate the effects of rate discrimination training on auditory temporal processing. A double-blind, randomized control design assigned 77 young normal-hearing, older normal-hearing, and older hearing-impaired listeners to one of two treatment groups: experimental (rate discrimination for 100-Hz and 300-Hz pulse trains) and active control (tone detection in noise). All listeners were evaluated during pre- and post-training sessions using perceptual rate discrimination of 100-, 200-, 300-, and 400-Hz band-limited pulse trains and auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) to the same stimuli. Training generalization was evaluated using several temporal processing measures and sentence recognition tests that included time-compressed and reverberant speech stimuli. Results demonstrated a session x training group interaction for perceptual and ASSR testing to the trained frequencies (100 and 300 Hz), driven by greater improvements in the training group than in the active control group. Further, post-test rate discrimination of the older listeners reached levels that were equivalent to those of the younger listeners at pre-test. The training-specific gains generalized to untrained frequencies (200 and 400 Hz), but not to other temporal processing or sentence recognition measures. Further, non-auditory inhibition/attention performance predicted training-related improvement in rate discrimination. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential for auditory training to partially restore temporal processing in older listeners and highlight the role of cognitive function in these gains.

scholarly journals Age-Related Temporal Processing Deficits in Word Segments in Adult Cochlear-Implant Users

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 233121651988668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zilong Xie ◽  
Casey R. Gaskins ◽  
Maureen J. Shader ◽  
Sandra Gordon-Salant ◽  
Samira Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Categorization Task ◽  
Performance Differences ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Age Related

Aging may limit speech understanding outcomes in cochlear-implant (CI) users. Here, we examined age-related declines in auditory temporal processing as a potential mechanism that underlies speech understanding deficits associated with aging in CI users. Auditory temporal processing was assessed with a categorization task for the words dish and ditch (i.e., identify each token as the word dish or ditch) on a continuum of speech tokens with varying silence duration (0 to 60 ms) prior to the final fricative. In Experiments 1 and 2, younger CI (YCI), middle-aged CI (MCI), and older CI (OCI) users participated in the categorization task across a range of presentation levels (25 to 85 dB). Relative to YCI, OCI required longer silence durations to identify ditch and exhibited reduced ability to distinguish the words dish and ditch (shallower slopes in the categorization function). Critically, we observed age-related performance differences only at higher presentation levels. This contrasted with findings from normal-hearing listeners in Experiment 3 that demonstrated age-related performance differences independent of presentation level. In summary, aging in CI users appears to degrade the ability to utilize brief temporal cues in word identification, particularly at high levels. Age-specific CI programming may potentially improve clinical outcomes for speech understanding performance by older CI listeners.

scholarly journals Age-related changes in auditory temporal processing in the rat

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 739-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Šuta ◽  
Natalia Rybalko ◽  
Jana Pelánová ◽  
Jiří Popelář ◽  
Josef Syka
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

scholarly journals Impact of Aging and the Electrode-to-Neural Interface on Temporal Processing Ability in Cochlear-Implant Users: Amplitude-Modulation Detection Thresholds

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 233121652093616
Author(s):  
Maureen J. Shader ◽  
Sandra Gordon-Salant ◽  
Matthew J. Goupell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Neural Interface ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Detection Thresholds ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Processing Ability

Although cochlear implants (CIs) are a viable treatment option for severe hearing loss in adults of any age, older adults may be at a disadvantage compared with younger adults. CIs deliver signals that contain limited spectral information, requiring CI users to attend to the temporal information within the signal to recognize speech. Older adults are susceptible to acquiring auditory temporal processing deficits, presenting a potential age-related limitation for recognizing speech signals delivered by CIs. The goal of this study was to measure auditory temporal processing ability via amplitude-modulation (AM) detection as a function of age in CI users. The contribution of the electrode-to-neural interface, in addition to age, was estimated using electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) amplitude growth functions. Within each participant, two electrodes were selected: one with the steepest ECAP slope and one with the shallowest ECAP slope, in order to represent electrodes with varied estimates of the electrode-to-neural interface. Single-electrode AM detection thresholds were measured using direct stimulation at these two electrode locations. Results revealed that AM detection ability significantly declined as a function of chronological age. ECAP slope did not significantly impact AM detection, but ECAP slope decreased (became shallower) with increasing age, suggesting that factors influencing the electrode-to-neural interface change with age. Results demonstrated a significant negative impact of chronological age on auditory temporal processing. The locus of the age-related limitation (peripheral vs. central origin), however, is difficult to evaluate because the peripheral influence (ECAPs) was correlated with the central factor (age).

Age‐related changes in auditory temporal processing

1985 ◽  
Vol 77 (S1) ◽  
pp. S37-S37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald A. Robin ◽  
Fred L. Royer ◽  
Joseph J. Gruhn
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

scholarly journals Metacognitive-strategy training promotes decision-making ability in older adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Rosi ◽  
Tomaso Vecchi ◽  
Elena Cavallini
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Strategy Training ◽  
Metacognitive Strategy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Training Groups ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Metacognitive Strategy Training

AbstractResearch on decision making and aging has shown that some decision-making skills decrease with age. Despite these age-related declines, no study has yet investigated the possibility of promoting improvements in decision-making skills in older adults. The present study was designed to address this gap in literature by examining the efficacy of a metacognitive-strategy decision-making training on practiced and non-practiced tasks. The training was based on the use of specific metacognitive principles and analytical strategies for promoting an analytical mode of thinking in the decision-making process. We examined 66 older adults (Mage= 67.52 years, SD = 5.38; age range 60-81) assigned to two training groups: a metacognitive-strategy decision-making training group and an active control group involved in a strategic memory intervention. Both training groups attended four 2-hour training sessions conducted once a week. Results showed that, after intervention, the decision-making training group improved their decision-making skills significantly more than the active control training group. Crucially, the positive effect of the training was evident in both practiced and non-practiced decision-making tasks. This is the first study investigating the efficacy of a decision-making training in older adults based on metacognitive and strategic principles.

scholarly journals Perceptual Training Restores Impaired Cortical Temporal Processing Due to Lead Exposure

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 334-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqing Zhu ◽  
Xia Liu ◽  
Fanfan Wei ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Michael M. Merzenich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Repetition Rate ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Primary Auditory Cortex ◽  
Perceptual Training ◽  
Auditory Temporal Processing ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Rate Discrimination

Abstract Low-level lead exposure is a risk factor for cognitive and learning disabilities in children and has been specifically associated with deficits in auditory temporal processing that impair aural language and reading abilities. Here, we show that rats exposed to low levels of lead in early life display a significant behavioral impairment in an auditory temporal rate discrimination task. Lead exposure also results in a degradation of the neuronal repetition-rate following capacity and response synchronization in primary auditory cortex. A modified go/no-go repetition-rate discrimination task applied in adult animals for ∼50 days nearly restores to normal these lead-induced deficits in cortical temporal fidelity. Cortical expressions of parvalbumin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and NMDA receptor subunits NR2a and NR2b, which are down-regulated in lead-exposed animals, are also partially reversed with training. These studies in an animal model identify the primary auditory cortex as a novel target for low-level lead exposure and demonstrate that perceptual training can ameliorate lead-induced deficits in cortical discrimination between sound sequences.

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