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Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
Speech recognition in younger and older adults: a dependency on low-level auditory cortex
Kelly C Harris1, Judy R Dubno, Noam I Keren
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425-5500, USA. harriskc@musc.edu
Summary
Older adults struggle with speech understanding due to age-related brain changes. Structural differences in the Heschl's gyrus/superior temporal gyrus (HG/STG) predict word recognition, impacting hearing rehabilitation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Cognitive Aging
Background:
- Difficulty understanding speech is common in older adults, particularly in noisy environments.
- Peripheral hearing loss and central auditory/attentional system changes contribute to age-related speech recognition decline.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how functional and structural brain differences predict word recognition in younger and older adults.
- To determine the relationship between brain structure, function, and speech perception across age groups.
Main Methods:
- 18 younger and 18 older adults performed a word recognition task during fMRI.
- Structural MRI and functional activation were analyzed in relation to word recognition performance.
- Causal path modeling was used to assess the influence of brain morphology on performance.
Main Results:
- Older adults showed significantly poorer word recognition in challenging conditions.
- Gray matter volume in the Heschl's gyrus/superior temporal gyrus (HG/STG) predicted word recognition across age groups.
- Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation differences were observed, linking HG/STG structure, word recognition, and ACC activity, even after accounting for hearing loss.
Conclusions:
- Structural changes in the HG/STG contribute to age-related speech recognition difficulties.
- Individual variations in HG/STG morphology influence speech recognition, reflected in ACC error monitoring.
- Findings suggest potential clinical applications for auditory rehabilitation and highlight how aging may exacerbate speech recognition limitations.
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