Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 28, 2026
06:48
Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
9.9K
Cingulo-Opercular Function During Word Recognition in Noise for Older Adults with Hearing Loss.
Kenneth I Vaden1, Stefanie E Kuchinsky2, Jayne B Ahlstrom1
1a Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , South Carolina , USA.
Experimental Aging Research
|December 20, 2015
Summary
Adaptive control, involving cingulo-opercular brain activity, aids word recognition in noise for older adults with hearing loss. This benefit was consistent across different hearing loss severity levels.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Adaptive control, indicated by cingulo-opercular (CO) brain region activity, enhances performance on difficult tasks by monitoring outcomes and adjusting behavior.
- CO function aids word recognition in noise for normal-hearing individuals.
- Auditory system impairments may reduce the benefits of adaptive control for communication.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of CO engagement in supporting word recognition in noise for older adults with varying degrees of hearing loss (HL).
Main Methods:
- Participants were divided into Less HL (n=12) and More HL (n=12) groups based on pure tone average (PTA).
- A word recognition task in multitalker babble at varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) was conducted during sparse acquisition fMRI.
- Participants were middle-aged to older adults (64.1 ± 8.4 years) with no neurological or psychiatric diagnoses.
Main Results:
- Elevated CO activity predicted increased likelihood of correct word recognition on subsequent trials, irrespective of hearing loss group.
- The More HL group showed greater blood oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) contrast in occipital and parietal regions during word recognition errors compared to the Less HL group.
- Greater CO activity during errors correlated with better overall word recognition performance across all participants.
Conclusions:
- The trial-level benefit of CO activity for word recognition in noise was equivalent between the Less HL and More HL groups.
- CO-mediated adaptive control contributes to word recognition in noise for older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, provided speech audibility and performance levels are comparable.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:31Hearing
58.7K
When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.
58.7K
01:17Auditory Perception
1.5K
The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the...
1.5K
01:24Prosopagnosia
1.1K
Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...
1.1K
01:21Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
1.3K
The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
1.3K
01:15Auditory Pathway
8.9K
Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...
8.9K
01:25Olfaction
49.8K
The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
49.8K