Noise Affects Performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Audiology
• Neuropsychology

Background:

• Cognitive function assessment is vital for older adults.
• Hearing ability and environmental factors can influence cognitive test outcomes.
• The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a widely used cognitive screening tool.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of background noise on Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) performance.
• To compare the impact of noise on cognitive performance across different age and hearing groups.

Main Methods:

• Administered two versions of the MoCA to younger adults (normal hearing) and older adults (normal hearing and hearing loss).
• Participants completed the MoCA in low and high background noise conditions via headphones.
• Test intensity was adjusted for participants with hearing loss to ensure uniform difficulty in high noise.

Main Results:

• Both older adult groups scored lower on the MoCA in noise compared to the younger group.
• All participants demonstrated significantly poorer MoCA scores in high-noise (M=22.7/30) versus low-noise (M=25.7/30) conditions.
• Hearing loss did not exacerbate the negative effects of noise on MoCA scores beyond the general age-related decline in noise.

Conclusions:

• Background noise negatively affects MoCA performance across all tested groups.
• Cognitive test environments should be controlled for noise, especially when assessing older adults.
• Interpreting cognitive test results requires consideration of the auditory environment.