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Cocktail-party listening and cognitive abilities show strong pleiotropy.
Samuel R Mathias1,2, Emma E M Knowles1,2, Josephine Mollon1,2
1Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
Frontiers in Neurology
|March 27, 2023
Summary
Genetic factors significantly influence speech-reception thresholds (SRTs) in complex listening environments. These genetic factors substantially overlap with those affecting various cognitive abilities, not just auditory ones.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Behavioral Genetics
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- The cocktail-party problem describes the challenge of isolating desired sounds from background noise.
- Previous research indicates that solving this problem involves both perceptual and cognitive functions.
- Our prior work identified genetic influences on speech-reception thresholds (SRTs) in challenging listening situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the extent of genetic overlap between SRTs and various cognitive abilities.
- To determine if genetic factors influencing auditory processing also impact non-auditory cognitive domains.
Main Methods:
- Measured SRTs and hearing thresholds (HTs) in 493 participants across a wide age range (18-91 years).
- Administered a cognitive test battery with 18 measures across different cognitive domains.
- Utilized variance component models on extended pedigrees to estimate heritability and genetic correlations.
Main Results:
- All measured traits, including SRTs and cognitive abilities, demonstrated significant heritability.
- Phenotypic and genetic correlations between SRTs and HTs were modest.
- Strong and significant genetic correlations were found between SRTs and a broad spectrum of cognitive abilities, suggesting shared genetic influences.
Conclusions:
- Substantial genetic overlap exists between the ability to overcome the cocktail-party problem and diverse cognitive functions.
- These findings underscore the critical role of higher-order cognitive processes in complex auditory scene analysis.
- Highlights the need to consider broader cognitive genetics when investigating the biological underpinnings of auditory perception.
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