The search for correlates of age-related cochlear synaptopathy: Measures of temporal envelope processing and spatial release from speech-on-speech masking

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Abstract

Older adults often experience difficulties understanding speech in adverse listening conditions. It has been suggested that for listeners with normal and near-normal audiograms, these difficulties may, at least in part, arise from age-related cochlear synaptopathy. The aim of this study was to assess if performance on auditory tasks relying on temporal envelope processing reveal age-related deficits consistent with those expected from cochlear synaptopathy. Listeners aged 20 to 66 years were tested using a series of psychophysical, electrophysiological, and speech-perception measures using stimulus configurations that promote coding by medium- and low-spontaneous-rate auditory-nerve fibers. Cognitive measures of executive function were obtained to control for age-related cognitive decline. Results from the different tests were not significantly correlated with each other despite a presumed reliance on common mechanisms involved in temporal envelope processing. Only gap-detection thresholds for a tone in noise and spatial release from speech-on-speech masking were significantly correlated with age. Increasing age was related to impaired cognitive executive function. Multivariate regression analyses showed that individual differences in hearing sensitivity, envelope-based measures, and scores from nonauditory cognitive tests did not significantly contribute to the variability in spatial release from speech-on-speech masking for small target/masker spatial separation, while age was a significant contributor.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number108333
JournalHearing Research
Volume409
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 15 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NIH grant R01 DC015987 (M.W.). We would like to thank Alix Klang and Shashee Yang for assistance with data collection, and Anahita Mehta for her input during the initial stages of setting up the EEG experiment.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Cochlear synaptopathy
  • Spatial release from masking
  • Temporal envelope processing

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