Effects of Age on the Auditory Cortex During Speech Perception in Noise: Evidence From Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.
Liu Yang, Songjian Wang, Younuo Chen and 5 others
PMID 38268081WHAT IT FOUND
Even with normal hearing thresholds, older adults struggle more with speech in noise.
This study links that difficulty to reduced flexibility in the auditory cortex and a shift in brain activation from the left to the right hemisphere as people age.
Key findings
01Speech recognition scores in noise were significantly lower in older adults compared to younger and middle-aged groups, despite all participants having clinically normal hearing.
02The auditory cortex shows less moment-to-moment variability (flexibility) in older adults than in younger adults during speech-in-noise tasks.
03Aging is associated with a shift in brain activation during speech processing from the left hemisphere (typical in youth) toward the right hemisphere.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only right-handed native Mandarin speakers, so findings may not generalize to other languages or handedness. The elderly group was relatively young (60-70 years) and cognitively intact, excluding those with dementia or severe hearing loss. fNIRS has limited depth, so only cortical surface activity was measured, not deeper subcortical structures. The cross-sectional design cannot determine if the observed brain changes are caused by aging or other factors.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a patient with normal pure-tone thresholds has normal speech perception in noise. This study shows that cortical processing changes with age even when the ear works perfectly, meaning audiograms alone may miss central auditory deficits in older adults.