Musical Experience and Understanding Speech in Noise
The Aging Auditory System: Implications for Cognitive Abilities and Hearing Speech in Noise
Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092743/
Much of our daily communication occurs in the presence of background noise, compromising our ability to hear. While understanding speech in noise is a challenge for everyone, it becomes increasingly difficult as we age. Although aging is generally accompanied by hearing loss, this perceptual decline cannot fully account for the difficulties experienced by older adults for hearing in noise. Decreased cognitive skills concurrent with reduced perceptual acuity are thought to contribute to the difficulty older adults experience understanding speech in noise.
Given that musical experience positively impacts speech perception in noise in young adults (ages 18–30), we asked whether musical experience benefits an older cohort of musicians (ages 45–65), potentially offsetting the age-related decline in speech-in-noise perceptual abilities and associated cognitive function (i.e., working memory). Consistent with performance in young adults, older musicians demonstrated enhanced speech-in-noise perception relative to nonmusicians along with greater auditory, but not visual, working memory capacity. By demonstrating that speech-in-noise perception and related cognitive function are enhanced in older musicians, our results imply that musical training may reduce the impact of age-related auditory decline.
Introduction
Aging negatively affects the ability to understand speech in noise (SIN). Although hearing loss can explain some of the SIN perception difficulties experienced with aging, SIN perception difficulties cannot be wholly accounted for by hearing thresholds. Declines in auditory acuity, temporal processing, memory, speed of information processing and the ability to filter out irrelevant competing auditory input also contribute to difficulties reported by older adults for hearing SIN.
Listening to speech in noise requires an active interplay between cognitive (e.g., attention and memory) and perceptual processes that enable the nervous system to distinguish between a target voice and competing noise. As listening conditions become harder (i.e., the background noise becomes louder), hearing becomes more effortful and increasingly dependent on the recruitment of attentional and working memory resources. Therefore, individuals with heightened memory capabilities may be better able to overcome the deleterious effects of background noise on perception, aiding in the retention, rehearsal and recall of the target speech signal.
Conclusion and future directions
The demographic shift towards an increasingly older population is accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of perceptual and cognitive disorders. One means of offsetting or slowing down age-related declines may be through engaging in mentally stimulating activities, such as musical practice. While research into the impact of musical training on aging processes is a new avenue of investigation, our results indicate a positive role of lifelong musical training on auditory perception and cognitive processes. It is also possible that musical training during developmental years enhances working memory, temporal resolution and SIN and that these effects are carried forward throughout the lifespan.
Additional research might tease apart these two possibilities by comparing cognitive and perceptual performance in older adults who ceased musical training at different developmental stages with those who have engaged in musical activities throughout their lives. Regardless of the outcome, the results presented here indicate that older adults with extensive musical backgrounds are better equipped to deal with the auditory perceptual demands of real-world situations. Although more work is needed to determine the efficacy of using music as a management strategy for perceptual and cognitive declines, these results underscore the potential remediatory benefits of musical training for an aging population.
Editor's Note: The entire article may be read at the National Library of Medicine, Institutes of Health: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092743/
Aging Ment Health. 2007 Jul; 11(4):464-71.
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