Neural mechanisms of speech learning in older adults

老年人言语学习的神经机制

• 批准号: 8134848
• 负责人: PATRICK C M WONG
• 金额: $ 14.26万
• 依托单位: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8134848
• 关键词: Acoustics; Address; Adult; Affect; Area; Attention; Auditory; Auditory area; Behavioral; Brain; Brain region; Categories; Characteristics; Clinical Research; Cognition; Cognitive; Communication; Communication impairment; Complex; Development; Ear; Elderly; Environment; Financial compensation; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Gerontology; Goals; Hearing; Impaired cognition; Independent Scientist Award; Individual; Individual Differences; Laboratories; Language; Language Development; Learning; Life; Lobule; Masks; Measures; Mediating; Memory; Methods; Modeling; Neuroanatomy; Noise; Outcome; Parietal; Pattern; Perception; Performance; Phonetics; Play; Population; Prefrontal Cortex; Publishing; Relative (related person); Research; Research Design; Research Personnel; Resources; Restaurants; Retirement; Role; Sensory; Short-Term Memory; Signal Transduction; Speech; Speech Perception; Speech Sound; Stimulus; Taxes; Testing; Training; Training Programs; Variant; Work; aging brain; association cortex; career; cognitive training; comparative efficacy; experience; improved; lexical; neuroimaging; neuromechanism; neurophysiology; phonology; programs; public health relevance; remediation; response; sound; success; trend; young adult

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Healthy older listeners show decline in cognitive and complex speech perception abilities. Complex speech perception in the real-world, including listening to highly variable speech sounds (phonemes) produced by multiple talkers and listening to speech in noise, has been shown to require cognitive resources. The overarching goal of the newly proposed research is to test the hypothesis that cognitive training preceding complex speech training will result in better real-world speech communication abilities in healthy older adults. This hypothesis is grounded in the decline-compensation model of the aging brain, which postulates that decline in sensory abilities (auditory cortex) can be compensated by increased engagement of general cognitive cortical regions such as the prefrontal cortex, which cognitive training is expected to provide. The PI's current R01 is examining speech learning in younger adults, with the hypothesis that efficacy of complex speech learning (multi-talker/high-variability sound-to-word learning) is mediated by cognitive brain regions (superior parietal lobule for auditory attention and prefrontal cortex for working memory). The purpose of this K02 award is to allow the PI to extend his current work in younger adults to the elderly population, including examinations of the neurophysiological underpinnings of the efficacy of prescribing cognitive training before multi-talker sound-to-word and speech in noise training. Per the decline-compensation model, we hypothesize that the engagement of cognitive brain regions post-training is critical to the success in complex speech learning. The two important issues concerning older adults addressed by this research is the trend for this population to seek cognitively stimulating post-retirement activities including effective second language learning programs and the need to overcome central auditory deficits (with speech perception in noise difficulty being the chief complaint) in order to participate fully in (noisy) everyday environments. This K02 award will also allow the PI to receive didactic and laboratory training in gerontology (including neuroimaging in older adults) and clinical research designs to prepare him for a life-long career as a clinician-translational researcher. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Many older adults experience difficulty understanding speech in real-world environments such as restaurants. Some elderly individuals reportedly avoid socializing (e.g., dining in restaurants) because it is difficult for them to communicate in such environments. While this difficulty can be related to their ears and to the fact that sounds are not loud enough for them to hear, reduced brain functions affecting memory and attention might also be playing a major role. Our research will seek to explore whether training focusing first on memory and attention prior to speech perception training of real-world environments could result in better overall spoken language communication in older adults; an additional goal is to examine the underlying brain responses to such possible improvements.

描述（由申请人提供）：健康的老年听众表现出认知和复杂言语感知能力下降。现实世界中复杂的语音感知，包括聆听多个说话者产生的高度可变的语音（音素）以及聆听噪声中的语音，已被证明需要认知资源。新提出的研究的总体目标是检验这样的假设：在复杂的言语训练之前进行认知训练将使健康的老年人获得更好的现实世界言语沟通能力。这一假设基于衰老大脑的衰退补偿模型，该模型假设感觉能力（听觉皮层）的下降可以通过增加一般认知皮质区域（例如前额皮质）的参与来补偿，而认知训练预计可以提供这种功能。 PI 目前的 R01 正在研究年轻人的言语学习，假设复杂的言语学习（多说话者/高变异性声音到单词学习）的功效是由认知脑区域（负责听觉注意力的顶上小叶和前额皮质负责工作记忆）。 K02 奖项的目的是让 PI 将其目前在年轻人中的工作扩展到老年人口，包括检查多说话者声音到单词和噪声中语音之前进行认知训练的有效性的神经生理学基础训练。根据衰退补偿模型，我们假设训练后认知大脑区域的参与对于复杂语音学习的成功至关重要。本研究解决的有关老年人的两个重要问题是，该人群寻求退休后认知刺激活动的趋势，包括有效的第二语言学习计划和克服中枢听觉缺陷的需要（噪音中的言语感知困难是主要抱怨） ）以便充分参与（嘈杂的）日常环境。该 K02 奖项还将使 PI 能够接受老年学（包括老年人神经影像学）和临床研究设计方面的教学和实验室培训，为他作为临床医生转化研究员的终身职业生涯做好准备。 公共卫生相关性：许多老年人在餐馆等现实环境中难以理解言语。据报道，一些老年人避免社交活动（例如在餐馆就餐），因为他们在这种环境中很难沟通。虽然这种困难可能与他们的耳朵以及声音不足以让他们听到这一事实有关，但影响记忆和注意力的大脑功能下降也可能发挥着重要作用。我们的研究将探讨在现实环境中进行言语感知训练之前首先关注记忆和注意力的训练是否可以使老年人获得更好的整体口语交流；另一个目标是检查大脑对这种可能的改进的潜在反应。