Sequencing versus nonsequencing working memory in understanding of rapid speech by older listeners.

The goal of this study was to identify specific neurocognitive deficits that are associated with older listeners' difficulty understanding rapid speech. Older listeners performed speech recognition tests comprised of time-compressed sentences with and without context, and on a neurocognitive battery aimed specifically at testing working memory, processing speed, and attention. A principle component analysis identified three main cognitive components as follows: a sequencing working memory (WM-S) component, a nonsequencing working memory (WM-NS) component, and a processing speed (PS) component. Each of the cognitive component scores was divided into high, mid, and low categories. Sentence performance of the cognitive subgroups was compared within each component. The results showed that, with hearing loss and age accounted for, the cognitive score groups differed similarly on the sentence condition scores also at 50 and 60% time compression, particularly on the subgroups of the WM-S component. The results suggest that deficits in a separate working memory function identified as sequencing were associated with differences in ability to understand time-compressed speech in this study.

[1]  T. Salthouse,et al.  Influence of processing speed on adult age differences in working memory. , 1992, Acta psychologica.

[2]  Colin M. Brown,et al.  ERP effects of listening to speech compared to reading: the P600/SPS to syntactic violations in spoken sentences and rapid serial visual presentation , 2000, Neuropsychologia.

[3]  B. J. Casey,et al.  Activation of the prefrontal cortex in a nonspatial working memory task with functional MRI , 1994, Human brain mapping.

[4]  Jason Brandt,et al.  Validation of the brief test of attention in patients with huntington's disease and amnesia , 1996 .

[5]  Edward E. Smith,et al.  Temporal dynamics of brain activation during a working memory task , 1997, Nature.

[6]  Edward T. Bullmore,et al.  Prolonged Reaction Time to a Verbal Working Memory Task Predicts Increased Power of Posterior Parietal Cortical Activation , 2000, NeuroImage.

[7]  Arthur Wingfield,et al.  Rapid speech processing and divided attention: processing rate versus processing resources as an explanation of age effects. , 1992, Psychology and aging.

[8]  G. Dell,et al.  Language production and serial order: a functional analysis and a model. , 1997, Psychological review.

[9]  M. Faust,et al.  Evidence for identity inhibition during selective attention in old adults. , 1993, Psychology and aging.

[10]  J. Fuster.  Cortex and mind : unifying cognition , 2003 .

[11]  E. Hardam,et al.  High quality time scale modification of speech signals using fast synchronized-overlap-add algorithms , 1990, International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing.

[12]  H. Goodglass,et al.  Effects of age and hearing sensitivity on the use of prosodic information in spoken word recognition. , 2000, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[13]  Graham Naylor,et al.  Linear and nonlinear hearing aid fittings – 2. Patterns of candidature , 2006, International journal of audiology.

[14]  M. Kutas,et al.  The N400 in a semantic categorization task across 6 decades. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[15]  R Plomp,et al.  Auditive and cognitive factors in speech perception by elderly listeners. II: Multivariate analyses. , 1990, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[16]  IEEE Recommended Practice for Speech Quality Measurements , 1969, IEEE Transactions on Audio and Electroacoustics.

[17]  S. Hale,et al.  Relationships among processing speed, working memory, and fluid intelligence in children , 2000, Biological Psychology.

[18]  Paula Tallal,et al.  Identification of language-impaired children on the basis of rapid perception and production skills , 1985, Brain and Language.

[19]  An EEG coherence test of the frontal dorsal versus ventral hypothesis in N-back working memory. , 2000, Brain and cognition.

[20]  J. Cerella,et al.  Adult information processing: Limits on loss. , 1993 .

[21]  C. Marshuetz,et al.  Order information in working memory: an integrative review of evidence from brain and behavior. , 2005, Psychological bulletin.

[22]  G. Mulder,et al.  Language, memory, and aging: an electrophysiological exploration of the N400 during reading of memory-demanding sentences. , 1995, Psychophysiology.

[23]  B. Milner,et al.  Deficits on subject-ordered tasks after frontal- and temporal-lobe lesions in man , 1982, Neuropsychologia.

[24]  J Jerger,et al.  Correlational analysis of speech audiometric scores, hearing loss, age, and cognitive abilities in the elderly. , 1991, Ear and hearing.

[25]  R Plomp,et al.  Auditive and cognitive factors in speech perception by elderly listeners. III. Additional data and final discussion. , 1990, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[26]  S. Gordon-Salant,et al.  Sources of age-related recognition difficulty for time-compressed speech. , 2001, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[27]  M. Sommers,et al.  GERIATRIC BIOSCIENCE: Speech Perception in Older Adults: The Importance of Speech‐Specific Cognitive Abilities , 1997, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[28]  A. Wilgus,et al.  High quality time-scale modification for speech , 1985, ICASSP '85. IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing.

[29]  R. Coppola,et al.  Specific versus Nonspecific Brain Activity in a Parametric N-Back Task , 2000, NeuroImage.

[30]  J. L. Miller,et al.  Articulation Rate and Its Variability in Spontaneous Speech: A Reanalysis and Some Implications , 1984, Phonetica.

[31]  A. Wingfield,et al.  Speed of processing in normal aging: effects of speech rate, linguistic structure, and processing time. , 1985, Journal of gerontology.

[32]  Guidelines for screening for hearing impairment and middle-ear disorders. Working Group on Acoustic Immittance Measurements and the Committee on Audiologic Evaluation. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. , 1990, ASHA. Supplement.

[33]  N. Burgess.  Memory for Serial Order : A Network Model of the Phonological Loop and its Timing , 1999 .

[34]  W Melnick,et al.  American National Standard specifications for audiometers. , 1971, ASHA.

[35]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  Functional activation of the human frontal cortex during the performance of verbal working memory tasks. , 1993, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[36]  Larry E Humes,et al.  Measures of working memory, sequence learning, and speech recognition in the elderly. , 2005, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[37]  H. Dillon,et al.  The National Acoustic Laboratories' (NAL) New Procedure for Selecting the Gain and Frequency Response of a Hearing Aid , 1986, Ear and hearing.

[38]  F. Craik,et al.  Processing resources and age differences in working memory , 1988, Memory & cognition.

[39]  Colin M. Brown,et al.  The syntactic positive shift (sps) as an erp measure of syntactic processing , 1993 .

[40]  Charles S. Watson,et al.  An auditory discrimination test battery , 1982 .

[41]  S Arlinger,et al.  Evaluation of a cognitive test battery in young and elderly normal-hearing and hearing-impaired persons. , 2001, Journal of the American Academy of Audiology.

[42]  Michael Petrides,et al.  Frontal lobes and behaviour , 1994, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[43]  Graham Naylor,et al.  Linear and nonlinear hearing aid fittings – 1. Patterns of benefit , 2006, International journal of audiology.

[44]  C. Braun,et al.  Working memory and the Self-Ordered Pointing Task: further evidence of early prefrontal decline in normal aging. , 1993, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[45]  P. Verhaeghen.  The Effects of Age-Related Slowing and Working Memory on Asymptotic Recognition Performance , 1999 .

[46]  C S Watson,et al.  Individual differences in the processing of speech and nonspeech sounds by normal-hearing listeners. , 2001, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[47]  G. Brébion,et al.  Language Processing, Slowing, and Speed/Accuracy Trade-Off in the Elderly , 2001, Experimental aging research.

[48]  T Letowski,et al.  Effects of age, speech rate, and type of test on temporal auditory processing. , 1997, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[49]  Steven L. Miller,et al.  Language Comprehension in Language-Learning Impaired Children Improved with Acoustically Modified Speech , 1996, Science.

[50]  J. Brandt,et al.  Development and psychometric properties of the brief test of attention , 1996 .

[51]  C D Wickens,et al.  Adult age differences in the speed and capacity of information processing: 2. An electrophysiological approach. , 1987, Psychology and aging.