TY - JOUR
T1 - Age-related hearing loss accelerates the decline in fast speech comprehension and the decompensation of cortical network connections
AU - Huang, He Mei
AU - Chen, Gui Sheng
AU - Liu, Zhong Yi
AU - Meng, Qing Lin
AU - Li, Jia Hong
AU - Dong, Han Wen
AU - Chen, Yu Chen
AU - Zhao, Fei
AU - Tang, Xiao Wu
AU - Gao, Jin Liang
AU - Chen, Xi Ming
AU - Cai, Yue Xin
AU - Zheng, Yi Qing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/11/25
Y1 - 2022/11/25
N2 - Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life. The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing, central processing, and cognitive-related abilities. Furthermore, the factors by which aging relates to hearing loss via changes in auditory processing ability are still unclear. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated 27 older adults (over 60 years old) with age-related hearing loss, 21 older adults (over 60 years old) with normal hearing, and 30 younger subjects (18-30 years old) with normal hearing. We used the outcome of the upper-threshold test, including the time-compressed threshold and the speech recognition threshold in noisy conditions, as a behavioral indicator of auditory processing ability. We also used electroencephalography to identify presbycusis-related abnormalities in the brain while the participants were in a spontaneous resting state. The time-compressed threshold and speech recognition threshold data indicated significant differences among the groups. In patients with age-related hearing loss, information masking (babble noise) had a greater effect than energy masking (speech-shaped noise) on processing difficulties. In terms of resting-state electroencephalography signals, we observed enhanced frontal lobe (Brodmann's area, BA11) activation in the older adults with normal hearing compared with the younger participants with normal hearing, and greater activation in the parietal (BA7) and occipital (BA19) lobes in the individuals with age-related hearing loss compared with the younger adults. Our functional connection analysis suggested that compared with younger people, the older adults with normal hearing exhibited enhanced connections among networks, including the default mode network, sensorimotor network, cingulo-opercular network, occipital network, and frontoparietal network. These results suggest that both normal aging and the development of age-related hearing loss have a negative effect on advanced auditory processing capabilities and that hearing loss accelerates the decline in speech comprehension, especially in speech competition situations. Older adults with normal hearing may have increased compensatory attentional resource recruitment represented by the top-down active listening mechanism, while those with age-related hearing loss exhibit decompensation of network connections involving multisensory integration.
AB - Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life. The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing, central processing, and cognitive-related abilities. Furthermore, the factors by which aging relates to hearing loss via changes in auditory processing ability are still unclear. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated 27 older adults (over 60 years old) with age-related hearing loss, 21 older adults (over 60 years old) with normal hearing, and 30 younger subjects (18-30 years old) with normal hearing. We used the outcome of the upper-threshold test, including the time-compressed threshold and the speech recognition threshold in noisy conditions, as a behavioral indicator of auditory processing ability. We also used electroencephalography to identify presbycusis-related abnormalities in the brain while the participants were in a spontaneous resting state. The time-compressed threshold and speech recognition threshold data indicated significant differences among the groups. In patients with age-related hearing loss, information masking (babble noise) had a greater effect than energy masking (speech-shaped noise) on processing difficulties. In terms of resting-state electroencephalography signals, we observed enhanced frontal lobe (Brodmann's area, BA11) activation in the older adults with normal hearing compared with the younger participants with normal hearing, and greater activation in the parietal (BA7) and occipital (BA19) lobes in the individuals with age-related hearing loss compared with the younger adults. Our functional connection analysis suggested that compared with younger people, the older adults with normal hearing exhibited enhanced connections among networks, including the default mode network, sensorimotor network, cingulo-opercular network, occipital network, and frontoparietal network. These results suggest that both normal aging and the development of age-related hearing loss have a negative effect on advanced auditory processing capabilities and that hearing loss accelerates the decline in speech comprehension, especially in speech competition situations. Older adults with normal hearing may have increased compensatory attentional resource recruitment represented by the top-down active listening mechanism, while those with age-related hearing loss exhibit decompensation of network connections involving multisensory integration.
KW - age-related hearing loss
KW - aging
KW - electroencephalography
KW - fast-speech comprehension
KW - functional brain network
KW - functional connectivity
KW - restingstate
KW - sLORETA
KW - source analysis
KW - speech reception threshold
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150357729&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4103/1673-5374.361530
DO - 10.4103/1673-5374.361530
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85150357729
SN - 1673-5374
VL - 18
SP - 1968
EP - 1975
JO - Neural Regeneration Research
JF - Neural Regeneration Research
IS - 9
ER -