AGE RELATED CHANGES IN THE PERCEPTION OF SPEECH

这个为期三年的项目的目标是继续、扩大和加强 我们从最初的NIA提案开始的研究路线。 我们 总体目标是检查可能与年龄有关的变化， 老年受试者在几个不同的语言知觉能力 语言水平。 这些包括分段中的听觉/语音处理 识别与判别，动态声信号的处理 语音片段感知中的线索，以及 单词识别 涉及的基本问题包括： * 听觉/语音记忆的使用是否存在与年龄相关的变化 (or其处理对应方）在识别和区分 语音？我们将重点关注与年龄相关的差异， 声音起始时间差异的处理; 音节首擦音;和识别停止在 元音间和音节结尾位置。 * 是否有与年龄有关的变化，在如何听众语音处理 快速变化的声学信息（例如共振峰频率）， 来辨别元音和辅音我们将专注于 声能量的快速与缓慢启动的处理 摩擦音/破擦音的区别;滑音与塞音的感知;以及 使用能力的听众利用动态信息的身份， 元音的变化。 * 老年人是否更多（或更少）使用自上而下 信息在单词识别和段识别中的作用 年轻的听众？使用门控程序，我们将检查 年长的听众可能更好地利用自上而下的方法的程度 在语义上可预测的、中性的或 抑制性短语语境和音位制约性语境。 * 年龄差异是否与较高水平相关 语言/认知过程可以在电生理测量中看到 活动？我们将研究年龄相关的皮层活动差异 (by测量P3潜伏期）， 语言/语音特征的代表性范围。 我们的实验结果将根据两个方面进行评估 相关的老龄化文献和相关的理论模型， 语音产生和单词识别。 这些数据应该允许更多的 准确了解衰老过程，一般来说，和类型的 老年人可能面临的语音处理困难， 特别的。

The aim of this three-year project is continue, extend and augment the line of research we began with our original NIA proposal. Our general goal has been to examine possible age-related changes in the speech perception abilities of older subjects at several different linguistic levels. These include auditory/phonetic processing in segment identification and discrimination, the processing of dynamic acoustic cues in the perception of phonetic segments, and top-down processes in word recognition. Basic questions addressed include: * Are there age-related changes in the use of auditory/phonetic memory (or its processing counterparts) in the identification and discrimination of speech sounds? We will be focusing on the age-related differences in the processing of voice onset time distinctions; perception of syllable-initial fricatives; and the identification of stops in intervocalic and syllable-final position. *Are there age-related changes in how listeners phonetically process rapidly changing acoustic information (such as formant frequencies) in order to make vowel or consonant identifications? We will be focusing on the processing of rapid vs. slow onset of acoustic energy in the fricative/affricate distinction; the perception of glides vs. stops; and use ability of listeners to utilize dynamic information in the identi- fication of vowels. *Do older individuals make greater (or lesser) use of top-down information in word recognition and segment identification than do younger listeners? Using the gating procedure, we will be examining the extent to which older listeners may make greater utilization of top-down information in recognizing words in semantically predictable, neutral or inhibiting phrasal contexts and in phonotactically constraining contexts. *Can significant age differences associated with higher level linguistic/cognitive processes be seen in measures of electrophysiologic activity? We will examine age-related differences in cortical activity (by measuring P3 latencies) during the processing of sounds exhibiting a representative range of linguistic/phonetic distinctions. The results of our experiments will be evaluated in terms of both the relevant aging literature and the relevant theoretical models of speech production and word recognition. These data should allow a more accurate understanding of the aging process, in general, and the types of speech processing difficulties the older individual may face, in particular.