Auditory-Visual Integration and Age

描述（由申请人提供）：日常面对面的谈话经常发生在不利的环境条件下，如背景噪音和/或光线不足。在我们对视听言语感知和衰老的研究的第二阶段，我们将注意力转向话语的理解（即，在有利和不利的条件下。首先，我们建议，以确定是否听觉视觉整合是一个处理模块，操作后的听觉和视觉语音信号的编码，目前的理论模型假设，以及是否出现年龄差异的听觉和视觉语音信息的水平降低。为此，我们已经开发了一种新的整合增强指数，统计控制的差异，在单峰语音感知。使用这个指数，我们将评估在有利和不利的听力和观看条件下，年轻人和老年人的整合增强。其次，我们计划评估年龄和退化的环境条件损害视听话语理解的程度。第三，我们将确定的感官和认知因素，预测个体差异，在老年人的话语理解的听力和视力，听觉和视觉言语感知，处理速度，整合增强，和工作记忆的措施。第四，我们将研究一组首次使用助听器的老年人在18个月内视听话语理解的纵向变化。我们的目标是在这个最后的研究是如何表现的变化，以及是否随着时间的推移，视听话语理解的感官和认知变量的影响而变化。总的来说，该项目提供了一个独特的机会，将临床听力学研究人员和认知心理学家聚集在一起，为老年人制定听力康复程序，这些程序以完善的视听话语理解理论模型为基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Everyday face-to-face conversations often occur in the presence of adverse environmental conditions such as background noise and/or poor lighting. In this second stage of our research on audiovisual speech perception and aging, we turn our attention to comprehension of discourse (i.e., extended verbal expression) under both favorable and unfavorable conditions. First, we propose to determine whether auditory-visual integration is a processing module that operates subsequent to the encoding of the auditory and visual speech signals, as current theoretical models assume and whether age differences emerge as the levels of auditory and visual speech information are decreased. To this end, we have developed a novel integration enhancement index that statistically controls for differences in unimodal speech perception. Using this index, we will assess integration enhancement in younger and older adults under both favorable and unfavorable listening and viewing conditions. Second, we plan to assess the extent to which age and degraded environmental conditions impair audiovisual discourse comprehension. Third, we will determine the sensory and cognitive factors that predict individual differences in older adults' discourse comprehension using measures of hearing and visual acuity, auditory and visual speech perception, processing speed, integration enhancement, and working memory. Fourth, we will examine longitudinal changes in audiovisual discourse comprehension in a group of older first-time hearing aid users over a period of 18 months. Our goal in this final study is to examine how performance changes, and whether the influence of sensory and cognitive variables on audiovisual discourse comprehension varies over time. Overall, this project represents a unique opportunity that brings together clinical audiological researchers and cognitive psychologists for the purpose of developing aural rehabilitation procedures for older persons that are grounded in well-developed theoretical models of audiovisual discourse comprehension.