Auditory temporal processes, speech perception and aging

描述（由申请人提供）：这项研究计划在语音感知和听觉心理物理学检查的假设，许多主要困难，在语音理解的老年听众有关的潜在问题，在听觉时间处理。有一种退化的语言形式，对于老年听众来说尤其难以察觉，那就是带口音的英语。语音重音和重音定时的改变可以被视为语音韵律时间方面的退化形式，这种类型的时间失真是下一个项目期间的调查重点。此外，心理声学的结果表明，大的年龄相关的困难，在时间处理存在的感知听觉克里思和节奏特征的顺序刺激模式具有强调的音调。韵律加工困难的产生既与周边和/或中央加工机制有关，也与各种认知因素有关，包括对不同母语韵律特征的熟悉程度。该项目探讨了周边听力障碍，刺激的时间复杂性和认知需求的类型，以及语言背景经验的听者对处理的时间韵律线索在语音和非语音刺激模式的相对贡献。该项目包括四个调查目标，每一个由一系列的语音和非语音的歧视和识别任务。目的1探讨重音模式不同的重音语音和相关非语音片段的辨别和识别时间敏感性的年龄相关差异的来源。目的二考察了不同年龄和语言背景的听者对不同韵律时间结构和呈现率的语音和非语音序列中时间线索的辨别能力。目的3探讨听觉训练范式的有效性与刺激的特点时间对比，提高感知口音的英语和非语音序列的老年人。目的4将研究年龄对整合听觉和视觉模态的时间信息的能力的影响，在处理非重音和重音语音和非语音刺激序列。该项目的参与者将包括不同年龄，听力敏感度和某些实验的母语背景的受试者。本申请中描述的研究旨在解决国家老龄化研究所概述的一个目标：制定有效的干预措施，以保持健康和功能，预防或减少与年龄相关的疾病，障碍和残疾的负担。这项研究计划的方法包括：（a）评估老年人在日常活动中遇到的问题;（B）分析与个人能力有关的具体任务要求;（c）进行以下方面的基础研究： 感官和知觉随年龄的变化以及新兴技术（包括康复）的改善效果。这一三维方法有望在改善老年人的沟通和健康相关生活质量方面取得进一步进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research program in speech perception and auditory psychophysics examines the hypothesis that many of the predominant difficulties in speech understanding of elderly listeners are related to underlying problems in auditory temporal processing. One form of degraded speech that is particularly difficult for elderly listeners to perceive is accented English. Alterations of speech stress and timing with accent may be viewed as a form of degradation in temporal aspects of speech prosody, and this type of temporal distortion is the focus of investigation in the next project period. Moreover, psychoacoustic results demonstrate that large age-related difficulties in temporal processing exist for the perception of auditory tempo and rhythmic characteristics of sequential stimulus patterns featuring a stressed tone. Listener processing difficulty could be attributed to periphera and/or central processing mechanisms, as well as various cognitive factors, including the degree of familiarity with prosodic features of different native languages. The project examines the relative contribution of peripheral hearing impairment, type of stimulus temporal complexity and cognitive demand, and the linguistic background experience of listeners on the processing of temporal prosody cues in speech and non-speech stimulus patterns. The project comprises four aims of investigation, each consisting of a series of speech and non-speech discrimination and recognition tasks. Aim 1 investigates the sources of age-related differences in temporal sensitivity for discrimination and identification of accented speech and correlated non-speech segments that vary in stress patterns. Aim 2 measures the influences of listener age and linguistic background on discrimination of temporal cues within speech and non-speech sequences that vary in prosodic temporal structure and presentation rate. Aim 3 examines the efficacy of auditory training paradigms with stimuli that feature temporal contrasts for improving perception of accented English and non-speech sequences by older people. Aim 4 will examine the effects of age on the ability to integrate temporal information across auditory and visual modalities in processing unaccented and accented speech and non-speech stimulus sequences. Participants in the project will include groups of subjects that differ by age, hearing sensitivity, and for some experiments, native language background. The research described in this application seeks to address one goal outlined by the National Institute on Aging: to develop effective interventions to maintain health and function and prevent or reduce the burden of age-related diseases, disorders, and disabilities. The approach in this research program involves (a) an assessment of the problems encountered in daily activities by the elderly population, (b) an analysis of specific task demands in relation to individual capabilities, and (c) basic research on sensory and perceptual changes with age and on the ameliorating effects of emerging technologies (including rehabilitation). This three-dimensional approach is expected to further progress toward improving communication and health-related quality of life for senior citizens.