The real-time dynamics of language processing across the lifespan

项目摘要 衰老伴随着听觉和认知能力的下降，影响心理健康和质量 生命沟通困难会增加疲劳，并可能导致个人退出社交场合。 这反过来又会通过减少社会参与来加剧衰退。以前的工作主要集中在域 认知的一般方面，如工作记忆和认知控制。然而，语言处理- 一个未充分研究的能力在老化-可能作为一个关键的中介之间的听力，认知因素， 结果。这个项目的重点是口语识别，一个复杂的认知过程，需要 听众编码听觉信息，管理竞争对手，并激活意义。这是一座至关重要的桥梁 听觉功能，多层次的语言处理和领域一般认知之间的关系。我们评估 本文采用视觉世界范式中的眼动跟踪技术，可以精确地描述比赛过程 它通过跟踪参与者的眼球运动来支持口语单词识别， 而言语是在真实的时间里展开的。我们先前的工作已经使用了这种技术与个人从11日至79日， 发现在30岁之前，单词识别的效率不断提高，45岁左右开始下降。 然而，目前尚不清楚这些下降与其他听觉和认知因素的关系，以及是否存在 这些变化都是由单词识别引起的。因此，第一个目的是调查导致年龄增长的因素- 在单词识别方面的相关变化。我们评估了一个大的，连续的年龄样本在整个成年人的寿命（年龄 30-90，N=240）。我们调查了两个主要的预测因素：1）与年龄相关的听觉外周变化， 安静声音的可检测性和编码细粒度时间和频谱差异的能力;以及2） 认知功能的多个领域（语言，工作记忆和认知控制）。我们把这个和 用视觉世界范式评估在线口语单词识别，以确定单词是否 认知能力是衰老的一个独特位点，以及这些其他能力是否起作用。同大 样本，第二个目的是研究在线口语单词识别差异之间的关系， 心理社会结果。我们使用标准化的幸福指标和 一种新颖的社交网络方法，它模拟了个人社交网络的复杂性、多样性和鲁棒性。 网络我们测试了一个模型，其中语言处理介导了听觉和听觉之间的关系。 认知因素和社会心理健康。实现这些目标对于本领域的多个方面都很重要 衰老科学首先，许多老年人报告说，即使是正常的语言， 听;这些目标可以帮助理解这个问题。第二，口语单词识别代表了 如果特定的个人资料与更好的结果相联系，则可以接受培训的适应性技能。三是多数 认知评估需要语言技能，但语言能力的下降尚不清楚。最后，早期 语言技能的下降可能是未来更严重下降的一个先行指标。

Project Summary Aging is accompanied by both auditory and cognitive declines that impact psychosocial well-being and quality of life. Communication difficulties increase fatigue and can lead individuals to withdraw from social situations. This in turn can exacerbate declines by reducing social engagement. Prior work has focused on domain general aspects of cognition such as working memory and cognitive control. However, language processing— an understudied capacity in aging—may serve as a critical mediator between audition, cognitive factors and outcomes. This project focuses on spoken word recognition, a complex cognitive process that requires listeners to encode auditory information, manage competitors, and activate meaning. This is a crucial bridge between auditory function, multiple levels of language processing, and domain-general cognition. We assess this using eye-tracking in the Visual World Paradigm, which can characterize the precise competition process that undergirds spoken word recognition by tracking participants’ eye movements to pictured lexical candidates while speech unfolds in real time. Our prior work has used this technique with individuals from 11 to 79 and found increasing efficiency of word recognition through about age 30, with declines beginning around 45. However, it is unknow how these declines are related to other auditory and cognitive factors, and if there are changes that are uniquely due to word recognition. Thus, first aim investigates the factors that give rise to age- related change in word recognition. We assess a large, continuous age sample across the adult lifespan (ages 30-90, N=240). We investigate two primary predictors: 1) age-related changes in the auditory periphery—both the detectability of quiet sounds and the ability to encode fine grained temporal and spectral differences; and 2) multiple domains of cognitive function (language, working memory, and cognitive control). We relate this to online spoken word recognition assessed with the Visual World Paradigm to determine whether word recognition is a unique locus of aging and whether these other capacities contribute. With the same large sample, the second aim examines the relationship between differences in online spoken word recognition and psychosocial outcomes. We assess outcomes using both standardized measures of well-being, and by using a novel social network approach that models the complexity, diversity, and robustness of an individual’s social network. We test a model where language processing mediates the relationship between auditory and cognitive factors and psychosocial well-being. Addressing these aims is important for multiple aspects of the science of aging. First, many older adults report difficulty with speech understanding, even with normal hearing; these aims could help understand this problem. Second, spoken word recognition represents an adaptable skill that is amenable to training, if specific profiles are linked to better outcomes. Third, most cognitive assessments require language skills, but the decline in language is not known. Finally, the early decline of language skills may serve as a leading indicator of more serious decline in the future.