Individual differences across the lifespan in auditory perception

为什么要进行这项研究？听觉感知能力在一生中都会发生变化，这些变化既是由于环境因素，也是由于先天因素。一般来说，听力会随着年龄的增长而下降，听力障碍是老年人最常报告的健康问题之一。这项研究提案的主要目标是确定环境(例如，噪音暴露、音乐培训等)如何与生俱来的(例如，遗传、个性、认知能力等)在人的一生中，各种因素相互作用，增强或降低听力。好处：通过确定出生因素和环境因素是如何相关的，以及这些相互作用的神经机制，未来的翻译研究将为老年人和听力有困难的人开发个性化的听觉康复计划。要做的工作：第一线的研究将考察接触新的音乐系统是否以及如何影响听觉和认知能力。大多数非音乐家潜移默化地学习他们文化音乐体系的规则。这一系列研究的目的是确定被动音乐学习的神经生理发展的神经机制，以及学习新的音乐规则是否对其他认知领域有任何好处。第二项研究将考察短期音乐型训练对听觉和认知能力的影响。音乐训练作为改善老年人听力和认知能力的一种潜在工具，正在迅速获得吸引力。这项研究的目标是了解音乐训练的哪些具体组成部分会产生这些听觉和认知方面的好处。最后一项调查将研究先天遗传特征如何缓和噪音暴露对中枢听觉系统的影响。这项工作的目标是确定一组与老年人听力能力相关的基因。这些基因可以用来识别年龄相关困难的风险最大的人，这样他们就可以采取适当的预防措施，在他们变老时保护自己的听力。

Why this research? Auditory perceptual abilities change across the lifespan, and these changes are due to both environmental and in-born factors. In general, hearing abilities decline with age, and hearing difficulties are one of the most commonly reported health issues for older adults. The main goal of this research proposal is to identify how environmental (e.g., noise exposure, music training, etc.) and in-born (e.g., genetics, personality, cognitive abilities, etc.) factors interact to enhance or reduce hearing abilities across the lifespan. Benefits: By identifying how in-born and environmental factors relate, and the neural mechanisms that underlie these interactions, future translational research will develop individualized auditory rehabilitation programs for older adults and those with hearing difficulties. Work to be done: The first line of research will examine if and how exposure to novel musical systems impacts auditory and cognitive abilities. Most non-musicians implicitly learn the rules of their cultural music system. The goal of this line of research is to identify the neural mechanisms that underlie the neurophysiological development of passive musical learning, and if learning new musical rules has any benefit to other cognitive domains. The second line of research will examine how short-term music-type training impacts auditory and cognitive abilities. Music training is quickly gaining traction as a potential tool to improve hearing and cognitive abilities in older adults. The goal of this line of research is to understand what specific components of music training give rise to these auditory and cognitive benefits. The last line of inquiry will examine how in-born genetic traits moderate the impact of noise exposure on the central auditory system. The goal of this work is to identify a set of genes that are related to hearing abilities in older adults. These genes could be used to identify people most at risk for age-related difficulties so that they can take proper precautions to preserve their hearing as they age.