Dias James W, McClaskey Carolyn M, Harris Kelly C
Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC, 29425-5500, USA.
J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2019 Feb;20(1):73-88. doi: 10.1007/s10162-018-00703-1. Epub 2018 Nov 19.
Older adults typically have difficulty identifying speech that is temporally distorted, such as reverberant, accented, time-compressed, or interrupted speech. These difficulties occur even when hearing thresholds fall within a normal range. Auditory neural processing speed, which we have previously found to predict auditory temporal processing (auditory gap detection), may interfere with the ability to recognize phonetic features as they rapidly unfold over time in spoken speech. Further, declines in perceptuomotor processing speed and executive functioning may interfere with the ability to track, access, and process information. The current investigation examined the extent to which age-related differences in time-compressed speech identification were predicted by auditory neural processing speed, perceptuomotor processing speed, and executive functioning. Groups of normal-hearing (up to 3000 Hz) younger and older adults identified 40, 50, and 60 % time-compressed sentences. Auditory neural processing speed was defined as the P1 and N1 latencies of click-induced auditory-evoked potentials. Perceptuomotor processing speed and executive functioning were measured behaviorally using the Connections Test. Compared to younger adults, older adults exhibited poorer time-compressed speech identification and slower perceptuomotor processing. Executive functioning, P1 latency, and N1 latency did not differ between age groups. Time-compressed speech identification was independently predicted by P1 latency, perceptuomotor processing speed, and executive functioning in younger and older listeners. Results of model testing suggested that declines in perceptuomotor processing speed mediated age-group differences in time-compressed speech identification. The current investigation joins a growing body of literature suggesting that the processing of temporally distorted speech is impacted by lower-level auditory neural processing and higher-level perceptuomotor and executive processes.
老年人通常难以识别时间上失真的语音，比如有混响的、带口音的、时间压缩的或中断的语音。即使听力阈值在正常范围内，这些困难依然会出现。我们之前发现听觉神经处理速度可预测听觉时间处理能力（听觉间隙检测），它可能会干扰人们识别语音特征的能力，因为语音特征在口语中会随着时间快速展开。此外，感知运动处理速度和执行功能的下降可能会干扰跟踪、获取和处理信息的能力。当前的研究考察了听觉神经处理速度、感知运动处理速度和执行功能在多大程度上能够预测与年龄相关的时间压缩语音识别差异。正常听力（高达3000赫兹）的年轻和老年成年人组识别40%、50%和60%时间压缩的句子。听觉神经处理速度被定义为点击诱发听觉诱发电位的P1和N1潜伏期。使用连线测试从行为学角度测量感知运动处理速度和执行功能。与年轻成年人相比，老年成年人在时间压缩语音识别方面表现较差，感知运动处理速度较慢。年龄组之间的执行功能、P1潜伏期和N1潜伏期没有差异。年轻和老年听众的时间压缩语音识别分别由P1潜伏期、感知运动处理速度和执行功能独立预测。模型测试结果表明，感知运动处理速度的下降介导了年龄组在时间压缩语音识别方面的差异。当前的研究加入了越来越多的文献，表明时间失真语音的处理受到较低水平的听觉神经处理以及较高水平的感知运动和执行过程的影响。
