Neuroscience of Speech and Action Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Psychon Bull Rev. 2024 Feb;31(1):389-400. doi: 10.3758/s13423-023-02361-8. Epub 2023 Aug 31.
Speech motor resources may be recruited to assist challenging speech perception in younger normally hearing listeners, but the extent to which this occurs for older adult listeners is unclear. We investigated if speech motor resources are also recruited in older adults during speech perception. Specifically, we investigated if suppression of speech motor resources via sub-vocal rehearsal affects speech perception compared to non-speech motor suppression (jaw movement) and passive listening. Participants identified words in speech-shaped noise at signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) from -16 to +16 dB in three listening conditions during which participants: (1) opened and closed their jaw (non-speech movement); (2) sub-vocally mimed 'the' (articulatory suppression); (3) produced no concurrent movement (passive listening). Data from 46 younger adults (M age = 20.17 years, SD = 1.61, 36 female) and 41 older adults (M age = 69 years, SD = 5.82, 21 female) were analysed. Linear mixed effects modelling investigated the impact of age, listening condition, and self-reported hearing ability on speech perception (d' prime). Results indicated that speech perception ability was significantly worse in older adults relative to younger adults across all listening conditions. A significant interaction between age group and listening condition indicated that younger adults showed poorer performance during articulatory suppression compared to passive listening, but older adults performed equivalently across conditions. This finding suggests that speech motor resources are less available to support speech perception in older adults, providing important insights for auditory-motor integration for speech understanding and communication in ageing.
言语运动资源可能会被招募来帮助年轻的正常听力者应对具有挑战性的言语感知，但对于老年听力者，这种情况的发生程度尚不清楚。我们研究了言语运动资源在老年听力者进行言语感知时是否也被招募。具体来说，我们研究了通过口腔运动抑制（sub-vocal rehearsal）抑制言语运动资源是否会影响言语感知，与非言语运动抑制（jaw movement）和被动聆听进行比较。参与者在三种聆听条件下识别语音噪声中的单词，信噪比（signal-to-noise ratio，SNR）从-16 到+16 dB，在这三种聆听条件下，参与者：（1）开合下颌（非言语运动）；（2）口腔运动抑制（sub-vocal rehearsal）模拟“the”（发音抑制）；（3）不进行任何同步运动（被动聆听）。分析了 46 名年轻成年人（M 年龄= 20.17 岁，SD=1.61，36 名女性）和 41 名老年成年人（M 年龄= 69 岁，SD=5.82，21 名女性）的数据。线性混合效应模型（linear mixed effects modeling）研究了年龄、聆听条件和自我报告的听力能力对言语感知（d' prime）的影响。结果表明，在所有聆听条件下，老年成年人的言语感知能力明显比年轻成年人差。年龄组和聆听条件之间的显著交互作用表明，与被动聆听相比，年轻成年人在发音抑制时表现更差，但老年成年人在所有条件下表现相当。这一发现表明，言语运动资源在老年成年人中不太可用于支持言语感知，为听觉-运动整合对言语理解和老龄化交流提供了重要见解。
