Augereau Thomas M D, Paromov Daniel, Lacerda Adriana B M, Duda Victoria, Champoux François
Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Institut Universitaire sur la Réadaptation en Déficience Physique de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Hear Res. 2025 Aug;464:109325. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2025.109325. Epub 2025 Jun 3.
Aging significantly impacts auditory perception, particularly temporal resolution, which is the ability to detect rapid changes in sounds. Temporal resolution is often studied using gap detection methods, where a silent gap is inserted into a longer noise duration. Previous research indicates that aging negatively affects gap detection at the behavioral level. To objectively examine this process, electrophysiological correlates can be studied using a multi-deviant oddball paradigm. Existing data show reduced Deviant-Related Negativity (DRN) amplitudes and increased latencies in older adults compared to younger adults, suggesting a pre-attentive decline in processing basic temporal stimulus features. The effects of aging on gap detection have not been extensively investigated, making it uncertain whether changes can be detected in groups with smaller age differences. This study aims to investigate DRN and P2/P3a components in healthy, normal-hearing young (18-25 years) and middle-aged (30-45 years) adults using a multi-deviant paradigm combined with a behavioral gap audibility task with fixed gap durations. While behavioral task results were inconclusive, DRN latency analysis revealed significant differences during adaptation to deviant stimuli between age groups at various gap durations, displaying opposite slopes between both groups. Specifically, middle-aged participants exhibited increasing slopes, while younger participants showed decreasing slopes. Additionally, middle-aged adults exhibited significantly increased P2/P3a latencies compared to younger adults. These findings not only confirm the impact of aging on DRN during temporal resolution tasks but also suggest that examining the P2/P3a component could be valuable for early detection of age-related auditory decline.
衰老对听觉感知有显著影响，尤其是对时间分辨率的影响，时间分辨率是指检测声音快速变化的能力。时间分辨率通常使用间隙检测方法进行研究，即在较长的噪声持续时间中插入一个静音间隙。先前的研究表明，衰老在行为层面上对间隙检测有负面影响。为了客观地研究这一过程，可以使用多偏差奇偶数范式来研究电生理相关性。现有数据显示，与年轻人相比，老年人的偏差相关负波（DRN）振幅降低，潜伏期延长，这表明在处理基本时间刺激特征时，前注意阶段出现了衰退。衰老对间隙检测的影响尚未得到广泛研究，因此尚不确定在年龄差异较小的群体中是否能检测到变化。本研究旨在使用多偏差范式结合具有固定间隙持续时间的行为间隙可听度任务，来研究健康、听力正常的年轻（18 - 25岁）和中年（30 - 45岁）成年人的DRN和P2/P3a成分。虽然行为任务结果尚无定论，但DRN潜伏期分析显示，在适应不同间隙持续时间的偏差刺激过程中，不同年龄组之间存在显著差异，两组呈现出相反的斜率。具体而言，中年参与者的斜率增加，而年轻参与者的斜率下降。此外，与年轻成年人相比，中年成年人的P2/P3a潜伏期显著延长。这些发现不仅证实了衰老在时间分辨率任务中对DRN的影响，还表明检查P2/P3a成分对于早期检测与年龄相关的听觉衰退可能具有重要价值。
