CompletedNot Applicable

Auditory Temporal Processes in Aging

United States82 participantsStarted 2018-01-18

Plain-language summary

Older people experience great difficulty understanding speech, especially accented English, and this problem is expected to increase with the influx of immigrants who provide services to the elderly population. The research examines the underlying factors that contribute to older listeners' difficulty understanding accented speech, including those associated with age-related hearing loss, changes in processing in auditory pathways in the brain, and general cognitive decline. The investigation also evaluates the efficacy of training strategies to improve understanding of accented English by older people. Outcomes of this research are expected to improve communication between senior citizens and those with whom they interact daily, and thereby improve quality of life for the older segment of the Nation's population.

Who can participate

Age range18 Years – 85 Years

SexALL

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AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age and hearing sensitivity: * Younger listeners (18-40 years) with normal hearing; * Older listeners (65-80 years) with normal hearing; * Older listeners (65-80 years) with bilateral, mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. * High School Diploma, * native speaker of English (based on self-report) * normal middle-ear function (based on tympanometry) * normal cognitive function (based on score on Montreal Cognitive Assessment) * good-to-excellent word recognition scores (based on Northwestern University Test # 6 word recognition scores presented in quiet at suprathreshold levels). Exclusion Criteria: * non-native speaker of English, * motor and/or speech disorders that prevent participant from providing a time-locked response, * presence of middle ear disease or conductive hearing loss, * presence of severe or profound hearing loss, * presence of poor word recognition scores, * cognitive impairment.

What they're measuring

Recognition of accented speech stimuli used for training

Timeframe: 1 day

Trial details

NCT IDNCT03468660

SponsorUniversity of Maryland, College Park

Sponsor typeOTHER

Study typeINTERVENTIONAL

Primary completion2020-06-30