1. Aging alters the perception and physiological representation of frequency: Evidence from human frequency-following response recordings
- Author
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Clinard, Christopher G., Tremblay, Kelly L., and Krishnan, Ananthanarayan R.
- Subjects
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AGING , *FREQUENCY response , *WORD deafness , *AGE differences , *OLDER people , *BRAIN stem , *FREQUENCY discriminators , *FOURIER transforms - Abstract
Abstract: Older adults, even with clinically normal hearing sensitivity, have auditory perceptual deficits relative to their younger counterparts. This difficulty may in part, be related to a decline in the neural representation of frequency. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of age on behavioral and physiological measures of frequency representation. Thirty two adults (ages 22–77), with hearing thresholds ⩽25dB HL at octave frequencies 0.25–8.0kHz, participated in this experiment. Frequency discrimination difference limens (FDLs) were obtained at 500 and 1000Hz using a two-interval, two-alternative forced choice procedure. Linear regression analyses showed significant declines in FDLs at both frequencies as age increased. Frequency-following responses (FFRs) were elicited by 500 and 1000Hz tonebursts, as well as at frequencies within and outside those FDLs. Linear regression of FFR phase coherence and FFR amplitude at frequencies at and slightly below 1000Hz showed significant decreases as age increased. Therefore, pitch discrimination, as measured by FDLs, and neural representation of frequency, as reflected by FFR, declined as age increased. Although perception and neural representation concurrently declined, one was not predictive of the other. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2010
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