Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27535374›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurophysiology2016

Evidence of degraded representation of speech in noise, in the aging midbrain and cortex.

Alessandro Presacco, Jonathan Z Simon, Samira Anderson

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurophysiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
92citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
11.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

92 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 257 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Neural and behavioral changes after the use of hearing aids.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2018
    Trial
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Aging in the Primary Auditory Cortex.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Neural and Behavioral Changes in Older Adults from Auditory-Cognitive Training.Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
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  20. Article

32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alessandro PresaccoDepartment of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; presacca@uci.edu.
Jonathan Z SimonNeuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Samira AndersonDepartment of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
University of Maryland, College Park · US

Funding

COMPARATIVE AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY OF HEARINGT32DC000046 · NIDCD · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · PI Catherine Emily Carr, Matthew J. Goupell · 1994 to 2026
$7.5M
Auditory Scene Analysis and Temporal Cortical ComputationsR01DC014085 · NIDCD · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · PI SIMON, JONATHAN Z. · 2015 to 2019
$1.5M
The Neural Basis of Perceptually-Relevant Auditory Modulations in HumansR01DC008342 · NIDCD · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · PI SIMON, JONATHAN Z. · 2008 to 2012
$1.2M
NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC008342NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC014085NIDCD NIH HHS T32 DC000046
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Humans have a remarkable ability to track and understand speech in unfavorable conditions, such as in background noise, but speech understanding in noise does deteriorate with age. Results from several studies have shown that in younger adults, low-frequency auditory cortical activity reliably synchronizes to the speech envelope, even when the background noise is considerably louder than the speech signal. However, cortical speech processing may be limited by age-related decreases in the precision of neural synchronization in the midbrain. To understand better the neural mechanisms contributing to impaired speech perception in older adults, we investigated how aging affects midbrain and cortical encoding of speech when presented in quiet and in the presence of a single-competing talker. Our results suggest that central auditory temporal processing deficits in older adults manifest in both the midbrain and in the cortex. Specifically, midbrain frequency following responses to a speech syllable are more degraded in noise in older adults than in younger adults. This suggests a failure of the midbrain auditory mechanisms needed to compensate for the presence of a competing talker. Similarly, in cortical responses, older adults show larger reductions than younger adults in their ability to encode the speech envelope when a competing talker is added. Interestingly, older adults showed an exaggerated cortical representation of speech in both quiet and noise conditions, suggesting a possible imbalance between inhibitory and excitatory processes, or diminished network connectivity that may impair their ability to encode speech efficiently.

Indexed as

NoiseAcoustic StimulationAdolescentAdultAgedAgingAuditory CortexElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMagnetoencephalographyMaleMesencephalonMiddle AgedSpeechSpeech Perceptionagingcortexelectrophysiologyhearingmidbrain

Identifiers

PMID27535374
PMCPMC5110639
OpenAlexW2508567103

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.