ArticleBrain sciences2025
Effects of Age on the Neural Tracking of Speech in Noise.
Article in Brain sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Determinants of poor speech discrimination in a primary care otolaryngology population: a retrospective observational study.BMC primary care · 2026Observational
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundOlder adults often struggle to comprehend speech in noisy environments, a challenge influenced by declines in both auditory processing and cognitive functions. This study aimed to investigate how differences in speech-in-noise perception among individual with clinically normal hearing thresholds (ranging from normal to mild hearing loss in older adults) are related to neural speech tracking and cognitive function, particularly working memory.
methodSpecifically, we examined delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) EEG oscillations during speech recognition tasks to determine their association with cognitive performance in older adults. EEG data were collected from 23 young adults (20-35 years) and 23 older adults (65-80 years). Cognitive assessments were administered to older adults, and both groups completed an EEG task involving speech recognition in Speech-Shaped Noise (SSN) at individualized noise levels based on their Sentence Recognition Scores (SRS).
resultsThe results showed that age significantly impacted hit rates and reaction times in noisy speech recognition tasks. Theta-band neural tracking was notably stronger in older adults, while delta-band tracking showed no age-related difference. Pearson's correlations indicated significant associations between age-related cognitive decline, reduced hearing sensitivity, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. Regression analyses showed that theta-band neural tracking at specific SRS levels significantly predicted word list recognition in the higher SRT group, while constructional recall was strongly predicted in the lower SRT group.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that older adults may rely on theta-band neural tracking as a compensatory mechanism. However, regression results alone were not sufficient to fully explain how working memory affects neural tracking, and additional cognitive and linguistic factors should be considered in future studies. Furthermore, cognitive assessments were administered only to older adults, which limits the ability to determine whether group differences are driven by age, hearing, or cognitive status-a major limitation that should be addressed in future research.
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Registered trials
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