Abstract
Epidemiological studies have linked age-related hearing loss (ARHL) with an increased risk of neurocognitive decline. Difficulties in speech perception with subsequent changes in brain morphometry, including regions important for lexical-semantic memory, are thought to be a possible mechanism for this relationship. This study investigated differences in automatic and executive lexical-semantic processes on verbal fluency tasks in individuals with acquired hearing loss. The primary outcomes were indices of automatic (clustering/word retrieval at start of task) and executive (switching/word retrieval after start of the task) processes from semantic and phonemic fluency tasks. To extract indices of clustering and switching, we used both manual and computerised methods. There were no differences between groups on indices of executive fluency processes or on any indices from the semantic fluency task. The hearing loss group demonstrated weaker automatic processes on the phonemic fluency task. Further research into differences in lexical-semantic processes with ARHL is warranted.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 110794 |
Journal | Experimental Gerontology |
Volume | 130 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank the participants for their generous support of this study. DGL was supported by the Global Brain Health Institute , Chime , the Irish Research Council and the Central Remedial Clinic . Initial funding to establish the Global Brain Health Institute was provided by the Atlantic Philanthropies . SVSP's work on automated verbal fluency assessment was supported in part by a grant from the United States Alzheimer's Association ( DNCFI-12-242985 ). Appendix A
Funding Information:
We thank the participants for their generous support of this study. DGL was supported by the Global Brain Health Institute, Chime, the Irish Research Council and the Central Remedial Clinic. Initial funding to establish the Global Brain Health Institute was provided by the Atlantic Philanthropies. SVSP's work on automated verbal fluency assessment was supported in part by a grant from the United States Alzheimer's Association (DNCFI-12-242985).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords
- Age-related hearing loss
- Cognitive decline
- Executive function
- Fluency
- Memory