Neuroplasticity of Speech-in-Noise Processing in Older Adults Assessed by Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS).

ABSTRACT: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a non-invasive optical neuroimaging technique that is portable and acoustically silent, has become a promising tool for evaluating auditory brain functions in hearing-vulnerable individuals. This study, for the first time, used fNIRS to evaluate neuroplasticity of speech-in-noise processing in older adults. Ten older adults, most of whom had moderate-to-mild hearing loss, participated in a 4-week speech-in-noise training. Their speech-in-noise performances and fNIRS brain responses to speech (auditory sentences in noise), non-speech (spectrally-rotated speech in noise) and visual (flashing chequerboards) stimuli were evaluated pre- (T0) and post-training (immediately after training, T1; and after a 4-week retention, T2). Behaviourally, speech-

SUBMITTER: Mai G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11408581 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature