Effects of Noise on Cognitive Function During Dual Tasks across Normally Aging Adults

<p>This study expands upon methods used to investigate cognition and speech perception which have been limited by lack of (a) pre-screening of cognitive function in participants, (b) reporting visual or auditory accuracy and reaction time measures across experimental conditions that examine reaction times, and (c) comprehensive test battery that includes performance across multiple levels of dual task paradigms (DTPs). This study aims to examine group performance on dual tasks (DT) increasing in cognitive (task difficulty) and perceptual load (noise) with age. Participants were divided into two groups based upon age. Group 1 consisted of 14 listeners (Female=11) who were 40-59 years old (Mean=53.18, SD=5.97). Group 2 consisted of 15 listeners (Female=9) who were 60 years old and older (Mean=72.07, SD=5.11). All participants were tested in each of 3 experimental conditions: (1) auditory word recognition + visual processing, (2) auditory working memory (word) + visual processing, and (3) auditory working memory (sentence) + visual processing in noise. The results indicate auditory accuracy, visual accuracy, and visual processing speed are affected by the complexity of the given task.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Harvey, Jennine

Contributors dc:contributor

• Deborah von Hapsburg, Ph.D.

• Cognition
• Dual Task
• Elderly
• Noise
• Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Medicine and Health Sciences
• Speech and Hearing Science
• Speech Pathology and Audiology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.uthsc.edu/dissertations/106

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.uthsc.edu:dissertations-1112