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Untersuchungen zum Sprachverstehen und zu kognitiven Fähigkeiten im Alter

Examination of speech perception and cognitive functioning in the elderly

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Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Ältere Personen berichten häufig über Probleme beim Sprachverstehen, insbesondere in komplexen Kommunikationssituationen. Neben Hörstörungen können hierbei Einschränkungen kognitiver Leistungen eine Rolle spielen.

Methoden

Mit 12 normalhörenden jüngeren Personen und 14 älteren Personen mit besonders gutem Hörvermögen wurden Sprachverständlichkeitsmessungen in unterschiedlich komplexen akustischen Situationen durchgeführt. Zur Beurteilung der kognitiven Fähigkeiten kamen verschiedene neuropsychologische Tests zum Einsatz.

Ergebnisse

Die älteren Probanden wiesen trotz vergleichbaren tonaudiometrischen Befunden in fast allen Messungen schlechtere Sprachverständlichkeitsergebnisse auf als die jüngeren Personen. Besonders große Unterschiede zeigten sich bei Verwendung von fluktuierenden Maskierern und konkurrierenden Sprechern. Es ergaben sich signifikante Korrelationen zu Befunden eines neuropsychologischen Tests, welcher das deklarative Verbalgedächtnis erfasst.

Schlussfolgerung

Ältere Personen weisen in komplexen akustischen Situationen schlechteres Sprachverstehen als jüngere Personen auf. Unterschiede im Sprachverstehen sind teilweise auf kognitive Leistungen zurückzuführen. Insbesondere das Arbeitsgedächtnis scheint eine wichtige Rolle zu spielen.

Abstract

Background

Elderly persons frequently complain about problems with speech understanding especially in complex acoustic situations. Besides hearing impairment the decline of cognitive functions might explain these problems.

Methods

In 12 normal hearing young subjects and 14 elderly listeners with extraordinarily good hearing speech perception was measured in a broad range of different acoustic situations. Cognitive functioning was evaluated with different neuropsychological tests.

Results

Despite comparable pure tone thresholds the elderly listeners revealed worse speech discrimination than the young subjects in almost all test situations. Largest differences were found in situations with fluctuating maskers and competing talkers. Most of the speech perception results revealed significant correlations with the outcome from a neuropsychological test addressing declarative verbal memory.

Conclusions

In complex listening situations elderly persons reveal worse speech understanding than younger subjects. Differences in speech perception can partly be attributed to cognitive abilities. In particular, working memory seems to be an important factor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jean-Uhrmacher-Institut für klinische HNO-Forschung, Universität zu Köln, Geibelstraße 29–31, 50931, Köln, Deutschland

    H. Meister, S. Schreitmüller, L. Grugel, M. Landwehr, H. von Wedel & M. Walger

  2. Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie am Universitätsklinikum Köln, Köln, Deutschland

    H. von Wedel & M. Walger

  3. Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Deutschland

    I. Meister

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  1. H. Meister
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  2. S. Schreitmüller
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  3. L. Grugel
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  4. M. Landwehr
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  7. I. Meister
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Correspondence to H. Meister.

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Meister, H., Schreitmüller, S., Grugel, L. et al. Untersuchungen zum Sprachverstehen und zu kognitiven Fähigkeiten im Alter. HNO 59, 689–695 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00106-011-2262-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00106-011-2262-7

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