Visual short-term memory binding deficit with age-related\xa0hearing loss in cognitively normal older adults

David G. Loughrey,Mario A. Parra,Brian A. Lawlor

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49023-1

Abstract

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) has been posited as a possible modifiable risk factor for neurocognitive impairment and dementia. Measures sensitive to early neurocognitive changes associated with ARHL would help to elucidate the mechanisms underpinning this relationship. We hypothesized that ARHL might be associated with decline in visual short-term memory binding (VSTMB), a potential biomarker for preclinical dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We examined differences in accuracy between older adults with hearing loss and a control group on the VSTMB task from a single feature (shapes) condition to a feature binding (shapes-colors) condition. Hearing loss was associated with a weaker capacity to process bound features which appeared to be accounted for by a weaker sensitivity for change detection (A’). Our findings give insight into the neural mechanisms underpinning neurocognitive decline with ARHL and its temporal sequence.

Highlights

Background assessmentDemographic data collected included age, sex, and education
The World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for hearing loss were used: pure-tone average (PTA) ≥ 26 dB for 0.5, 1, 2 & 4 kHz in the better ear[13]. Participants meeting these criteria were allocated to hearing loss group (HLG) and those below this threshold were allocated to control group (CG)
Using Pearson’s r or Spearman’s correlation coefficient, we explored associations between shapes and binding accuracy with hearing loss (WHO PTA for entire sample) along with age and other variables recognized as potential modifiable dementia risk factors[3]

Summary

Introduction

Background assessmentDemographic data collected included age, sex, and education (both years and highest attainment). Pure-tone audiometry was used to assess peripheral ear function. Pure-tone air conduction decibel thresholds were obtained in each ear at frequencies 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kilohertz with calibrated audiometers (Grayson Sadler GSI 61 or Interacoustics Callisto) and TDH 39 supra-aural earphones (Telephonics, Huntington, New York). The World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for hearing loss were used: pure-tone average (PTA) ≥ 26 dB for 0.5, 1, 2 & 4 kHz in the better ear[13]. Participants meeting these criteria were allocated to HLG and those below this threshold were allocated to CG. The PTA for low (0.25, 0.5 & 1 kHz) and high frequencies (3, 4, & 6 kHz) for both ears were included to provide an estimate of low and high frequency loss

Methods

Results

Conclusion