title: Cingulo-Opercular Function During Word Recognition in Noise for Older Adults with Hearing Loss.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adaptive control, reflected by elevated activity in cingulo-opercular brain regions, optimizes performance in challenging tasks by monitoring outcomes and adjusting behavior. For example, cingulo-opercular function benefits trial-level word recognition in noise for normal-hearing adults. Because auditory system deficits may limit the communicative benefit from adaptive control, we examined the extent to which cingulo-opercular engagement supports word recognition in noise for older adults with hearing loss (HL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were selected to form groups with Less HL (n = 12; mean pure tone threshold, pure tone average [PTA] = 19.2 ± 4.8 dB HL [hearing level]) and More HL (n = 12; PTA = 38.4 ± 4.5 dB HL, 0.25-8 kHz, both ears). A word recognition task was performed with words presented in multitalker babble at +3 or +10 dB signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) during a sparse acquisition fMRI experiment. The participants were middle-aged and older (ages: 64.1 ± 8.4 years) English speakers with no history of neurological or psychiatric diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elevated cingulo-opercular activity occurred with increased likelihood of correct word recognition on the next trial (t(23) = 3.28, p = .003), and this association did not differ between hearing loss groups. During trials with word recognition errors, the More HL group exhibited higher blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) contrast in occipital and parietal regions compared with the Less HL group. Across listeners, more pronounced cingulo-opercular activity during recognition errors was associated with better overall word recognition performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The trial-level word recognition benefit from cingulo-opercular activity was equivalent for both hearing loss groups. When speech audibility and performance levels are similar for older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, cingulo-opercular adaptive control contributes to word recognition in noise.
authors.affiliation: a Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , South Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Vaden
authors.affiliation: b Center for Advanced Study of Language , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA.
authors.forename: Stefanie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kuchinsky
authors.affiliation: a Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , South Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Jayne B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ahlstrom
authors.affiliation: a Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , South Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Teubner-Rhodes
authors.affiliation: a Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , South Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Judy R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Dubno
authors.affiliation: a Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , South Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Eckert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013067:Speech Perception