title: Neurophysiological aspects of brainstem processing of speech stimuli in audiometric-normal geriatric population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Poor auditory speech perception in geriatrics is attributable to neural de-synchronisation due to structural and degenerative changes of ageing auditory pathways. The speech-evoked auditory brainstem response may be useful for detecting alterations that cause loss of speech discrimination. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the speech-evoked auditory brainstem response in adult and geriatric populations with normal hearing.
  
  
  METHODS
  The auditory brainstem responses to click sounds and to a 40 ms speech sound (the Hindi phoneme |da|) were compared in 25 young adults and 25 geriatric people with normal hearing. The latencies and amplitudes of transient peaks representing neural responses to the onset, offset and sustained portions of the speech stimulus in quiet and noisy conditions were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The older group had significantly smaller amplitudes and longer latencies for the onset and offset responses to |da| in noisy conditions. Stimulus-to-response times were longer and the spectral amplitude of the sustained portion of the stimulus was reduced. The overall stimulus level caused significant shifts in latency across the entire speech-evoked auditory brainstem response in the older group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reduction in neural speech processing in older adults suggests diminished subcortical responsiveness to acoustically dynamic spectral cues. However, further investigations are needed to encode temporal cues at the brainstem level and determine their relationship to speech perception for developing a routine tool for clinical decision-making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology,Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities (Divyangjan),Mumbai,India.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Technical Director,Dr S R Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech & Hearing,Bangalore,India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rangasayee
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology,Grant Medical College & Sir J J Groups of Hospitals,Mumbai,India.
authors.forename: M A H
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ansari
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Auditory Pathways; Auditory Perception; Brain Stem; Geriatrics; Speech Perception