- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT01253031
Working Memory Changes With Aging and Hearing Loss
Effects of Aging and Hearing Loss During Rapid Sound Processing
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Detailed Description
The purpose of this pilot study is to understand how memory changes with aging and if failures of working memory during rapid sound processing may account for some of the speech perception difficulties reported by older Veteran listeners especially those with hearing loss. A period of processing interference (and limitation) has been identified during rapid auditory or visual processing. Specifically, when subjects are asked to report on two targeted events embedded in a rapid stream of distractor events, the ability to report on the second target is diminished when it occurs at an interval of approximately 200-400ms following the first target. This has been identified as a failure of working memory consolidation and is robust during both visual and auditory processing. Much is known about how the failure of working memory affects young normal hearing listeners but little is known of its effect on older listeners or listeners with hearing loss. A lengthened period of processing interference is very likely to be present among older listeners. This is important because speech is rapid and older listeners often report difficulty in auditory environments in which multiple speakers are present. Further, older listeners, who are more likely to have hearing loss, continue to report more problems hearing in noisy environments even with their hearing aids optimally functional. The presence of a prolonged period of processing interference in the auditory system could account for some of these complaints and, if more completely understood, could be remediated.
Up to 75 subjects, ages 18-30 and 60-75 years will be invited to participate. Subjects will undergo a complete audiological evaluation done to assign them into one of three arms/groups of up to15 subjects each. Arms will be composed of young subjects with normal hearing (YNH), older subjects with normal hearing (ONH) and older subjects with mild hearing impairment (OHI). Each subject will be asked to listen to between 18 and 26 non-overlapping tones each 30ms in duration followed by a 70ms silent interval. Target tones and tone complexes (T1 and T2) will be embedded in this stream. Sequences could contain (in equal probability) a) no target, b) T1 only, c) T2 only or d) both targets. At the end of each stream, the subject will be required to make an untimed judgment about whether the stream contained T1 (yes/no) and T2 (yes/no). This project is self-paced. The hypothesized findings are that young listeners without hearing impairment will have more difficulty reporting on T2 when it follows T1 by approximately 200-400ms than at any other interval. However, older listeners without hearing impairment will demonstrate a more prolonged period of interference (>400ms) with slightly poorer performance overall while older listeners with hearing impairment will have an even longer lasting period of processing interference and overall larger deficit (poorer performance) suggesting that increasing age and hearing impairment combine to reveal significant processing deficits for this group. These results would provide a much needed explanation of the ways in which rapid processing (precisely what speech is) is degraded by hearing impairment, aging, and a combination of the two.
Study Type
Enrollment (Actual)
Contacts and Locations
Study Locations
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Oregon
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Portland, Oregon, United States, 97239
- VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR
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Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Genders Eligible for Study
Sampling Method
Study Population
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18-30 years of age or 60-75 years of age
- Normal hearing or
- Mild to moderate hearing loss
- No major medical or memory problems
Exclusion Criteria:
- <24/30 on MMSE
- Conductive or mixed hearing loss.
- Hearing loss worse than 55dB in either ear.
- Taking medication known to alter concentration or alertness
- Inability to learn task after practice
- Major medical or psychological disorder
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
Cohorts and Interventions
Group / Cohort |
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Group 1
young normal hearing
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Group 2
older normal hearing
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Group 3
older hearing impaired
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What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Time between targets (lag time)
Time Frame: At time of consent up to 2 weeks from consent
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The subjects will be trained to hear each target sound in a sequence of sounds.
The target sounds will vary in terms of how closely they occur to each other.
Closer (in time, also called lag time) targets will be harder to hear than far apart (in time) targets.
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At time of consent up to 2 weeks from consent
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Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Time Frame |
---|---|
Percent correct
Time Frame: At time of consent up to 2 weeks from consent
|
At time of consent up to 2 weeks from consent
|
Collaborators and Investigators
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Marilyn L Dille, PhD, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start
Primary Completion (Actual)
Study Completion (Actual)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Estimate)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Estimate)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- C6928-P
This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.
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