Cortical compensation for hearing loss, but not age, in neural tracking of the fundamental frequency of the voice

How do factors like advancing age and hearing loss impact auditory processing in the human brain? In this podcast, author Dr. Jana Van Canneyt of the University of Leuven discusses the recently published manuscript “Cortical compensation for hearing loss, but not age, in neural tracking of the fundamental frequency of the voice” with Editor in Chief Prof. Nino Ramirez.  Previous studies disagree on the effects of age and hearing loss on the neurophysiological processing of the fundamental frequency of the voice (f0), in part due to confounding effects. Using a novel electrophysiological technique, natural speech stimuli, and controlled study design, we quantified and disentangled the effects of age and hearing loss on neural f0 processing. We uncovered evidence for underlying neurophysiological mechanisms, including a cortical compensation mechanism for hearing loss, but not for age.

Jana Van Canneyt, Jan Wouters, and Tom Francart

Read the manuscript here: https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00156.2021