# Project 4:  Pathophysiology of age-related changes in speech recognition

> **NIH NIH P50** · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · 2021 · $407,127

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – PROJECT 4
 Age-related declines in speech recognition lead to the loss of economic opportunity, social isolation,
and depression. These declines are pronounced when listeners must work to recognize speech in noise,
particularly older adults with metabolic presbyacusis. Project 4 examines the ability of older adults with
metabolic, sensory, and neural presbyacusis to leverage acoustic-level phonetic cues that help identify speech
sounds, as well as an adaptive control system that helps to optimize performance during challenging tasks.
Aim 4.1 tests the hypothesis that perception of acoustic-level phonetic cues is differentially affected across
metabolic, sensory, and neural presbyacusis phenotypes because of differences in the ability to represent
critical low-frequency information (e.g., pitch) and brief information with rapid onsets (e.g., voice onset time).
Aim 4.2 tests the hypothesis that limited function of a frontal adaptive control system results in unexpectedly
poor suprathreshold speech recognition, particularly in older adults with metabolic presbyacusis, because of
small vessel disease, a common cause explanation for inner ear and frontal cortical declines. Structural and
functional neuroimaging data will be integrated with perceptual decision-making modeling to test these
hypotheses and an overarching causal model that declines in auditory and frontal adaptive control systems
affect the accumulation of spectral and temporal information and modify decision boundaries during speech
recognition. The results from Project 4 are expected to explain why older adults with different mechanisms of
presbyacusis experience speech recognition difficulties, which may guide counseling and the design and
selection of interventions to enhance communication and quality of life.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10248450
- **Project number:** 5P50DC000422-33
- **Recipient organization:** MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark Andrew Eckert
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $407,127
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-07-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10248450

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10248450, Project 4:  Pathophysiology of age-related changes in speech recognition (5P50DC000422-33). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10248450. Licensed CC0.

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