How age affects memory task performance in clinically normal hearing persons |
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Authors: | Charlotte Vercammen Tine Goossens Jan Wouters Astrid van Wieringen |
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Affiliation: | Department of Neurosciences, Research Group Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium |
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Abstract: | The main objective of this study is to investigate memory task performance in different age groups, irrespective of hearing status. Data are collected on a short-term memory task (WAIS-III Digit Span forward) and two working memory tasks (WAIS-III Digit Span backward and the Reading Span Test). The tasks are administered to young (20–30 years, n = 56), middle-aged (50–60 years, n = 47), and older participants (70–80 years, n = 16) with normal hearing thresholds. All participants have passed a cognitive screening task (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)). Young participants perform significantly better than middle-aged participants, while middle-aged and older participants perform similarly on the three memory tasks. Our data show that older clinically normal hearing persons perform equally well on the memory tasks as middle-aged persons. However, even under optimal conditions of preserved sensory processing, changes in memory performance occur. Based on our data, these changes set in before middle age. |
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Keywords: | Aging peripheral hearing status normal hearing cognition memory tasks |
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