Regional Brain Atrophy Mediates Age Effects on Words Recognition in Noise in Adults

Aging in adults is associated with a decline in speech-in-noise (SiN) recognition, yet the neural mechanisms driving this decline remain insufficiently characterized. Most neural evidence on age-related SiN performance has relied on correlational approaches that describe how SiN ability is related to age, but it is not yet clear how changes in specific brain structures mediate this relationship....

This research deepens understanding of why older adults struggle with speech-in-noise, but it is too preliminary to change clinical practice; audiologists should continue comprehensive assessment of speech-in-noise difficulties in older patients while awaiting translational tools.

Identifying brain-level mediators of age-related speech-in-noise decline could eventually guide rehabilitation targets and help explain why hearing aids alone do not fully restore speech understanding in older adults.

1. 01NeuroImage study links regional brain atrophy to age-related decline in speech-in-noise recognition.
2. 02Brain atrophy partially mediates the effect of age on word recognition in noise — not just peripheral hearing loss.
3. 03Findings suggest central auditory processing deficits have a structural neurological basis.
4. 04Could inform why older adults benefit less from hearing aids than audiometric thresholds alone predict.
5. 05Study uses neuroimaging (brain scans) to characterise neural mechanisms underlying the deficit.

PMID

42066925

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121963.

Journal

NeuroImage

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Adults with age-related variation in speech-in-noise recognition ability

Intervention

Neuroimaging assessment of regional brain atrophy

Comparator

Younger adults or adults without significant brain atrophy