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Rotman Research Institute Annual Report 2015-2016
Dr. Claude Alain
Senior Scientist, RRI
Professor
Department of Psychology
Institute of Medical Science
University of Toronto
Research Focus: Sensory
Perception & Aging
Enhancing speech comprehension in noisy environments through musical training
When people have a conversation, the brain rapidly distinguishes the speech's sound from any ambient
background noise. However, many people over the age of 65 experience difficulty understanding what people
are saying, especially when several people are talking at the same time. This issue impacts an older adult's
ability to socialize in groups and reduces their quality of life. Fortunately, there is hope to offset this decline in
current and future generations.
Dr. Claude Alain and his research team's latest findings provide strong evidence that musical training may
offset problems in understanding speech in noise. Older adults who received musical training during their
youth are significantly better than their non-musician peers on speech identification tests. This same benefit
has already been observed in young people with musical training.
Starting formal lessons on a musical instrument before the age of 14 and playing a musical instrument
through adulthood appears to enhance key areas in the brain that support speech recognition. The study found
"robust" evidence that this brain benefit is maintained, even in an older population.
Dr. Alain and his team have begun work on a randomized training study to assess whether short-term music
interventions with older adults will offset problems understanding speech in noisy environments. Success from
this trial could lead to incorporating musical programming in future rehabilitation programs.
"It appears that musical training can buy you 20 years of good listening skills," says Dr. Alain, who conducted
the study with a RRI post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Gavin Bidelman, who is now an assistant professor at the
University of Memphis. "For instance, a 70-year-old with a musical background could comprehend speech in
noisy environments as well as a 50-year-old non-musician."
The latest findings, which were published in the Journal of Neuroscience in 2015, add to mounting evidence
that musical training provides a cognitive boost into old age, when the brain needs it most to counteract
cognitive decline.
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