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. 2013 Jul 25;8(7):e68892.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068892. Print 2013.

Age differences in the neuroelectric adaptation to meaningful sounds

Ada W S Leung  1 , Yu He, Cheryl L Grady, Claude Alain
Affiliations

Age differences in the neuroelectric adaptation to meaningful sounds

Ada W S Leung et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Much of what we know regarding the effect of stimulus repetition on neuroelectric adaptation comes from studies using artificially produced pure tones or harmonic complex sounds. Little is known about the neural processes associated with the representation of everyday sounds and how these may be affected by aging. In this study, we used real life, meaningful sounds presented at various azimuth positions and found that auditory evoked responses peaking at about 100 and 180 ms after sound onset decreased in amplitude with stimulus repetition. This neural adaptation was greater in young than in older adults and was more pronounced when the same sound was repeated at the same location. Moreover, the P2 waves showed differential patterns of domain-specific adaptation when location and identity was repeated among young adults. Background noise decreased ERP amplitudes and modulated the magnitude of repetition effects on both the N1 and P2 amplitude, and the effects were comparable in young and older adults. These findings reveal an age-related difference in the neural processes associated with adaptation to meaningful sounds, which may relate to older adults' difficulty in ignoring task-irrelevant stimuli.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Co-author Claude Alain is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. A schematic diagram showing four consecutive sound stimuli in a trial.
Figure 2
Figure 2. ERP waves elicited by four consecutive sound stimuli in the DSDL, DSSL, SSDL and SSSL trials in the no noise condition.
(A) Evoked responses averaged for young and older adults at Cz in the DSDL, DSSL, SSDL and SSSL trials. (B) The topographic maps of the N1 and P2 waves at latencies showing peak ERP amplitudes at Cz for the 1st and 4th sound in the DSDL, and SSSL trials among young and older adults.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ERP waves elicited by four consecutive sound stimuli in the DSDL, DSSL, SSDL and SSSL trials in the noise condition. (A) Evoked responses averaged for young and older adults at Cz in the DSDL, DSSL, SSDL and SSSL trials. (B) The topographic maps of the N1 and P2 waves at latencies showing peak amplitudes at Cz for the 1st and 4th sound in the DSDL, and SSSL trials among young and older adults.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Plot of N1 peak amplitudes across the four positions regardless of noise.
(A) SSSL trials. (B) DSSL trials. (C) DSDL trials. (D) SSDL trials. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Plot of P2 peak amplitudes across the four positions regardless of noise.
(A) S SSL trials. (B) DSSL trials. (C) DSDL trials. (D) SSDL trials. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Plot of the magnitude of N1 amplitude changes from the 1st to 4th position across the four trial types in the absence and presence of noise.
(A) Young adults. (B) Older adults. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Plot of the magnitude of P2 amplitude changes from the 1st to 4th position across the four trial types in the absence and presence of noise.
(A) Young adults. (B) Older adults. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean.
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