Abstract
Cognitive decline is evident in the elderly and it affects speech perception and foreign language learning. A listen-and-repeat training with a challenging speech sound contrast was earlier found to be effective in young monolingual adults and even in advanced L2 university students at the attentive and pre-attentive levels. This study investigates foreign language speech perception in the elderly with the same protocol used with the young adults. Training effects were measured with attentive behavioural measures (N = 9) and with electroencephalography measuring the pre-attentive mismatch negativity (MMN) response (N = 10). Training was effective in identification, but not in discrimination and there were no changes in the MMN. The most attention demanding perceptual functions which benefit from experience-based linguistic knowledge were facilitated through training, whereas pre-attentive processing was unaffected. The elderly would probably benefit from different training types compared to younger adults.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 135430 |
Journal | Neuroscience Letters |
Volume | 740 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISSN | 0304-3940 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2021 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Fields of Science
- Training
- Speech perception
- Phonological processing
- Aging
- Mismatch negativity (MMN)
- NEURAL REPRESENTATION
- MISMATCH NEGATIVITY
- FOREIGN-LANGUAGE
- ADULTS
- 515 Psychology
- 6162 Cognitive science