Aging Effects on Frequency Pattern Recognition

Aging Effects on Frequency Pattern Recognition The purpose of present study was to investigate aging effects on frequency pattern recognition in a population in Korean by using pitch pattern tests. Frequency pattern test has been used to measure central auditory function that is sensitive to lesions in either hemisphere or interhemisphere. A wealth of experimental evidence suggests that frequency pattern recognition degrades with aging, and that performance deficits are more severe in verbal than in humming modes of responses Bellis & Wilber, 2001 . Frequency pattern test consists of 60 patterns of three-tone burst in varying patterns of high1,122 Hz and low880 Hz frequency. Thirty items were presented to each ear, with the listener humming or verbally labeling the patterns. Twenty subjects were between the age of 20 29 years and 10 subjects were between the ages of 60 70 years all with normal hearing sensitivities. For both the humming and labeling conditions, mean scores of elderly subjects were significantly lower than those of young subjects. The average scores of young subjects were 99.49% for the right and 99.67% for the left for humming. Scores for labeling were 93.99% for the right and 93.99% for the left. Elderly subjects scores were 79.67% for the right and 80.66% for the left ear for humming. The scores for labeling were 47.33% for the right and 44.66% for the left. The results for the population in Korea identified a pattern that shows that the pattern recognition abilities are degraded by aging. Performance for linguistic labeling is affected more by aging than humming.