Age-related differences in processing of emotions in speech disappear with babble noise in the background
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7149915 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yehuda I Dor (0000-0001-9306-2953, Tel Aviv University), Daniel Algom (0000-0002-4477-1398, Tel Aviv University), Vered Shakuf (0000-0001-7055-7080, Achva Academic College), Boaz M Ben-David (0000-0002-0392-962X, Reichman University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 1532-1541 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cognition & Emotion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0269-9931 • E-ISSN: 1464-0600 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02699931.2024.2351960 |
| PMID | 38764186 |
| OpenAlex | W4398138273 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 26 |
Older adults process emotional speech differently than young adults, relying less on prosody (tone) relative to semantics (words). This study aimed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these age-related differences via an emotional speech-in-noise test. A sample of 51 young and 47 older adults rated spoken sentences with emotional content on both prosody and semantics, presented on the background of wideband speech-spectrum noise (sensory interference) or on the background of multi-talker babble (sensory/cognitive interference). The presence of wideband noise eliminated age-related differences in semantics but not in prosody when processing emotional speech. Conversely, the presence of babble resulted in the elimination of age-related differences across all measures. The results suggest that both sensory and cognitive-linguistic factors contribute to age-related changes in emotional speech processing. Because real world conditions typically involve noisy background, our results highlight the importance of testing under such conditions
Audiology · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Emotional prosody · Perception · Prosody · Speech perception · Speech recognition · Computer Science · Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation · Medicine · Multisensory perception and integration · Noise Effects and Management · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |