Linguistic information compensates for age-related decline in attentional filtering

Abstract As we age, understanding speech in social situations imposes an increasingly difficult challenge to the auditory system. However, the attentional mechanisms underlying age-related speech comprehension difficulties in multitalker situations remain unclear. We collected EEG signals while 63 normal hearing participants from 19 to 71 years performed a speech comprehension task involving a multitalker paradigm at individually adjusted target-to-distractor ratios. Combining trial-resolved multivariate temporal response function modeling with detailed behavioral comprehension responses, we provide a window into lower-level impairments and higher-level compensatory mechanisms across the adult life span. Neuro-behavioral correlations on a trial-by-trial level provide direct evidence for increased distractor representation underlying reduced behavioral performance in late adulthood. This points towards increased distractibility as a potential mechanism underlying age-related speech comprehension deficits. Additionally, at the behavioral and neural levels, we show that older adults relied more on higher-level linguistic information. Finally, we show that an increased reliance on word-level linguistic information may compensate for increased distractor tracking and adaptively support comprehension performance across the adult life span. Specifically, we directly show that increased reliance on higher-level processing can offset age-related impairments in attentional filtering.