Objectives:The aims of this study were to (i) evaluate the efficacy of phoneme discrimination training for hearing and cognitive abilities of adults aged 50 to 74 years with mild sensorineural hearing loss who were not users of hearing aids, and to (ii) determine participant compliance with a self-administered, computer-delivered, home- and game-based auditory training program.Design:This study was a randomized controlled trial with repeated measures and crossover design. Participants were trained and tested over an 8- to 12-week period. One group (Immediate Training) trained during weeks 1 and 4. A second waitlist group (Delayed Training) did no training during weeks 1 and 4, but then trained during weeks 5 and 8. On-task (phoneme discrimination) and transferable outcome measures (speech perception, cognition, self-report of hearing disability) for both groups were obtained during weeks 0, 4, and 8, and for the Delayed Training group only at week 12.Results:Robust phoneme discrimination learning was found for both groups, with the largest improvements in threshold shown for those with the poorest initial thresholds. Between weeks 1 and 4, the Immediate Training group showed moderate, significant improvements on self-report of hearing disability, divided attention, and working memory, specifically for conditions or situations that were more complex and therefore more challenging. Training did not result in consistent improvements in speech perception in noise. There was no evidence of any test-retest effects between weeks 1 and 4 for the Delayed Training group. Retention of benefit at 4 weeks post-training was shown for phoneme discrimination, divided attention, working memory, and self-report of hearing disability. Improved divided attention and reduced self-reported hearing difficulties were highly correlated.Conclusions:It was observed that phoneme discrimination training benefits some but not all people with mild hearing loss. Evidence presented here, together with that of other studies that used different training stimuli, suggests that auditory training may facilitate cognitive skills that index executive function and the self-perception of hearing difficulty in challenging situations. The development of cognitive skills may be more important than the development of sensory skills for improving communication and speech perception in everyday life. However, improvements were modest. Outcome measures need to be appropriately challenging to be sensitive to the effects of the relatively small amount of training performed.

BackgroundThe use of personal computers (PCs) and the Internet to provide health care information and interventions has increased substantially over the past decade. Yet the effectiveness of such an approach is highly dependent upon whether the target population has both access and the skill set required to use this technology. This is particularly relevant in the delivery of hearing health care because most people with hearing loss are over 50 years (average age for initial hearing aid fitting is 74 years). Although PC skill and Internet use by demographic factors have been examined previously, data do not currently exist that examine the effects of hearing difficulties on PC skill or Internet use in older adults.ObjectiveTo explore the effect that hearing difficulty has on PC skill and Internet use in an opportunistic sample of adults aged 50-74 years.MethodsPostal questionnaires about hearing difficulty, PC skill, and Internet use (n=3629) were distributed to adults aged 50-74 years through three family physician practices in Nottingham, United Kingdom. A subsample of 84 respondents completed a second detailed questionnaire on confidence in using a keyboard, mouse, and track pad. Summed scores were termed the “PC confidence index.” The PC confidence index was used to verify the PC skill categories in the postal questionnaire (ie, never used a computer, beginner, and competent).ResultsThe postal questionnaire response rate was 36.78% (1298/3529) and 95.15% (1235/1298) of these contained complete information. There was a significant between-category difference for PC skill by PC confidence index (P<.001), thus verifying the three-category PC skill scale. PC and Internet use was greater in the younger respondents (50-62 years) than in the older respondents (63-74 years). The younger group’s PC and Internet use was 81.0% and 60.9%, respectively; the older group’s PC and Internet use was 54.0% and 29.8%, respectively. Those with slight hearing difficulties in the older group had significantly greater odds of PC use compared to those with no hearing difficulties (odds ratio [OR]=1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-2.30, P=.02). Those with moderate+ hearing difficulties had lower odds of PC use compared with those with no hearing difficulties, both overall (OR=0.58, 95% CI 0.39-0.87, P=.008) and in the younger group (OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.26-0.86, P=.008). Similar results were demonstrated for Internet use by age group (older: OR=1.57, 95% CI 0.99-2.47, P=.05; younger: OR=0.32, 95% CI 0.16-0.62, P=.001).ConclusionsHearing health care is of particular relevance to older adults because of the prevalence of age-related hearing loss. Our data show that older adults experiencing slight hearing difficulty have increased odds of greater PC skill and Internet use than those reporting no difficulty. These findings suggest that PC and Internet delivery of hearing screening, information, and intervention is feasible for people between 50-74 years who have hearing loss, but who would not typically present to an audiologist.

Conflict of interest:Neil R. Harrison declares that he has no conflict of interest.Dan P.A. Clark declares that he has no conflict of interest.Trait mindfulness predicts frequency of aesthetic experiences 2 Abstract Mindfulness can foster an enhanced sensitivity to internal and external impressions, which could result in heightened subjective responses to works of art. So far though, very little is known about the connection between mindfulness and aesthetic responses to the arts, therefore the current study aimed to investigate whether there was an association between trait mindfulness and how often people report aesthetic experiences. We hypothesized that the Observing facet of mindfulness would positively predict the self-reported frequency of aesthetic experiences (aesthetic chills, feeling touched, and absorption). Participants in an online study (N = 207) completed the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire, an Aesthetic Experiences scale in relation to the area of the arts a participant encountered most frequently in their daily life, and a measure of aesthetic expertise. Controlling for aesthetic expertise and sex, linear regression revealed that the Observing facet of mindfulness was positively associated with aesthetic experience, as predicted. Non-reactivity positively predicted aesthetic experience, while Non-judging was negatively associated with aesthetic experience. Potential explanations for the association between these three facets of trait mindfulness and aesthetic responses are discussed in relation to information-processing models of aesthetic experience. The findings provide preliminary support for the premise that levels of dispositional mindfulness are associated with the frequency of intense emotional responses to the arts, and recommendations for further research studies are outlined.Trait mindfulness predicts frequency of aesthetic experiences 3

Mounting evidence indicates that processing items for their survival value produces superior recall compared to a number of other well-known memory-enhancing techniques, and that this mnemonic advantage remains up to 48 hours after encoding (Raymaekers et al., 2013).However, little attention has been dedicated to the survival processing effect in location memory, which may represent a better test of adaptive memory than retrieval of verbal information. The current study aims to fill this gap by exploring the longevity of the survival processing effect with both word list (Experiment 1) and location based (Experiment 2) stimuli. Participants rated target items using a single incidental encoding scenario, either Survival versus Pleasantness (word stimuli) or Survival versus Scavenger Hunt (location stimuli). They were then asked to complete a surprise recall task immediately after the ratings and a second recall task 96 hours later. The results demonstrated that, despite a general reduction in memory performance across time, the survival processing advantage was detected at both test times for both stimuli types. These findings provide further support for the survival processing effect and extend the observed effect duration for both word lists and location to 96 hours.

There is growing literature exploring the possibility of parallel retrieval of location memories, although this literature focuses primarily on the speed of retrieval with little attention to the accuracy of location memory recall. Baguley et al. (2006) found that when a person has two or more memories for an object's location, their recall accuracy suggests that only one representation can be retrieved at a time (exclusivity). This finding is counter-intuitive given evidence of non-exclusive recall in the wider memory literature.The current experiment explored the exclusivity effect further and aimed to promote an alternative outcome (i.e. independence or superadditivity) by encouraging the participants to combine multiple representations of space at encoding or retrieval. This was encouraged by using anchor (points of reference) labels that could be combined to form a single strongly associated combination. It was hypothesised that the ability to combine the anchor labels would allow the two representations to be retrieved concurrently, generating higher levels of recall accuracy. The results demonstrate further support for the exclusivity hypothesis, showing no significant improvement in recall accuracy when there are multiple representations of a target object's location as compared to a single representation.

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) in late life is linked to increased risk of subsequent dementia, but it is still unclear exactly what mechanisms underpin this link. A cause for elevated risk of dementia in MDD is increased levels of α-synuclein (α-Syn), a protein found in presynaptic neuronal terminals. In this study, we examined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of α-Syn in conjunction with biomarkers of neurodegeneration (amyloid-β 42, total and phospho tau) and synaptic dysfunction (neurogranin), and measures of memory ability, in 27 cognitively intact older individuals with MDD and 19 controls. Our results show that CSF α-Syn levels did not significantly differ across depressed and control participants, but α-Syn was directly associated with neurogranin levels, and indirectly linked to poorer memory ability. All in all, we found that α-Syn may be implicated in the association between late life MDD and synaptic dysfunction, although further research is needed to confirm these results.

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