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Do Circadian Rhythms Affect Adult Age-Related Differences in Auditory Performance?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2010

Payam Ezzatian ,
Margaret Kathleen Pichora-Fuller  and
Bruce A. Schneider
Payam Ezzatian*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
Margaret Kathleen Pichora-Fuller
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
Bruce A. Schneider
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to / La correspondance concernant cet article doit être adressées à: Payam Ezzatian, MA. Department of Psychology University of Toronto 3359 Mississauga Rd. N Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5L 1C6 (payam.ezzatian@utoronto.ca)
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Abstract

Time-of-day effects have been identified as a possible confound in research on age-related differences in cognitive performance. Circadian rhythms have been related to time-of-day variations in sensory measures; however, more is known about the effect of circadian rhythms on vision than on hearing, and virtually nothing is known about whether time-of-day effects are potential confounds in studies of auditory aging. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether age-related differences in performance on auditory tasks are affected by time of day. A set of four auditory experiments was repeated three times over the course of one day with a group of Evening-type younger adults and a group of Morning-type older adults. The results replicated previous findings of age-related differences, but time of day did not affect the basic results. Thus, time of day does not confound the results observed in typical laboratory experiments investigating auditory aging.

Résumé

Les effets de l’heure du jour ont été identifiés comme facteur de confusion potentiel dans la recherche portant sur la performance cognitive en fonction de l’âge. Les rythmes circadiens ont étés liés aux variations des mesures sensorielles en fonction de l’heure du jour; cependant, on en sait davantage sur l’effet des rythmes circadiens sur la vision que sur l’audition. On ne sait pratiquement rien en ce qui concerne les effets de l’heure du jour comme facteur de confusion potentiel dans les études portant sur le vieillissement auditif. L’objectif de la présente étude était de déterminer si les différences liées à l’âge observées dans l’exécution de tâches auditives étaient affectées par l’heure du jour. Un ensemble de quatre expériences auditives a été répété trois fois au cours d’une journée avec un groupe de jeunes adultes « du soir » et un groupe d’adultes aînés « du matin ». Les résultats reproduisent les constatations précédentes concernant les différences liées à l’âge, mais l’heure du jour n’affecte pas les résultats de base. Donc, l’heure du jour n’est pas un facteur de confusion sur les résultats observés dans des expériences de laboratoire typiques qui étudient le vieillissement auditif.

Keywords

rythmes circadiensl’auditionvieillissementcircadian rhythmshearingaging
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 215 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2010

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