Cognition Aging and Speech Communication Conference

This application seeks funding to continue a series of international and interdisciplinary research conferences on cognition, speech communication and aging. Scientists approaching this problem have typically been working in the areas of sensory and perceptual processing, especially hearing, cognitive psychology, or auditory neuroscience. Aging can have a negative impact on all of these systems and understanding how deficits in these areas, both independently and combined, affect speech understanding requires cross- disciplinary understanding and collaboration. We have developed a set of learning objectives for the conference and we currently have agreements from leading national and international researchers for oral presentations addressing these objectives (1) age-related changes in auditory perception and physiology; (2) animal studies of aging and hearing; (3) age-related changes in speech production, perception, and understanding; (4) cognition and aging; (5) multi-sensory perception and aging; (6) hearing loss and assistive devices; and (7) technical advances. In addition, we have requested funds to provide student scholarships to promote and support early-stage investigators. An important aspect of the conference is to encourage early- stage investigators in hearing research. By bringing together scholars actively involved in research across the disciplines, it is hoped that further progress will be made in understanding and remedying the speech- communication difficulties of older adults. Project Number: 1R13AG094200-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: National Institute on Aging (NIA) | Principal Investigator: MITCHELL SOMMERS | Institution: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, SAINT LOUIS, MO | Award Amount: $53,461 | Activity Code: R13 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 SCIL-S (80)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11320969