Evaluating Multisensory Stimuli as a Mechanism to Boost Cognition and Wellbeing in Old Age
Lead Research Organisation:
Nottingham Trent University
Department Name: Sch of Social Sciences
Abstract
With advancing healthcare and increased standards of living, the proportion of older adults in society is now higher than ever and is set to rise further over the coming decades. A key focus of research is to ensure that individuals maintain their cognitive abilities and quality of life into an extended old age. The current project aims to explore the successful coping with age-related declines in sensory ability, by finding out how combining sensory information from multiple sources may compensate for impairments in hearing and vision.
Hearing impairment affects 71% of adults over 70 and more than 96% of those aged over 50 wear spectacles at least some of the time. A variety of recent research has shown that older adults perform better in tasks that utilise multimodal stimuli (e.g., audiovisual). This preference towards multisensory processing in older adults is a new result in the literature. It is currently unknown if this is a general change (like other effects of ageing such as slowing and memory loss), or if it is a compensatory process resulting from age-related sensory decline. Our data will resolve this issue and we will also establish if websites and phone calls can be usefully enhanced by video, which is multisensory.
We propose that multisensory stimuli can alleviate age deficits typically found in memory tasks by supporting cognitively-demanding perceptual processing. A well-established feature of age-related sensory loss (such as impaired vision and hearing) is its association with corresponding age-related deficits in cognition (such as memory and paying attention). A surprising finding is that some patterns of age deficits in cognition can be replicated in young adults by reducing their ability to perceive experimental stimuli: For example, if a list of items is degraded so that it is harder to see, young adults will find it harder to remember that list than a list of easy-to-see items. This suggests that perceptual processes are taking up cognitive resources that might otherwise have been used to effectively memorise information. Such findings therefore demonstrate the potential to improve cognitive performance by facilitating perception. In this study, we will investigate whether memory improves when people can both see and hear the lists of items.
The finding that older adults make more use of multisensory (auditory and visual) stimuli comes mainly from studies where older adults make simple responses to visual, auditory, or audiovisual stimuli. Memory tasks involve more complicated perceptual and cognitive processes. In a series of 9 studies, we will advance the theoretical understanding of multisensory processing in ageing and establish how memory performance can be improved by making stimuli multisensory. We will also establish if a bias towards multisensory processing in older adults is a result of individual differences in sensory ability (e.g., does an individual with hearing impairment use more visual information than an individual without hearing impairment), or if this is just a general response to ageing. We will also establish if age deficits can be further alleviated by actively encouraging the use of multisensory stimuli through experimental instruction.
Finally, we will investigate whether the benefits we find in lab-based studies can lead to real-world improvements in memory and wellbeing for older adults. For example, we will investigate whether multimedia information can help older adults to obtain and remember health information more effectively than when information is only presented visually. Throughout the project, we will evaluate how receptive older adults are to the utilisation of multisensory materials in different contexts to assess where these interventions should be targeted.
Hearing impairment affects 71% of adults over 70 and more than 96% of those aged over 50 wear spectacles at least some of the time. A variety of recent research has shown that older adults perform better in tasks that utilise multimodal stimuli (e.g., audiovisual). This preference towards multisensory processing in older adults is a new result in the literature. It is currently unknown if this is a general change (like other effects of ageing such as slowing and memory loss), or if it is a compensatory process resulting from age-related sensory decline. Our data will resolve this issue and we will also establish if websites and phone calls can be usefully enhanced by video, which is multisensory.
We propose that multisensory stimuli can alleviate age deficits typically found in memory tasks by supporting cognitively-demanding perceptual processing. A well-established feature of age-related sensory loss (such as impaired vision and hearing) is its association with corresponding age-related deficits in cognition (such as memory and paying attention). A surprising finding is that some patterns of age deficits in cognition can be replicated in young adults by reducing their ability to perceive experimental stimuli: For example, if a list of items is degraded so that it is harder to see, young adults will find it harder to remember that list than a list of easy-to-see items. This suggests that perceptual processes are taking up cognitive resources that might otherwise have been used to effectively memorise information. Such findings therefore demonstrate the potential to improve cognitive performance by facilitating perception. In this study, we will investigate whether memory improves when people can both see and hear the lists of items.
The finding that older adults make more use of multisensory (auditory and visual) stimuli comes mainly from studies where older adults make simple responses to visual, auditory, or audiovisual stimuli. Memory tasks involve more complicated perceptual and cognitive processes. In a series of 9 studies, we will advance the theoretical understanding of multisensory processing in ageing and establish how memory performance can be improved by making stimuli multisensory. We will also establish if a bias towards multisensory processing in older adults is a result of individual differences in sensory ability (e.g., does an individual with hearing impairment use more visual information than an individual without hearing impairment), or if this is just a general response to ageing. We will also establish if age deficits can be further alleviated by actively encouraging the use of multisensory stimuli through experimental instruction.
Finally, we will investigate whether the benefits we find in lab-based studies can lead to real-world improvements in memory and wellbeing for older adults. For example, we will investigate whether multimedia information can help older adults to obtain and remember health information more effectively than when information is only presented visually. Throughout the project, we will evaluate how receptive older adults are to the utilisation of multisensory materials in different contexts to assess where these interventions should be targeted.
Planned Impact
Multisensory stimuli can improve perception for all age groups, but it is currently unknown if this perceptual facilitation can translate to deeper benefits such as improved memory. With an emphasis on alleviating age-related deficits, the project will inform academic understanding of age-related decline at the same time as advancing theory in a direction that leads to real-world applications.
The proposed research will develop academic understanding of sensory ability, ageing and memory. Impact is embedded into the project in that the applied phase of the project will produce guidance on ways in which informative materials and communication technology might be improved by a multisensory end-user experience, particularly for older adults. We will also be able to encourage older adults directly to engage more with multisensory technology. Finally, the project will also support ageing research environments in the hosting institutions. The pathways to impact document further highlights specific mechanisms for obtaining impact based on the topics summarised below.
Human factors and applied psychology
The project will evaluate if multisensory material can aid memory for important information, and if older adults can benefit from multimodal technology such as video calls to promote greater social engagement and wellbeing. The project includes both an investigation of the key theoretical underpinnings of these technologies but also some explicit testing of satisfaction, memory and information seeking with multisensory calls and webpages. We also include a participant panel and work to engage the public to evaluate the acceptability of this technology. This will be of direct relevance to product designers and applied researchers seeking to improve older adults' user experience and engagement with products and services. We will provide guidance for designers and, if appropriate, generate a further translational project with commercial partners.
Older individuals
Understanding of changing perception and its effect on cognition will be useful in and of itself for older people and we will communicate this to a wider audience throughout the project. Furthermore, the outcomes of this project have the potential to improve the usability and quality of multisensory technology. The technology behind video calls is better than ever, and more older adults are engaging with the internet. By encouraging simple lifestyle changes, our research could help older individuals utilise more effective communication technology which may reduce their social isolation and increase their wellbeing.
Research environment
The increasing need for geriatric research is a global problem and it is critical for UK universities to address such important issues in order to maintain their status in the international research community. Furthermore, the funding will support the age-related research facilities at each institution involved by helping to maintain and promote older volunteer participation. Finally, the project will increase the ageing research experience across the team, promoting future work in this field; especially for the named post-doc and research assistant, who will be beginning their research careers, and for the patient and public involvement panel who may work on future projects.
The proposed research will develop academic understanding of sensory ability, ageing and memory. Impact is embedded into the project in that the applied phase of the project will produce guidance on ways in which informative materials and communication technology might be improved by a multisensory end-user experience, particularly for older adults. We will also be able to encourage older adults directly to engage more with multisensory technology. Finally, the project will also support ageing research environments in the hosting institutions. The pathways to impact document further highlights specific mechanisms for obtaining impact based on the topics summarised below.
Human factors and applied psychology
The project will evaluate if multisensory material can aid memory for important information, and if older adults can benefit from multimodal technology such as video calls to promote greater social engagement and wellbeing. The project includes both an investigation of the key theoretical underpinnings of these technologies but also some explicit testing of satisfaction, memory and information seeking with multisensory calls and webpages. We also include a participant panel and work to engage the public to evaluate the acceptability of this technology. This will be of direct relevance to product designers and applied researchers seeking to improve older adults' user experience and engagement with products and services. We will provide guidance for designers and, if appropriate, generate a further translational project with commercial partners.
Older individuals
Understanding of changing perception and its effect on cognition will be useful in and of itself for older people and we will communicate this to a wider audience throughout the project. Furthermore, the outcomes of this project have the potential to improve the usability and quality of multisensory technology. The technology behind video calls is better than ever, and more older adults are engaging with the internet. By encouraging simple lifestyle changes, our research could help older individuals utilise more effective communication technology which may reduce their social isolation and increase their wellbeing.
Research environment
The increasing need for geriatric research is a global problem and it is critical for UK universities to address such important issues in order to maintain their status in the international research community. Furthermore, the funding will support the age-related research facilities at each institution involved by helping to maintain and promote older volunteer participation. Finally, the project will increase the ageing research experience across the team, promoting future work in this field; especially for the named post-doc and research assistant, who will be beginning their research careers, and for the patient and public involvement panel who may work on future projects.
Publications
Atkin C
(2023)
The effect of unisensory and multisensory information on lexical decision and free recall in young and older adults
in Scientific Reports
Badham S
(2024)
Age Deficits in Associative Memory are not Alleviated by Multisensory Paradigms
in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
Description | We have identified practical methods of supporting memory and decision making via manipulations of stimuli presentation. Generally, all individuals benefit from presenting stimuli in a multimodal format (e.g., sound plus vision such as text on screen alongside an auditory recording of the displayed words). In contrast to our original hypotheses, the benefit of multimodal presentation was similar for all age groups, not disproportionately beneficial to older adults. |
Exploitation Route | Multisensory presentation techniques can be used to aid any service or industry that requires information to be conveyed to individuals. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Healthcare Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Retail |
Description | Easing Everyday Decisions: Interdisciplinary development of interventions to support older adults' everyday decision-making |
Amount | £321,215 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/Y01054X/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2023 |
End | 08/2025 |
Description | NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre 2022-2027 |
Amount | £23,298,874 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NIHR203310 |
Organisation | National Institute for Health Research |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2022 |
End | 11/2027 |
Description | Supporting financial decision making in older adults |
Amount | £9,658 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SRG21\210056 |
Organisation | The British Academy |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2022 |
End | 02/2023 |
Title | Replication Study of Laurienti et al. |
Description | This is a replication of a multimodal ageing paradigm by Laurienti and collegues. Data is already collected for two separate studies with slight variations on methodology. Laurienti PJ, Burdette JH, Maldjian JA, Wallace MT (2006) Enhanced multisensory integration in older adults. Neurobiology of Aging, 27:1155-1163. Hugenschmidt, C. E., Mozolic, J. L., & Laurienti, P. J. (2009). Suppression of multisensory integration by modality-specific attention in aging. Neuroreport, 20(4), 349. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This is a replication that will be used to inform ongoing research. The data are not currently published as they will be used in a later publication. The links below are to pre-reg documents: https://osf.io/wzta5 https://osf.io/rdegz |
URL | https://osf.io/rdegz |
Title | Study 1 Data |
Description | This is Study 1 from the Case for Support. The data are gathered and analysed but will be combined with later research for publication so have not been made public. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The study has informed later work. Link below is to Pre-Reg info. |
URL | https://osf.io/3qnd6 |
Title | Study 6 Data |
Description | This is Study 6 from the Case for Support. The data are gathered but will be combined with later research for publication so have not been made public. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The study has informed later work. Link below is to Pre-Reg info. |
URL | https://osf.io/ftrz8/?view_only=9c3fa6767c634d8ea03d263e7a2c99f0 |
Title | The effect of unisensory and multisensory information on lexical decision and free recall in young and older adults |
Description | Dataset corresponding to: Atkin, C., Stacey, J. E., Roberts, K. L., Allen, H. A., Henshaw, H., & Badham, S. P. (2023). The effect of unisensory and multisensory information on lexical decision and free recall in young and older adults. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 16575. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Publication Atkin, C., Stacey, J. E., Roberts, K. L., Allen, H. A., Henshaw, H., & Badham, S. P. (2023). The effect of unisensory and multisensory information on lexical decision and free recall in young and older adults. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 16575. |
URL | https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3QND6 |
Description | Speech Comprehension With a Face Mask in Older Adults |
Organisation | Nottingham Trent University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a side project with some collaborators known by the Research Fellow Jemaine Stacey Abstract Occluding a talker's mouth movements while they speak may hinder speech comprehension in adults. We wanted to find out how mask wearing during the covid-19 pandemic impacted speech perception as this may be particularly detrimental for older adults who may rely more on visual speech cues. The work is also relevant for clinical settings where mask wearing is mandatory. Hypotheses a) Young and older adults should have significantly worse speech comprehension for the mask condition compared to no mask. B) The young adult group should have a smaller reduction in speech comprehension compared to older adults (assuming that there is a progression from auditory dominance to visual dominance with age). The experiment involves watching and listening to videos of spoken sentences (Brown et al, 2021; Van Engen et al., 2021, 2014) for example: 'the friendly baby hugged the kitten'. On 50% of trials the talker is wearing a mask. The task is to identify keywords from the sentences by clicking on pictures (see video below). Part 1 on the experiment is in quiet and part 2 is in multi-talker babble. Design: 2 x 2 mixed design with Age (young adults, older adults) and Mask Presence (Mask vs. No mask). DV = baseline accuracy, threshold. Analysis: Bayesian sequential hypothesis testing, threshold BF=10 for or against hypothesis. BANOVAs with follow-up Bayesian t-tests. |
Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators are designing and running the study. We may run some participants at our end. The project will likely yield a paper. Collaborators Thomas Pardo-Alvarez (voluntary research assistant) Nottingham Trent University, UK Dr Rebecca Hirst, University of Nottingham, UK Dr Nora Turoman University of Geneva, Switzerland |
Impact | Ongoing research will investigate this topic. Funds are secured from the collaborators to pay participants. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Speech Comprehension With a Face Mask in Older Adults |
Organisation | University of Geneva |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a side project with some collaborators known by the Research Fellow Jemaine Stacey Abstract Occluding a talker's mouth movements while they speak may hinder speech comprehension in adults. We wanted to find out how mask wearing during the covid-19 pandemic impacted speech perception as this may be particularly detrimental for older adults who may rely more on visual speech cues. The work is also relevant for clinical settings where mask wearing is mandatory. Hypotheses a) Young and older adults should have significantly worse speech comprehension for the mask condition compared to no mask. B) The young adult group should have a smaller reduction in speech comprehension compared to older adults (assuming that there is a progression from auditory dominance to visual dominance with age). The experiment involves watching and listening to videos of spoken sentences (Brown et al, 2021; Van Engen et al., 2021, 2014) for example: 'the friendly baby hugged the kitten'. On 50% of trials the talker is wearing a mask. The task is to identify keywords from the sentences by clicking on pictures (see video below). Part 1 on the experiment is in quiet and part 2 is in multi-talker babble. Design: 2 x 2 mixed design with Age (young adults, older adults) and Mask Presence (Mask vs. No mask). DV = baseline accuracy, threshold. Analysis: Bayesian sequential hypothesis testing, threshold BF=10 for or against hypothesis. BANOVAs with follow-up Bayesian t-tests. |
Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators are designing and running the study. We may run some participants at our end. The project will likely yield a paper. Collaborators Thomas Pardo-Alvarez (voluntary research assistant) Nottingham Trent University, UK Dr Rebecca Hirst, University of Nottingham, UK Dr Nora Turoman University of Geneva, Switzerland |
Impact | Ongoing research will investigate this topic. Funds are secured from the collaborators to pay participants. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Speech Comprehension With a Face Mask in Older Adults |
Organisation | University of Nottingham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a side project with some collaborators known by the Research Fellow Jemaine Stacey Abstract Occluding a talker's mouth movements while they speak may hinder speech comprehension in adults. We wanted to find out how mask wearing during the covid-19 pandemic impacted speech perception as this may be particularly detrimental for older adults who may rely more on visual speech cues. The work is also relevant for clinical settings where mask wearing is mandatory. Hypotheses a) Young and older adults should have significantly worse speech comprehension for the mask condition compared to no mask. B) The young adult group should have a smaller reduction in speech comprehension compared to older adults (assuming that there is a progression from auditory dominance to visual dominance with age). The experiment involves watching and listening to videos of spoken sentences (Brown et al, 2021; Van Engen et al., 2021, 2014) for example: 'the friendly baby hugged the kitten'. On 50% of trials the talker is wearing a mask. The task is to identify keywords from the sentences by clicking on pictures (see video below). Part 1 on the experiment is in quiet and part 2 is in multi-talker babble. Design: 2 x 2 mixed design with Age (young adults, older adults) and Mask Presence (Mask vs. No mask). DV = baseline accuracy, threshold. Analysis: Bayesian sequential hypothesis testing, threshold BF=10 for or against hypothesis. BANOVAs with follow-up Bayesian t-tests. |
Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators are designing and running the study. We may run some participants at our end. The project will likely yield a paper. Collaborators Thomas Pardo-Alvarez (voluntary research assistant) Nottingham Trent University, UK Dr Rebecca Hirst, University of Nottingham, UK Dr Nora Turoman University of Geneva, Switzerland |
Impact | Ongoing research will investigate this topic. Funds are secured from the collaborators to pay participants. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Age Study Newsletter |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | We produced a newsletter outlining ageing research taking place at Nottingham Trent University and University of Nottingham (link below). This was shared across the academic departments but was primarily aimed at our older volunteers. We emailed the newsletter to around 300 older adults who volunteer for research at Nottingham Trent university and encouraged them to share it with their peers. This aimed to engage the volunteers with the research and to keep them involved with activities within the department. We also used the letter to increase recruitment to our panel. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://sway.office.com/NC1brZGsYNSxokpG?ref=email |
Description | Conference Presentation: 6th International Conference on Cognitive Hearing Science for Communication |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Prestation Title: Young and Older Adults' Recall of Audio, Visual, and Audio-visual health information |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://chscom2022.se/home |
Description | Conference Presentation: Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC 25) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Conference Title and Abstract: Visual imagination and visual working memory performance in older and younger healthy adults Visual imagination and visual working memory (VWM) have been proposed to be similar. However, recent research indicates they differ in capacity, with VWM capacity higher than that of imagination. Another way of assessing the commonality of the underlying processes is to examine how age influences imagination and VWM performance. In the current study, younger (18 - 30, N = 30) and older (65 - 80, N = 30) participants completed change detection on a checkerboard grid where the location of the black squares were built-up sequentially in the mind's eye (Imagination) or shown sequentially (VWM). The task was to judge whether a single square on the grid was a target in the earlier sequence. Participants' confidence about the correctness of their judgement were also recorded on each trial of the tasks. In line with previous findings, performance was better in the VWM task than the imagination task. Furthermore, younger adults' performance was better than older adults. Interestingly, confidence judgments mirrored the performance effect of task, with confidence being higher in VWM than imagination. However, there was no effect of age on confidence, suggesting that older adults were as confident as younger adults despite the difference in performance between them. These results are discussed alongside theoretical implications about the mechanisms underpinning imagination and VWM in aging. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://theassc.org/assc-25/ |
Description | Conference Presentation: Cognitive Ageing Conference 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Title and Abstract: One and the same? Multisensory benefit for older and younger adults in judgement and memory tasks Several studies using simple low-level stimuli have shown that older adults benefit more from multisensory stimuli than do young adults. However, there is insufficient research to fully understand how the benefit of multisensory stimuli on processing speed could influence performance on memory and judgement tasks. The current study aimed to show how sensory support - by presenting stimuli in multiple sensory modalities (audiovisual) instead of one (audio or visual) - may further help older adults improve their memory and cognitive processing. Older (65 - 80, N = 31) and younger (18 - 30, N = 31) participants completed lexical decision (real word vs. nonword judgement) and word recall tasks, either independently or in combination at encoding (later explicit recall of real words from lexical decision task), with and without background noise. A multimodal benefit was found for both age groups for lexical decision accuracy and word recall. In addition, older adults seemed to prioritise lexical decision over the encoding of words in the dual task condition. These findings suggest there is a multimodal benefit that is the same for both age groups despite literature suggesting a larger effect for older adults. The relations between these tasks are discussed alongside the theoretical implications. Key words (select 'other' on form to add custom keywords) Explicit Memory, Recall, Lexical Decision Task, Multisensory Perception |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://cac.gatech.edu/ |
Description | Does audio-visual information result in improved health-related decision-making and knowledge when compared with audio-only or visualonly information? A systematic review & meta-analysis |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Conference Poster Presentation at The 21st International Multisensory Research Forum will take place at Bluepoint center in Brussels, Belgium on June 27-30, 2023: Does audio-visual information result in improved health-related decision-making and knowledge when compared with audio-only or visualonly information? A systematic review & meta-analysis |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://imrf2023.sciencesconf.org/ |
Description | Keynote Speech under Optimizing Sensory and Motor Functioning Session of the Aging & Cognition Conference 2023 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Dr Helen Henshaw will deliver a keynote speech at the Aging & Cognition Conference 2023 (Leuven, Belgium) which is the leading cognitive ageing conference in Europe. The talk within the session 'Optimizing Sensory and Motor Functioning' covers areas of research within the grant. The conference presentation will reach hundreds of academics working specifically in this field. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://eucasconference.be/ |
Description | Older adults do not show enhanced benefits from multisensory information on speeded discrimination tasks |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Conference Poster Presentation at The 21st International Multisensory Research Forum will take place at Bluepoint center in Brussels, Belgium on June 27-30, 2023: Older adults do not show enhanced benefits from multisensory information on speeded discrimination tasks |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://imrf2023.sciencesconf.org/ |