Standing while Listening

Study Description

This study investigates the effects of age-related changes in hearing and cognitive functioning on safe mobility in older adults who are 65 years of age or older. The first session of the Standing while Listening study includes a series of basic hearing, vision, thinking, and movement tests. If eligible and interested, you will be contacted for a second session that will use a virtual reality simulator called Streetlab that simulates real-world environments. Participants will be asked to complete a series of listening-while-balancing tasks where you will hear digits and need to repeat them back to the researcher while standing on a forceplate in Streetlab. 

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Eligibility Criteria

We have two groups of older adults: normal hearing older adults and older adults with hearing loss who wear hearing aids. Older adults with normal hearing can participate in this study if they are: 1) 65 of years or older, 2) normal-to-corrected vision, 3) English monolingual or started learning English before age 5, 4) no hearing loss and therefore hearing aids, 5) no prior history of neurological or psychiatric diseases, and 6) no mobility impairments (e.g., no required use of mobility aids, no diagnosed vestibular disorder, or major musculoskeletal problems). Older adults with hearing loss who wear hearing aids can participate in this study if they are: 1) 65 of years or older, 2) normal-to-corrected vision, 3) English monolingual or started learning English before age 5, 4) self-report hearing loss and self-report using hearing aid for a minimum of 1 month, 5) no prior history of neurological or psychiatric diseases, and 6) no mobility impairments (e.g., no required use of mobility aids, no diagnosed vestibular disorder, or major musculoskeletal problems). 

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Duration and Compensation

The study contains two separate sessions, each approximately 1.5- 2 hours. You will receive compensation for your participation ($20/hour at the end of each session).

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Principal Investigator

The principal investigator on this project is Dr. Jennifer Campos. The project lead on this project is Niroshica Mohanathas. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Niro at niro.mohanathas@mail.utoronto.ca or 416-597-3422 x 7782. 

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Ethics approval

This study has been approved by the Research Ethics Board of the University Health Network (REB# 11-033).

 

Start Date

Recruitment ongoing

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Participate

If you want to participate in this study, you can sign up below. By signing up you agree to be contacted by a research member of our team, but you do not commit to participate in the study. You can decline your participation at any time.