Pilot study will explore auditory processing in older adults

​Third-year doctoral student Alexandria Weaver and Professor Susanne Jaeggi received a 2021 Pilot Studies Award from the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (SSIHI) to test the benefits of a novel music-based intervention on auditory processing in older adults.
 
“Auditory processing (including speech-in-competition) and cognitive abilities have been found to be well preserved amongst older adult musicians in comparison to their non-musician counterparts,” Weaver said. “This suggests that the auditory and attentional demands resulting from musical engagement might strengthen associated cognitive regions.”

To test this hypothesis, Weaver and Jaeggi’s intervention will target skills typically developed with formal instrumental training using innovative technology with the hope to foster participants’ auditory processing. ​

Alexandria Weaver

Susanne Jaeggi

​After  developing the materials and assessments, they will refine them with user testing and feedback from study participants.
 
Weaver’s research interests include learning and memory, cognitive training, music, and aging. Her current studies focus on the effects of cognitive training and experiences and lifestyle factors that support cognitive health with aging. Weaver, who received a 2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in support of her doctoral work is specializing in Human Development in Context. She was also recently awarded with the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) Jared M. Roberts Memorial Graduate Student Award for her project entitled "Keeping the mind sharp is music to my ears."
 
Jaeggi, who serves as Weaver’s advisor, researches training and transfer, individual differences in working memory capacity and executive control, as well as the nature of working memory limitations across the lifespan. She directs UCI's Working Memory and Plasticity Lab (WMP). Jaeggi is a CNLM fellow and holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Cognitive Sciences in UCI's School of Social Sciences.
 
About the SSIHI: The Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (SSIHI) Pilot Studies Awards are designed to support exceptionally innovative research projects that provide an understanding of the mechanistic basis or clinical outcomes related to integrative health therapies. This program encourages early exploration of research ideas from UCI and UCI-affiliated faculty members which have the potential to create or contribute to the evidence base of integrative health.