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Mild Cognitive Impairment Is Characterized by Deficient Brainstem and Cortical Representations of Speech
Bidelman GM, Lowther JE, Tak SH, Alain C.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2017-03-07
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Previous neuroimaging studies reveal that MCI is associated with aberrant sensory-perceptual processing in cortical brain regions subserving auditory and language function. Using a novel electrophysiological approach, we recorded both brainstem and cortical speech-evoked brain event-related potentials (ERPs) in older, hearing-matched human listeners who did and did not present with subtle cognitive impairment revealed through behavioral neuropsychological testing. We found that MCI was associated with changes in neural speech processing characterized as hypersensitivity (larger) brainstem and cortical speech encoding in MCI compared with controls in the absence of any perceptual speech deficits. Multivariate classification revealed that dual brainstem-cortical speech activity correctly identified MCI listeners with 80% accuracy, suggesting its application as a biomarker of early cognitive decline. Our findings suggest that MCI is associated with poorer encoding and transfer of speech signals between functional levels of the auditory system and advance the pathophysiological understanding of cognitive aging by identifying subcortical deficits in auditory sensory processing mere milliseconds ( SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a precursor to dementia marked by declines in communication skills. Our findings advance the neurological understanding of MCI by identifying a subcortical biomarker in auditory-sensory processing before conscious awareness, which may be a precursor to declines in speech understanding.
Key findings
- Previous neuroimaging studies reveal that MCI is associated with aberrant sensory-perceptual processing in cortical brain regions subserving auditory and language function.
- Using a novel electrophysiological approach, we recorded both brainstem and cortical speech-evoked brain event-related potentials (ERPs) in older, hearing-matched human listeners who did and did not present with subtle cognitive impairment revealed through behavioral neuropsychological testing.
- We found that MCI was associated with changes in neural speech processing characterized as hypersensitivity (larger) brainstem and cortical speech encoding in MCI compared with controls in the absence of any perceptual speech deficits.
- Multivariate classification revealed that dual brainstem-cortical speech activity correctly identified MCI listeners with 80% accuracy, suggesting its application as a biomarker of early cognitive decline.
- Our findings suggest that MCI is associated with poorer encoding and transfer of speech signals between functional levels of the auditory system and advance the pathophysiological understanding of cognitive aging by identifying subcortical deficits in auditory sensory processing mere milliseconds (<10 ms) after sound onset and before the emergence of perceptual speech deficits.
Why it matters
In older hearing-matched listeners, mild cognitive impairment was associated with larger brainstem and cortical speech-evoked responses despite no perceptual speech deficits, and dual brainstem-cortical speech activity identified MCI listeners with 80% accuracy. The findings suggest a possible biomarker of early cognitive decline and concern detection, not treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 62/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Journal of Neuroscience: journal h-index 651 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 98 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 8.9 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 24 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Claude Alain: h-index 70 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Toronto: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28270574) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3700-16.2017
- PubMed: 28270574
- Original source →
- Free full text: Journal of Neuroscience →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Bidelman, G. M., Lowther, J. E., Tak, S. H., & Alain, C. (2017). Mild Cognitive Impairment Is Characterized by Deficient Brainstem and Cortical Representations of Speech. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3700-16.2017
Vancouver
Bidelman GM, Lowther JE, Tak SH, Alain C. Mild Cognitive Impairment Is Characterized by Deficient Brainstem and Cortical Representations of Speech. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2017. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3700-16.2017. PMID: 28270574.
BibTeX
@article{bidelman2017-28270574,
author = {Bidelman, G. M. and Lowther, J. E. and Tak, S. H. and Alain, C.},
title = {{Mild Cognitive Impairment Is Characterized by Deficient Brainstem and Cortical Representations of Speech}},
journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1523/jneurosci.3700-16.2017},
pmid = {28270574},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3700-16.2017}
}
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