Abstract

Speech comprehension in noisy environments, or speech-in-noise perception, declines with age due to changes in how acoustic information is transduced and how that information is processed in the brain. Hearing abilities are often better in both older and younger musicians, and recent evidence suggests that music training may improve hearing abilities in older nonmusicians. This chapter integrates findings about musicianship and musical training in younger and older adults in order to highlight the putative mechanisms which drive the neuroplasticity that supports enhanced hearing in older adult musicians or those who have done laboratory-based music training. We explore the application of these mechanisms as cognitive scaffolds, where functions preserved in older adults are used to build up improved listening skills, to in turn improve speech-in-noise perception in older adults. We explore two candidate mechanisms for such scaffolding: the auditory–motor system and the perception of music. For each of these two mechanisms, we present evidence supporting it as a candidate for cognitive scaffolding and suggest some ways of implementing them into musical training programs.