They found that for more natural speech that mimics speaking in everyday life, such as stories, older adults benefited from speech glimpses as much as, or more than, younger adults. The researchers then calculated how many words were understood correctly. The researchers regularly stopped the speech and background noise to ask the participants to report exactly what they understood. In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, younger and older adult participants listened to engaging stories or disconnected sentences without a clear topic-for example, "Smoky fires lack flame and heat." The researchers added two kinds of background noise: one that varied in volume, allowing for glimpses, and one that did not vary. In other words, the difficulties older adults experience when listening to speech in noisy situations of everyday life may be less than long thought. However, the Baycrest-Western University study shows that this may only be the case for the relatively boring, disconnected and unnatural sentences that are typically used in laboratory settings, but not for more natural speech. Scientists have long thought that compared to younger adults, older adults seem to be less able to use speech "glimpses" (using the speech they hear more clearly during brief reductions in background noise) to better understand conversations in noisy settings. If so, this would improve their quality of life and help them make meaningful connections with others in similar situations, ultimately reducing their risk of social isolation and-since social isolation is a risk factor for cognitive decline-dementia. Whether at a crowded family event or a busy restaurant, older adults may enjoy and process conversations better than research has so far suggested. According to a new, joint study by Baycrest and Western University, older adults may have better listening skills in noisy environments than we think.