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Background: Older adults often report difficulty hearing in background noise which is not completely attributable to peripheral hearing loss. Although age-related declines in cognition and hearing in back-ground noise occur, the underlying age-related changes in processing of auditory stimuli in background noise has yet to be fully understood. The auditory P300 has the potential to elucidate the effects of age on auditory and cognitive processing of stimuli in background noise, but additional research is warranted. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate age-related differences in cognitive processing of auditory stimuli by evoking the auditory P300 at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Research Design: A two-group, repeated measures study design was used. Study Sample: A convenience sample of 35 participants, 15 older adults (mean age of 66.4 yr) and 20 younger adults (mean age of 21.1 yr), participated in the study. All participants had negative otologic and neurological histories. Data Collection and Analysis: The auditory P300 was evoked using an oddball paradigm with 500 (frequent) and 1000 Hz (target) tonal stimuli in quiet and in the presence of background noise at +20, +10, and 0 SNRs. P300 amplitudes and latencies were measured in each condition for every participant. Repeated measures analyses of variance were conducted for the amplitude and latency measures of the P300 for each group. Results: Results from this study demonstrated P300 latencies were significantly longer in older adults in noise at the most challenging condition (0 SNR) compared with the quiet condition and between the +10 SNR and 0 SNR conditions. Although older adults had significantly longer P300 latencies compared with younger adults, no significant group by listening condition interaction existed. No significant P300 amplitude differences were found for group, noise, or group x listening condition interactions. Conclusions: Results provide evidence that auditory cortical processing, regardless of age, is poorer at more difficult SNRs. However, results also demonstrate that older adults perform significantly poorer than younger adults. This supports the notion that some degree of age-related decline in synchronous firing and rate of transmission of the auditory cortical neurons contributing to the auditory P300 exists. Studies are needed to further understand the impact of noise on auditory cortical processing across populations.

Objective: A common clinical complaint among older adults is difficulty hearing in noise, even in those with normal or near-normal peripheral hearing sensitivity. Researchers have demonstrated behavioral hearing in noise deficits in older adults, but to date limited evidence, particularly objective, exists elucidating the effects of age on auditory cortical processing in noise. The purpose of this investigation was to explore age related differences in auditory cortical processing at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Study design: Twenty normal-hearing young adults and 15 normal-hearing older adults participated in the study. Late auditory evoked potential (N1 and P2) latencies and amplitudes were measured in quiet and at three signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) (+ 20, + 10, and 0 SNR). Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) were utilized to determine if statistically significant differences existed. Results: Significant group by listening condition interactions existed for N1 and P2 amplitudes. P2 latencies were significantly longer for the older adult group compared to the younger adult group. In addition, N1 and P2 amplitudes were significantly smaller for the younger adult group compared to the older adult group. Conclusion: Results suggest a possibly greater reduction in the synchronous neuronal response from quiet to noisy conditions in older adults than in younger adults. © 2013 Informa Healthcare.

Objective: The ability to hear in background noise is related to the processing of the incoming acoustic signal in the peripheral auditory system as well as the central auditory nervous system (CANS). Electrophysiological tests have the ability to demonstrate the underlying neural integrity of the CANS, but to date a lack of literature exists demonstrating the effects of background noise on auditory cortical potentials. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to systematically investigate the effects of white noise on tone burst-evoked late auditory evoked potentials (N1, P2, and P3) in normal hearing young adults. Study Design: Twenty young-adult normal-hearing individuals served as subjects. A comparison of the late auditory evoked potentials (N1, P2, and P3) was made at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) (quiet, + 20, + 10, 0). N1, P2, and P3 were elicited and both amplitude and latency were measured for each of the potentials. A standard oddball paradigm with binaural stimulation was used to evoke the potentials. Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) were conducted for both the experimental factors of amplitude and latency with within subjects factors of condition (quiet, + 20, + 10, 0). Results: Results indicated no significant differences in N1, P2, or P3 amplitude or latency between the quiet and + 20 SNR condition; however, at poorer SNRs significant N1, P2, and P3 amplitude and/or latency differences were observed. Conclusion: The results indicate a change in higher-order neural function related to the presence of increased noise in the environment. © 2012 Informa Healthcare.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the value of a new gap detection procedure called Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) for assessment of temporal resolution in a clinical population. DESIGN: The test consists of 0 to 3 silent intervals ranging from 2 to 20 msec embedded in 6-sec segments of white noise. The location, number, and duration of the gaps per noise segment vary throughout the test for a total of 60 gaps presented in each of four lists. The GIN procedure was administered to 50 normal-hearing listeners (group I) and 18 subjects with confirmed neurological involvement of the central auditory nervous system (group II). RESULTS: Results showed mean approximated gap detection thresholds of 4.8 msec for the left ear and 4.9 msec for the right ear for group I. In comparison, results for group II demonstrated a statistically significant increase in gap detection thresholds, with approximated thresholds of 7.8 msec and 8.5 msec being noted for the left and right ears, respectively. Significant mean differences were also observed in the overall performance scores (i.e., the identification of the presence of the gaps within the noise segments) of the two groups of subjects. Finally, psychometric functions, although similar for short and long duration gaps, were highly different for gaps in the 4- to 10-msec range for the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: A variety of psychoacoustic procedures are available to assess temporal resolution; however, the clinical use of these procedures is minimal at best. Results of the present study show that the GIN test holds promise as a clinically useful tool in the assessment of temporal resolution in the clinical arena. Copyright © 2005 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.