Temporal Processing Deficits in Middle Age

The purpose of this brief report is to provide a synopsis of recent work, primarily from the authors' laboratory, that points to the emergence of temporal processing deficits relatively early in the aging process.

The approach taken was to provide a descriptive summary of selected published and current experiments focusing on the processing of temporal envelopes and fine structure.

Deficits in both temporal envelope and temporal fine structure processing are evident during middle age even while audiometric hearing sensitivity remains normal.