Within- and Between-Channel Gaps Elicit Mismatch Negativity in the Aging Brain
Victoria Duda1,2, Sayeed Devraj-Kizuk1,2, Erica Ogier1,2
1School of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|June 9, 2026
Summary
Older adults exhibit delayed neural responses to auditory gaps compared to younger adults, indicating subtle changes in temporal processing. These electrophysiological findings suggest neural alterations may precede observable behavioral declines in hearing.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Human Auditory Perception
- Neurophysiology
Background:
- Auditory temporal resolution, the ability to process rapid changes in sound, declines with age.
- Understanding age-related changes in auditory processing is crucial for developing interventions for hearing impairment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in the neural processing of silent gaps in auditory stimuli.
- To compare electrophysiological responses with behavioral gap detection performance across age groups.
Main Methods:
- Cortical evoked potentials were recorded using a multi-deviant paradigm with spectrally identical (within-channel) and distinct (between-channel) noise markers.
- Participants listened to sequences with varying silent gap durations, and deviance-related negativity (DRN) and P2/P3a components were analyzed.
- Behavioral gap detection thresholds were measured in both older and younger adults.
Main Results:
- Gapped deviants elicited DRN in both within- and between-channel conditions.
- Older adults demonstrated longer DRN latencies and reduced amplitudes compared to younger adults.
- No significant age or condition effects were found for P2/P3a responses, and behavioral thresholds did not differ between conditions in older adults.
Conclusions:
- Electrophysiological measures reveal age-related alterations in neural temporal resolution.
- These subtle neural changes may precede measurable declines in behavioral auditory gap detection.
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