The influence of auditory training on measures of temporal resolution in younger and older adults

Deterioration in the ability to perceived rapid changes in auditory input is thought to contribute to the difficulties older adults experience when communicating in noise. Studies have demonstrated that the performance of young adults on auditory tasks improves with training. However, few studies have tested the degree to which practice improves auditory performance in older adults. A previous study examined the extent to which younger and older adults benefitted from training when the task was to detect a gap in a narrow-band noise centered at 1 kHz. Significant improvements occurred in both age groups, indicating that auditory learning can still occur later in life. The present study examines if training improves performancewhen more than one auditory filter is activated. Twenty-four younger and older participants were trained for 10 days to detect a gap between a 2-kHz and a 1-kHz noise. Performance was assessed one day and one month after the last training session along with the extent to which the be...