Deleterious age‐related changes in the central auditory nervous system have been referred to as central age‐related hearing impairment (ARHI) or central presbycusis. Central ARHI is often assumed to be the consequence of peripheral ARHI. However, it is possible that certain aspects of central ARHI are independent from peripheral ARHI. A confirmation of this possibility could lead to significant improvements in current rehabilitation practices. The major difficulty in addressing this issue arises from confounding factors, such as other age‐related changes in both the cochlea and central non‐auditory brain structures. Because gap detection is a common measure of central auditory temporal processing, and gap detection thresholds are less influenced by changes in other brain functions such as learning and memory, we investigated the potential relationship between age‐related peripheral hearing loss (i.e., audiograms) and age‐related changes in gap detection. Consistent with previous studies, a significant difference was found for gap detection thresholds between young and older adults. However, among older adults, no significant associations were observed between gap detection ability and several other independent variables including the pure tone audiogram average, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Vocabulary score, gender, and age. Statistical analyses showed little or no contributions from these independent variables to gap detection thresholds. Thus, our data indicate that age‐related decline in central temporal processing is largely independent of peripheral ARHI.

中文翻译：

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独立外周和中枢年龄相关听力障碍的证据。

中枢听觉神经系统中与年龄相关的有害变化被称为中枢年龄相关听力障碍 (ARHI) 或中枢性老年性耳聋。中枢 ARHI 通常被认为是外周 ARHI 的结果。然而，中枢 ARHI 的某些方面可能独立于外周 ARHI。确认这种可能性可能会导致当前康复实践的显着改进。解决这个问题的主要困难来自混杂因素，例如耳蜗和中枢非听觉大脑结构的其他与年龄相关的变化。因为间隙检测是中枢听觉时间处理的常用度量，间隙检测阈值受其他大脑功能（如学习和记忆）变化的影响较小，我们调查了与年龄相关的外周听力损失（即听力图）与年龄相关的间隙检测变化之间的潜在关系。与之前的研究一致，发现年轻人和老年人之间的差距检测阈值存在显着差异。然而，在老年人中，差距检测能力与其他几个独立变量（包括纯音听力图平均值、韦克斯勒成人智力量表-词汇评分、性别和年龄）之间没有显着关联。统计分析显示这些自变量对差距检测阈值的贡献很小或没有。因此，我们的数据表明，与年龄相关的中枢时间处理能力下降在很大程度上与外周 ARHI 无关。听力图）和年龄相关的差距检测变化。与之前的研究一致，发现年轻人和老年人之间的差距检测阈值存在显着差异。然而，在老年人中，差距检测能力与其他几个独立变量（包括纯音听力图平均值、韦克斯勒成人智力量表-词汇评分、性别和年龄）之间没有显着关联。统计分析显示这些自变量对差距检测阈值的贡献很小或没有。因此，我们的数据表明，与年龄相关的中枢时间处理能力下降在很大程度上与外周 ARHI 无关。听力图）和年龄相关的差距检测变化。与之前的研究一致，发现年轻人和老年人之间的差距检测阈值存在显着差异。然而，在老年人中，差距检测能力与其他几个独立变量（包括纯音听力图平均值、韦克斯勒成人智力量表-词汇评分、性别和年龄）之间没有显着关联。统计分析显示这些自变量对差距检测阈值的贡献很小或没有。因此，我们的数据表明，与年龄相关的中枢时间处理能力下降在很大程度上与外周 ARHI 无关。在老年人中，差距检测能力与其他几个独立变量（包括纯音听力图平均值、韦克斯勒成人智力量表-词汇评分、性别和年龄）之间未观察到显着关联。统计分析显示这些自变量对差距检测阈值的贡献很小或没有。因此，我们的数据表明，与年龄相关的中枢时间处理能力下降在很大程度上与外周 ARHI 无关。在老年人中，差距检测能力与其他几个独立变量（包括纯音听力图平均值、韦克斯勒成人智力量表-词汇评分、性别和年龄）之间未观察到显着关联。统计分析显示这些自变量对差距检测阈值的贡献很小或没有。因此，我们的数据表明，与年龄相关的中枢时间处理能力下降在很大程度上与外周 ARHI 无关。