Older adults show overexaggerated and larger noise-related degradation in their neural tracking of speech

Speech-in-noise (SIN) perception is a difficult everyday listening task that becomes more difficult with age. Neural tracking of target speech is associated with successful speech perception in clean and noise-degraded listening environments. How aging impacts neural tracking of speech and relates to behavioral decrements in older adults' SIN perception remains unclear....

This finding suggests age-related declines in how the brain tracks speech in noise go beyond peripheral hearing loss; audiologists should be cautious attributing all speech-in-noise difficulty in older adults to the audiogram alone, though the preprint has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Demonstrating an overexaggerated neural degradation of speech tracking in aging listeners — beyond what hearing thresholds predict — could reshape how audiologists counsel patients and motivate development of central auditory processing interventions.

1. 01Older adults showed greater noise-related degradation in neural speech tracking than younger adults.
2. 02The effect was larger than predicted by peripheral hearing loss (inner ear damage) alone.
3. 03Neural tracking of speech was measured using brain-wave recording techniques (EEG/cortical responses).
4. 04Findings suggest a central (brain-level) component to age-related speech-in-noise difficulty.
5. 05This is a preprint and has not yet completed formal peer review.

PMID

42427548

DOI

10.64898/2026.07.03.736364.

Journal

bioRxiv

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Older and younger adults, comparative groups

Intervention

Neural tracking of speech in noise (EEG-based cortical response measurement)

Comparator

Younger adult listeners