In addition to a gap detection threshold, an auditory gap detection task also provides information on response time. This study investigated the association of response time from an adaptive gap detection task with two validated measures of cognitive processing speed as well as scores from a cognitive screener, while accounting for the effects of age, peripheral hearing ability, and HIV status.
Response times in gap detection threshold testing may reflect cognitive processing speed and should be interpreted cautiously as a pure measure of auditory function in young adults; no immediate protocol change is warranted pending replication.
If gap detection response times partly reflect cognitive rather than purely auditory processing, this has implications for how clinicians interpret auditory processing assessments.
- 01Gap detection threshold response times correlate with cognitive processing speed in young adults.
- 02Findings suggest gap detection response time is not a purely auditory measure.
- 03Study conducted in young adults, so generalizability to other age groups is unknown.
- 04Has implications for auditory processing disorder (APD) assessment interpretation.
- 05Published in Neuroscience (DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2026.07.010).
Response times from gap detection threshold testing correlate with cognitive processing speed in young adults.
studysupportedGap detection response times reflect cognitive processing speed, not auditory processing alone.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42398888
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2026.07.010.
- Journal
- Neuroscience
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Young adult participants
- Intervention
- Auditory gap detection threshold testing with response time measurement
- Comparator
- Cognitive processing speed measures
Primary outcomes
Correlation between gap detection response times and cognitive processing speed