Low-frequency hearing loss in presbycusis. A central interpretation.

Elderly subjects with a central phonemically balanced (PB) and synthetic sentence identification (SSI) pattern show greater low-frequency (LF) sensitivity loss than elderly subjects with a peripheral PB-SSI pattern. This LF hearing loss is not the simple consequence of age, nor does the LF hearing loss account for depressed SSI performance. We conclude that LF sensitivity loss and a central PB-SSI pattern are both components of central aging. We discuss the implications for auditory rehabilitation of elderly subjects.