In summary, we have demonstrated a pattern of age-related
auditory processing that is consistent with the IDH. Older adults
consistently show increased early sensory ERPs, and an absence of a
standard N2 which in combination reflects a deficit in the frontal
regulation of sensory processing. Older adults are still able to use
congruent visual articulatory information to aid auditory processing,
but at a temporal cost, and appear to require greater neural
effort to resolve conflicts generated by incongruent visual information.
Future work should focus on establishing the neural
mechanisms of frontal regulation of sensory processing, and how
these mechanisms change with age.