Age related changes in auditory processes in children aged 6 to 10 years

ObjectivesThe study evaluated age related changes in auditory processing (separation/auditory closure, binaural auditory integration abilities, temporal processing abilities) and higher order cognitive function (auditory memory & sequencing abilities) in children. Additionally, the study aimed to assess the effect of gender on the auditory processes/higher cognitive function as well as ear effect for the monaural tests that were administered.MethodsThe cross-sectional experimental study evaluated 280 typically developing children aged 6 to 10 years, divided into five age groups. They were evaluated on auditory processes/higher order cognitive functions reported to be frequently affected in children with auditory processing disorders (Speech-in-Noise Test in Indian-English, Dichotic consonant-vowel test, Duration pattern test, & Revised Auditory Memory and Sequencing Test in Indian-English).ResultsANOVA and MANOVA revealed no significant gender effect in all four tests. However, a significant age effect was seen, with the rate at which maturation occurred, varying across the tests.ConclusionsThus, the findings indicate that different auditory processes have different rates of development. This reflects that the areas responsible for different auditory processes/higher cognitive function do not develop at the same pace.