Age-related sensory deficits and their consequences

Changes in sensory systems are common as we get older, and become more likely with increasing age. In the auditory system, age-related changes are seen in domains such as auditory sensitivity, temporal processing, and spatial localization, which have significant effects on speech understanding. In vision, age related changes are seen in contrast sensitivity, scotopic processing, and visual processing speed, which have consequences for activities such as reading and driving. In addition to hearing and vision, aging is associated with changes in smell, taste, and balance. Beyond simple perceptual processing, age-related sensory changes can increase cognitive demands, requiring greater involvement of domain-general cognitive processes during perception that reduce resources available for other operations. Capturing individual variability in sensory changes and their consequences is an important part of understanding normal and pathological aging.