Dr. Karen S. Helfer is Professor and Chair of the Communication Disorders department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her Ph.D. in Hearing Science from Northwestern University. Her research program (which is funded by NIDCD) focuses on identifying age-related changes in speech understanding.

Dr. Edward L. Bartlett is a Professor in Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Neuroscience Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research program focuses on neural processing in the central auditory system, including diagnostics and changes in neural processing underlying age-related hearing deficits.

Provides a reference for graduate students, researchers, clinicians and academic faculty on the basic science and translational research of the aging auditory system

Discusses state-of-the-art developments in aging research, and the latest avenues for treatment of age-related hearing loss

Explores the effects aging has on the central nervous system, as well as cognitive functions, that implicate the auditory system

Ch 1: Listening to All Voices: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding Hearing in Aging.- Ch 2: Genetic and Molecular Aspects of the Aging Auditory System.- Ch 3: The Aging Cochlea and Auditory Nerve.- Ch 4: Age-Related Changes in the Auditory Brainstem and Inferior Colliculus .- Ch 5: Age related changes in the primate auditory cortex.- Ch 6: The Aging Auditory System: Electrophysiology.- Ch 7: Age-Related Changes in Segregation of Sound Sources.- Ch 8: Causes and Consequences of Age-Related Hearing Loss.- Ch 9: Age-Related Changes in Speech Understanding: Peripheral versus Cognitive Influences.- Ch 10: Aging, Hearing Loss, and Listening Effort: Imaging Studies of the Aging Listener.- Ch 11: Functional Consequences of Impaired Hearing in Older Adults and Implications for Intervention.- Ch 12: Emerging Clinical Translational Treatment Strategies for Age-Related Hearing Loss.