Tone Pairs Research Articles

Individual differences in attention and working memory modulate the process of tone merging: evidence from Macau Cantonese

Cognitive functions, including attention and working memory, have been recognized to be associated with tone processing. However, it remains unclear how these cognitive functions might modulate the process of tone merging. In Macau Cantonese, three pairs of tones are currently undergoing or have completed merging, exhibiting different rates and ranges of merging within the speech community, providing a valuable opportunity to investigate this issue. Through a perception task, a production task, and a series of cognitive function tasks, we examined differences in cognitive performances among individuals distinguishing different tone pairs and explored the correlations between various indices of tone processing and cognitive functions. The results revealed that the completed merging of the T2–T5 pair showed no significant correlation with cognitive functions in perception and production. The T3–T6 pair, with an intermediate merging speed, exhibited a significant positive correlation between cognitive functions and both their perception and production. In contrast, the T4–T6 pair, characterized by a slower merging speed, showed a correlation only in the perception modality. Our findings suggested that cognitive functions affect tones at different stages of the merging process, influencing their perception and production in distinct ways. The results provide a novel perspective on the origin of tonal variation and the relationship between perception and production.

Transceiver impairment robust and joint monitoring of PDL, DGD, and CD using frequency domain pilot tones for digital subcarrier multiplexing systems

Optical performance monitoring is vital for enabling dynamically reconfigurable optical networks. This paper introduces a monitoring scheme that is robust to transceiver impairments for coherent digital subcarrier multiplexing (DSCM) systems that simultaneously monitors polarization-dependent loss (PDL), differential group delay (DGD), and chromatic dispersion (CD). In the proposed scheme, a pair of frequency domain pilot tones (FPTs) are inserted into the X and Y polarizations of the transmitted dual-polarization signal. Both the signal and the FPTs endure identical channel impairments during fiber transmission. At the receiver side, the transmitted FPTs are extracted to monitor the channel impairments. We begin by establishing a simplified system model using a single frequency tone to analyze the effects of system impairments on the frequency domain pilots. Based on this model, CD, PDL, and DGD are jointly and accurately estimated. In addition, the influences of temporal, amplitude, and phase mismatches between in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of transceivers on channel impairment monitoring are completely eliminated. This achieves a channel impairment monitoring scheme that is robust to transceiver impairments. Experimental verification shows that the proposed scheme can jointly and accurately estimate a wide range of CD, PDL, and DGD. Additionally, the proposed monitoring scheme demonstrates strong robustness against transceiver impairments, rapid polarization fluctuations, and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise.

Tone-syllable synchrony in Mandarin: New evidence and implications

Recent research has shown evidence based on a minimal contrast paradigm that consonants and vowels are articulatorily synchronized at the onset of the syllable. What remains less clear is the laryngeal dimension of the syllable, for which evidence of tone synchrony with the consonant-vowel syllable has been circumstantial. The present study assesses the precise tone-vowel alignment in Mandarin Chinese by applying the minimal contrast paradigm. The vowel onset is determined by detecting divergence points of F2 trajectories between a pair of disyllabic sequences with two contrasting vowels, and the onsets of tones are determined by detecting divergence points of f0 trajectories in contrasting disyllabic tone pairs, using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs). The alignment of the divergence-determined vowel and tone onsets is then evaluated with linear mixed effect models (LMEMs) and their synchrony is validated with Bayes factors. The results indicate that tone and vowel onsets are fully synchronized. There is therefore evidence for strict alignment of consonant, vowel and tone as hypothesized in the synchronization model of the syllable. Also, with the newly established tone onset, the previously reported ‘anticipatory raising’ effect of tone now appears to occur within rather than before the articulatory syllable. Implications of these findings will be discussed.

Distributional Learning and Overnight Consolidation of Nonnative Tonal Contrasts by Tonal Language Speakers.

Previous studies have reported the success of distributional learning for adult speakers across segmental and suprasegmental categories immediately after training. On the other hand, second language (L2) perception models posit that the ease with which learners perceive a nonnative speech contrast depends on the perceptual mapping between the contrast and learners' first language (L1) categories. This study examined whether a difference in perceptual mapping patterns for different L2-Mandarin tonal contrasts might result in a difference in distributional learning effectiveness for tonal speakers and whether an interval of sleep enhanced the knowledge through consolidation. Following a pretest-training-posttest design, 66 L1-Cantonese participants with fewer than 9 years of Mandarin training were assigned to either the bimodal or unimodal distribution conditions. The participants of each group were asked to discriminate Mandarin level-falling (T1-T4) and level-rising (T1-T2) tone pairs on novel syllables in a within-subject design. All participants were trained in the evening, tested after training, and returned after 12 hr for overnight consolidation assessment. A significant distributional learning effect was observed for Mandarin T1-T4, but only after sleep. No significant distributional learning effect was observed for Mandarin T1-T2, either after training or after sleep. The findings may imply that distributional learning is contingent on perceptual mapping patterns of the target contrasts and that sleep may play a role in the consolidation of knowledge in an implicit statistical learning paradigm. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25970008.

Effects of attention on the processing of physical and abstract auditory regularities: An exploratory MMN study

The mismatch-negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential (ERP) reflects preattentive memory mechanisms encoding various types of regularities in the auditory environment. In an oddball paradigm, two types of deviant stimuli (in separate blocks) were presented among frequent standard stimuli: physical deviants (higher in pitch than the standards) and more complex, “abstract” deviants (tone pairs descending in pitch, presented among ascending standard tone pairs). The attentional load of the participant was manipulated under three conditions, where the participants either (1) watched a silent video, (2) played a computer game (Tetris) or (3) attended to the auditory stimuli and tried to detect infrequent target stimuli which were of lower intensity than the standard stimuli. The goal was to find out, whether the possible attention effects (suppression/enhancement) on the MMN are similar or different to stimuli requiring the extraction of either physical or abstract invariances. Both the physical and abstract deviants elicited in all conditions MMNs but no statistically significant amplitude differences between the conditions were found. The N2b and P3b components were elicited only in the attend condition and only by the soft target tones. The results further confirm that the MMN is a robust response to various types of regularity violations, showing no major effects of attentional manipulations. The results also suggest that the most commonly used primary task in MMN experiments, watching a silent video, usually keeps the participants' attention well enough directed away from the auditory stimuli. However, in cases where a cognitively more demanding but still participant-friendly primary task is needed, a simple computer game such as Tetris can be used, enabling better control of the participants’ attention and vigilance.

The effect of second-language learning experience on Korean listeners’ use of pitch cues in the perception of Cantonese tones

Past studies have found that the linguistic experience of previously-acquired languages, such as one’s native-language (L1) and second-language (L2) learning experience, modulates the perception of novel sounds from a third language (L3). Lexical tone in L3 is a good case for testing the influence of L1 or L2, as listeners with varying language backgrounds may use different pitch cues (pitch contour or height) in tone perception. The present study focuses on L2 learners of Mandarin whose L1 variety is either Seoul Korean (SK), a non-tonal stressless language, or Gyeongsang Korean (GK), a tonal pitch-accent language. Intermediate-to-advanced SK-speaking and GK-speaking L2 learners of Mandarin were recruited as target groups, and naive listeners of respective L1 varieties were recruited as control groups. The participants completed an AX forced-choice tone discrimination task. Four Cantonese tones, one rising tone and three level tones, were used. Contour–level and level–level tonal contrasts were target tone pairs, allowing for testing the primary use of pitch contour and pitch height, respectively. The results showed that the two groups of naive listeners had greater accuracy in discriminating level–level than contour–level tonal contrasts. In contrast, L2 learners, independent of their L1 varieties, showed higher accuracy in discriminating contour–level than level–level tonal contrasts. The L2 learners’ perceptual pattern is consistent with Mandarin listeners, as reported in previous work. Taken together, the findings provide evidence for a possible developmental change in which Korean-speaking L2 learners might have a perceptual cue shift from pitch height to pitch contour through their L2 experience in Mandarin. The findings about the role of L2 proficiency in Mandarin further supported the effect of L2 experience on learners’ increased use of pitch contour.

Phonetic adaptation in conversation: The case of Cantonese tone merging

Phonetic adaptation occurs when one interlocutor adjusts their speech to converge to or diverge from that of their conversation partner to enhance intelligibility. While most research investigates segmental adaptations, our study focuses on suprasegmentals, specifically Cantonese tone merging. Some Cantonese speakers (“mergers”) are found to merge certain lexical tones (e.g., mid-level Tone3 and low-level Tone6), which may cause confusions when interacting with non-merger speakers. Previous research has shown that a merger may unmerge a level tone pair (Tone3/Tone6) when shadowing a non-merger. However, still unclear is whether such changes result from automatic acoustic mimicking or reflect goal-oriented adaptations for intelligibility benefits. This study uses an unscripted conversation task involving a merger and a non-merger playing a video game, where productions of merged tones may cause confusions, thus motivating goal-oriented adaptations. Initial acoustic analyses focus on average F0 and F0 taken at 10 points along the contour in target Tone3 and Tone6 productions by mergers. Differences in these values for Tone3 versus Tone6 provide evidence that a merger is unmerging the tone pair. Preliminary results show increasing unmerging trends as the task progresses, suggesting progressive alignment toward a non-merger’s productions for intelligibility gains.

Lexical encoding of second language tones in English learners of Mandarin

The study investigates how native and non-native differences in tone perception influence lexical encoding of second language (L2) tones. Previous work shows that tone language listeners perceived tones as phonemic categories while non-tone language listeners relied more on psychoacoustic cues such as pitch height to discriminate stimulus tones. However, little is known about the influence of such differences in perception on L2 tonal encoding. In the present study, two experiments were conducted with nineteen English learners of Mandarin and 20 Mandarin native speakers. Experiment 1 was an ABX task. Results showed that while native speakers’ overall performance was superior to L2 listeners’, both groups poorly discriminated tone pairs with shared tone contours (i.e., T2-T3). Experiment 2 was a medium-lag repetition priming task. In the repetition condition, significant facilitations were observed in both language groups. In the minimal-tone-pair condition, despite T2-T3 contrasts posing greater challenge for both groups to accurately distinguish than other tonal contrasts as shown in Experiment 1, positive priming was observed only in the L2 group. The findings from the two experiments suggest that the L2 listeners, although quite proficient in Mandarin, have yet to achieve native-like competence in regard to lexical tones.

Single-trial classification of evoked responses to auditory tones using OPM- and SQUID-MEG

Objective. Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) are emerging as a near-room-temperature alternative to superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) for magnetoencephalography (MEG). In contrast to SQUIDs, OPMs can be placed in a close proximity to subject’s scalp potentially increasing the signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution of MEG. However, experimental demonstrations of these suggested benefits are still scarce. Here, to compare a 24-channel OPM-MEG system to a commercial whole-head SQUID system in a data-driven way, we quantified their performance in classifying single-trial evoked responses. Approach. We measured evoked responses to three auditory tones in six participants using both OPM- and SQUID-MEG systems. We performed pairwise temporal classification of the single-trial responses with linear discriminant analysis as well as multiclass classification with both EEGNet convolutional neural network and xDAWN decoding. Main results. OPMs provided higher classification accuracies than SQUIDs having a similar coverage of the left hemisphere of the participant. However, the SQUID sensors covering the whole helmet had classification scores larger than those of OPMs for two of the tone pairs, demonstrating the benefits of a whole-head measurement. Significance. The results demonstrate that the current OPM-MEG system provides high-quality data about the brain with room for improvement for high bandwidth non-invasive brain–computer interfacing.

Categorization and discrimination of Mandarin lexical tones by naïve English listeners

Unlike tone languages such as Mandarin, English lacks tones at the sub-lexical level. Accordingly, English listeners have difficulty perceptually assimilating tones as categorized or uncategorized native segments (Perceptual Assimilation Model, PAM: Best, 1995). While English listeners can categorize the four lexical tones of Mandarin, i.e., level contour, rising, dipping, and falling, when given question, statement, exclamation, and uncertainty intonations as category choices (So & Best, 2011, 2014), this does not address tone assimilation at the segmental level. We reasoned that they might assimilate tones as non-assimilable nonspeech patterns if given visual icons as tone category choices (flat, rising, dipping, and falling lines, respectively), with no reference being made to English intonation categories. Accordingly, 76 monolingual English listeners (M age = 24.85 years, 50 females) were set two tasks: to use visual icons to categorize Mandarin tones in naturally produced tone-words (/ga, ti, tu, pu/ × 4 tones) and to discriminate all six pairwise tone contrasts. All tone pairs showed ceiling-level discrimination, and listeners split their categorizations of falling and level stimuli between the falling and flat icons, suggesting that when given visual icons, tone-naïve English listeners perceive Mandarin tones as nonspeech acoustic patterns, which is consistent with PAM’s non-assimilation predictions.

Simulation of hearing loss can induce pitch shifts for complex tones.

Most studies on pitch shift provoked by hearing loss have been conducted using pure tones. However, many sounds encountered in everyday life are harmonic complex tones. In the present study, psychoacoustic experiments using complex tones were performed on healthy participants, and the possible mechanisms that cause pitch shift due to hearing loss are discussed. Two experiments were performed in this study. In experiment 1, two tones were presented, and the participants were asked to select the tone that was higher in pitch. Partials with frequencies less than 250, 500, 750, or 1,000 Hz were eliminated from the harmonic complex tones and used as test tones to simulate low-tone hearing loss. Each tone pair was constructed such that the tone with a lower fundamental frequency (F0) was higher in terms of the frequency of the lowest partial. Furthermore, partials whose frequencies were greater than 1,300 or 1,600 Hz were also eliminated from these test tones to simulate high-tone hearing loss or modified sounds that patients may hear in everyday life. When a tone with a lower F0 was perceived as higher in pitch, it was considered a pitch shift from the expected tone. In experiment 2, tonal sequences were constructed to create a passage of the song "Lightly Row." Similar to experiment 1, partials of harmonic complex tones were eliminated from the tones. After listening to these tonal sequences, the participants were asked if the sequences sounded correct based on the melody or off-key. The results showed that pitch shifts and the melody sound off-key when lower partials are eliminated from complex tones, especially when a greater number of high-frequency components are eliminated. Considering that these experiments were performed on healthy participants, the results suggest that the pitch shifts from the expected tone when patients with hearing loss hear certain complex tones, regardless of the underlying etiology of the hearing loss.

Deviants violating higher-order auditory regularities can become predictive and facilitate behaviour.

The human auditory system is believed to represent regularities inherent in auditory information in internal models. Sounds not matching the standard regularity (deviants) elicit prediction error, alerting the system to information not explainable within currently active models. Here, we examine the widely neglected characteristic of deviants bearing predictive information themselves. In a modified version of the oddball paradigm, using higher-order regularities, we set up different expectations regarding the sound following a deviant. Higher-order regularities were defined by the relation of pitch within tone pairs (rather than absolute pitch of individual tones). In a deviant detection task participants listened to oddball sequences including two deviant types following diametrically opposed rules: one occurred mostly in succession (high repetition probability) and the other mostly in isolation (low repetition probability). Participants in Experiment 1 were not informed (naïve), whereas in Experiment 2 they were made aware of the repetition rules. Response times significantly decreased from first to second deviant when repetition probability was high-albeit more in the presence of explicit rule knowledge. There was no evidence of a facilitation effect when repetition probability was low. Significantly more false alarms occurred in response to standards following high compared with low repetition probability deviants, but only in participants aware of the repetition rules. These findings provide evidence that not only deviants violating lower- but also higher-order regularities can inform predictions about auditory events. More generally, they confirm the utility of this new paradigm to gather further insights into the predictive properties of the human brain.

Asymmetric effects of sudden changes in timbre on auditory stream segregation

Two experiments explored the effects of abrupt transitions in timbral properties [amplitude modulation (AM), pure tones vs narrow-band noises, and attack/decay envelope] on streaming. Listeners reported continuously the number of streams heard during 18-s-long alternating low- and high-frequency (LHL–) sequences (frequency separation: 2–6 semitones) that underwent a coherent transition at 6 s or remained unchanged. In experiment 1, triplets comprised unmodulated pure tones or 100%-depth AM was created using narrowly spaced tone pairs (dyads: 30- or 50-Hz modulation). In experiment 2, triplets comprised narrow-band noises, dyads, or pure tones with quasi-trapezoidal envelopes (10/80/10 ms), fast attacks and slow decays (10/90 ms), or vice versa (90/10 ms). Abrupt transitions led to direction-dependent changes in stream segregation. Transitions from modulated to unmodulated (or slower-modulated) tones, from noise bands to pure tones, or from slow- to fast-attack tones typically caused substantial loss of segregation (resetting), whereas transitions in the opposite direction mostly caused less or no resetting. Furthermore, for the smallest frequency separation, transitions in the latter direction usually led to increased segregation (overshoot). Overall, the results are reminiscent of the perceptual asymmetries found in auditory search for targets with or without a salient additional feature (or greater activation of that feature).

The mismatch negativity to abstract relationship of tone pairs is independent of attention

The mismatch negativity (MMN) implicating a comparison process between the deviant and the memory trace of the standard can be elicited by not only changes in physical features but also violations of abstract patterns. It is considered pre-attentive, yet the use of the passive design makes it difficult to exclude the possibility of attention leak. In contrast to how this issue has been well addressed with the MMN to physical changes, much less research directly investigated the attentional effect on the MMN to abstract relationships. Here we conducted an electroencephalography (EEG) experiment to study whether and how the MMN to abstract relationships is modulated by attention. We adapted the oddball paradigm of Kujala et al. by presenting occasional descending tone pairs among frequent ascending tone pairs, while additionally implementing a novel control of attention. Participants’ attention was either directed away from the sounds (with an engaging task of visual target detection, so that the sounds were task-irrelevant) or toward the sounds (with a conventional task of auditory deviant detection, so that the sounds were task-relevant). The MMN to abstract relationships appeared regardless of attention, confirming the pre-attentive assumption. The attention-independence of the frontocentral and supratemporal components of the MMN supported the notion that attention is not required to generate the MMN. At the individual level, a relatively equal number of participants showed attention enhancement and attention suppression. It is unlike the attentional modulation on the P3b, which was robustly elicited in the attended condition only. The concurrent collection of these two neurophysiological markers in both unattended and attended conditions might be potentially suitable for testing clinical populations showing heterogeneous deficits in auditory function independent/dependent of attention.

Multi-frequency 5G NR millimeter-wave signal generation over analog RoF link using optical frequency combs

Optical heterodyne analog radio-over-fiber (A-RoF) links can provide a cost-effective and spectrally efficient solution for the generation and distribution of millimeter-wave/Terahertz (mm-wave/THz) carriers for the next-generation wireless systems. The use of an optical frequency comb (OFC) source in such a system can facilitate carrier generation free from frequency fluctuation. However, decorrelation between tones, due to path length difference, can lead to phase noise on the generated mm-wave carrier — limiting the performance of low subcarrier spacing multi-carrier signals specified in the 5G standard. In this work, we analyze the effect of comb tones decorrelation due to path length difference on the performance of 5G compatible 244 kHz subcarrier spacing 59 GHz OFDM signal over an optical heterodyne A-RoF link using a gain switched laser (GSL) OFC source. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of the OFC-based A-RoF optical/mm-wave system to support flexible and interoperable mm-wave functionality through signal generation at 27 GHz, 43 GHz and 59 GHz using different pairs of GSL OFC tones for remote heterodyning. The capability of multi-frequency 5G NR compatible mm-wave signal generation and potential for photonic integration make the demonstrated GSL OFC based optical heterodyne A-RoF system a suitable candidate for deployment in the next generation wireless systems.

Cross-Linguistic Comparison of the Pitch and Temporal Profiles between L1 and Chinese L2 Speakers of Spanish

Cross-linguistic studies between intonational languages suggest that there is a universal trend during the L2 learning process regarding pitch and temporal characteristics. We extend these hypotheses to Chinese learners of Peninsular Spanish-a new pairing of tone and non-tone languages. Using six pitch and temporal metrics, we examine how Chinese learners’ pitch and temporal profiles deviated from those of L1 native speakers and explore the factors that may contribute to L2 speech deviations. The Discourse Completion Task was conducted to elicit five question types produced by 37 participants, who were divided into three language groups. Consistent with previous literature, our study shows that Chinese L2 learners had a compression of pitch span (at both the utterance and syllable levels) and pitch variability, as well as a strong reduction of pitch change rate, speech rate, and articulation rate compared to L1 Spanish speakers. Most pitch and temporal deviations in L2 Spanish intonation are closely linked to psychological and cognitive attributes rather than being determined by physiological factors or L1 tonal transfer. Moreover, the lack of prosodic knowledge of the target intonation patterns concerning the different question types may also hinder L2 learners from approaching a native-like pitch and temporal profile.

Perceptual effects of lexical competition on Cantonese tone categories

Listeners use lexical information and the speech signal to categorize sounds and recognize words despite substantial acoustic-phonetic variation in natural speech. In diachronic mergers, where systematic variation acts to neutralize lexical contrasts, the role of the lexicon becomes less clear. We examined how lexical competition structures phonetic variability of (merging) lexical tone categories in Cantonese using three experiments. Listeners categorized tokens from lexical tone continua generated from minimal pairs (Experiment 1: Word identification) and categorized tokens from tone continua generated from word-nonword pairs (Experiment 2: Lexical decision). The presence of a lexical competitor at both continuum endpoints in Experiment 1 maintained more discrete categorization functions for non-merging tone pairs than in Experiment 2 where only one endpoint was a word. In the merging tone pairs, categorization was less discrete and the effect of lexical competition was different. Exploratory data from a goodness rating task, Experiment 3, suggest that lexical competition affects internal category structure for merging tones, but not non-merging tones. Overall, these data provide evidence that tone mergers affect phonetic category boundaries and internal category structure in the lexicon, and that, for non-merging tones, the range of acceptable phonetic variation is constrained by the presence of a lexical competitor.

Maturation of cortical responses to sound in the first year of life

Infants show sophisticated sound discrimination from the time they are born but the neural mechanisms that support infant auditory perception are not well understood. A central question is the discrepancy between the early onset of auditory skills and the protracted and extended maturation of the auditory cortex. To investigate the cortical processing of sound, we have been employing magnetoencephalography (MEG) with recent advancements in movement compensation to obtain functional neural measures of sound processing in awake infants. MEG responses from an Elekta Neuromag 306-channel system were recorded longitudinally at 3 (n = 27), 6 (n = 19), and 11 (n = 14) months to an ecologically salient bi-syllabic word and an amplitude-modulated complex tone pair in typically hearing infants. The neural generators of the MEG signals were determined using an equivalent current dipole (ECD) model. Our preliminary analyses have focused on two measures: cortical responses to acoustic change and the development of hemispheric lateralization to speech. Our preliminary analyses show that high quality MEG data with good signal-to-noise ratios can be obtained by 3 months and dipole modeling of MEG signals in combination with advanced movement compensation offers a temporally precise method of investigating the maturation of auditory cortical networks in infants.

Tone perception development in Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants.

The purpose of this study was to examine the longer-term effects of cochlear implant (CI) use on tone perception by evaluating improvement in Mandarin tone recognition in children with CIs 2 and 3 years post CI activation, and to explore the effects of implant age, chronological age and duration of CI use on the development of tone perception. Tone perception was assessed in 29 bilateral profound hearing impaired children (mean chronological age=4.6 years, SD=0.7 years) with unilateral CIs at 24 and 36 months after CI activation using the tone perception subtest in the Mandarin Early Speech Perception (MESP-T) test. Children's tone recognition for tone pairs and individual tones improved significantly between 2 and 3 years post CI use, showing an increase in average tone recognition score from 73.2% to 81.8%, which was significantly higher than chance level (i.e. 50%). There was no significant correlation between tone recognition ability and either implant age or chronological age at two evaluation points. Further analysis revealed that the tone recognition score for tone pair 2-3 was significantly lower than that for other tone pairs except for tone pair 2-4. Longer CI experience can significantly improve tone recognition ability in CI children between 2 and 3 years post CI activation.

Influence of Gender on Auditory Temporal Processing: A Cross-sectional study in Security Personnel in Puducherry, India

ABSTRACT Introduction: It is no wonder that men and women have their fair share of differences. Scientific evidences are scarce to justify the clear-cut role of gender differences on the human brain. It is a well-known fact that perception and accurate processing of sound stimuli in the auditory pathway is a necessary skill for efficient learning and language development. This study aimed to investigate the role of gender on auditory processing by comparing the temporal resolution ability of healthy, adult males and females. Methods: Forty-three apparently healthy individuals (F = 18; M = 25) in the age group of 25–60 years with a normal hearing threshold on audiometry participated in this study. Audiometry and random gap detection test (RGDT) were used to assess hearing threshold and auditory temporal processing ability. In RGDT, a pair of pure tones was presented to participants’ ears at different frequencies (500–4000 Hz) and they were instructed to identify a silent-gap (in milliseconds) between each pair of tones. Values were compared using an unpaired student “t” test. Results: The mean age of participants was 40.5 ± 8.45 years. The average hearing threshold levels (in dB) of male and female participants were 15.6 ± 2.5 and 14.5 ± 2.8, respectively (P-value = 0.1293). Temporal processing values of males and females were 10.48 ± 0.49 and 10.67 ± 0.51, respectively (P-value = 0.2338). Conclusion: The temporal processing ability was slightly higher in males than the females. However, the difference was insignificant. Therefore, it can be concluded that gender does not affect auditory temporal processing ability in middle-aged adults.