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Description
Background. More than a century after the first description of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), its etiology remains poorly understood and currently available treatments offer limited efficacy. The socioeconomic burden is substantial, with care costs projected to exceed €250 billion annually in Europe by 2030. Aging is the strongest risk factor, making prevention and early diagnosis key public health priorities. Importantly, AD pathology develops silently over many years, highlighting the need for early detection strategies.Objective. This study aims to investigate auditory function in individuals at prodromal or an early stage of AD, and to compare the results with those obtained from a healthy control group.Methods. The study included a set of audiological and psychoacoustic assessments. Basic audiological tests—pure-tone audiometry, impedance audiometry, and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE)—were conducted to exclude peripheral hearing impairment. Central auditory processing was evaluated using auditory brainstem responses (ABR). Binaural processing abilities were assessed using three tests: speech intelligibility in noise, dichotic listening with non-directed attention, and binaural masking level difference (BMLD).Results. Preliminary results indicate differences in auditory processing between AD individuals and healthy controls, particularly at higher levels of the auditory pathway and in binaural processing tasks.Conclusions. The findings suggest that auditory processing measures, particularly those reflecting central and binaural mechanisms, may serve as promising early indicators of AD. Nevertheless, further research is needed to confirm these observations and explore their clinical applicability.