Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a chronic condition in older adults (Collins, 1997; Cruickshanks et al., 2003; Quaranta et al., 2015), affecting a third of adults between 65-75 years of age and nearly half above 75 years (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 2018). ARHL is characterized by peripheral hearing dysfunction, predominantly in the detection of high-frequency sounds. Dysfunctions are also observed in central hearing, such as discrimination of frequency and temporal properties of sounds that affect dichotic and binaural processing, recognition and comprehension of speech, and communication and social interactions (Atcherson et al., 2015; Divenyi et al., 2005; Gates & Mills, 2005; Humes, 1996, 2013; Humes et al., 2012; Humes & Young, 2017; Jerger et al., 1990, 1995; Sardone et al., 2019, 2020). Growing evidence suggests that above and beyond these sound processing changes, individuals with ARHL experience cognitive alterations (Harrison Bush et al., 2015; Deal et al., 2015; Ellis & Munro, 2013; Granick et al., 1976; Humes, 1996, 2002, 2013; Humes et al., 2006, 2010; Humes & Young, 2017; Lin, 2011; Lin et al., 2013; Rönnberg et al., 2011; Shahidipour et al., 2013; Uchida et al., 2016; van Rooij et al., 1989; van Rooij & Plomp, 1990, 1992) with emerging evidence suggesting that those with even mild degree of ARHL experience alterations in cognitive control (Lin et al., 2013; Valentijn et al., 2005).

Cognitive control, also known as executive function, refers to cognitive processes that control and integrate cognitive activities to manage and regulate goal-related behavior (Baddeley, 2012; Banich & Munakata, 2014; Diamond, 2013; Posner & Digirolamo, 1998). Three commonly discussed cognitive control processes include cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory updating (Diamond, 2013; Kane & Engle, 2003; Miyake et al., 2000). Briefly, cognitive flexibility supports flexible shifting between tasks or mental sets of information; inhibitory control allows suppression of irrelevant information and responses, and working memory updating enables updating and maintenance of incoming information over short periods of time. Alterations in cognitive control with normal cognitive aging have been well documented (Baddeley, 2012; Hasher et al., 1991; see Hasher & Zacks, 1988 for a review). Growing evidence suggests that these alterations may be more pronounced in those with ARHL (Uchida et al., 2016; Yuan et al., 2018; Zheng et al., 2017). However, a cohesive account of cognitive control alterations in ARHL is lacking. Thus, the purpose of this narrative review is to summarize behavioral evidence of alterations in cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory updating, the three commonly studied cognitive control processes, in individuals with ARHL whose hearing ability is characterized by pure-tone audiometry.