Deficits in acoustic discrimination in children with auditory processing disorder have been observed in behavioral and electrophysiological studies for years. However, the neural correlate of central auditory dysfunction is poorly understood. Atypical activation of brain network implicated in acoustic attention may underlie behavioral problems. The aim of the presented study is to evaluate this hypothesis. 13 children with CAPD, 13 healthy children and 13 adults participated in an fMRI examination. Subjects were studied with fMRI at 3T while discriminating tones differing with intensity, frequency or duration. The designed paradigm activates brain regions which are known to be implicated in auditory attention. Children with CAPD revealed less spatially extensive activation in: superior frontal gyrus/superior motor area bilaterally, left anterior insula, left parietal lobule. Differences in brain activity may account for central auditory processing difficulties.