Effects of Noise and Reverberation on the Precedence Effect in Listeners With Normal Hearing and Impaired Hearing

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Roberts ◽  
Janet Koehnke ◽  
Joan Besing
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Sensation Level ◽  
Reverberant Environment

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of reverberation and noise on the precedence effect in listeners with hearing loss. Lag burst thresholds (LBTs) for 4-ms noise bursts were obtained for 2 groups of participants: impaired hearing and normal hearing. Data were collected in reverberant and anechoic environments in quiet and noise, at sensation levels of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 dB. Results indicated a significant effect of reverberation on LBTs for both participant groups. LBTs increased with sensation level in the reverberant environment and decreased with increasing sensation level in the anechoic environment. There was no effect of hearing loss on LBTs. When the change in LBT due to noise was compared, the effect of noise depended on group and environment, with a greater effect of noise on the performance of listeners with impaired hearing. It is likely that the ability to fuse direct sounds and early reflections is degraded in listeners with impaired hearing and that this contributes to the difficulties experienced by these listeners in reverberation and noise.

Modulation Detection Interference in Listeners With Normal and Impaired Hearing

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sid P. Bacon ◽  
Jane M. Opie
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Frequency Region ◽  
Unilateral Hearing Loss ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Sensation Level ◽  
Bilateral Hearing Loss ◽  
Cochlear Hearing Loss ◽  
Modulation Detection Interference

Listeners were asked to detect amplitude modulation (AM) of a target (or signal) carrier that was presented in isolation or in the presence of an additional (masker) carrier. The signal was modulated at a rate of 10 Hz, and the masker was unmodulated or was modulated at a rate of 2, 10, or 40 Hz. Nine listeners had normal hearing, 4 had a bilateral hearing loss, and 4 had a unilateral hearing loss; those with a unilateral loss were tested in both ears. The listeners with a hearing loss had normal hearing at 1 kHz and a 30- to 40-dB loss at 4 kHz. The carrier frequencies were 984 and 3952 Hz. In one set of conditions, the lower frequency carrier was the signal and the higher frequency carrier was the masker. In the other set, the reverse was true. For the impaired ears, the carriers were presented at 70 dB SPL. For the normal ears, either the carriers were both presented at 70 dB SPL or the higher frequency carrier was reduced to 40 dB SPL to simulate the lower sensation level experienced by the impaired ears. There was considerable individual variability in the results, and there was no clear effect of hearing loss. These results suggest that a mild, presumably cochlear hearing loss does not affect the ability to process AM in one frequency region in the presence of competing AM from another region.

Effects of Age and Hearing Loss on Gap Detection and the Precedence Effect

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 965-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Roberts ◽  
Jennifer J. Lister
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Speech Understanding In Noise

Older listeners with normal-hearing sensitivity and impaired-hearing sensitivity often demonstrate poorer-than-normal performance on tasks of speech understanding in noise and reverberation. Deficits in temporal resolution and in the precedence effect may underlie this difficulty. Temporal resolution is often studied by means of a gap-detection paradigm. This task is similar to binaural fusion paradigms used to measure the precedence effect. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if within-channel (measured with monotic and diotic gap detection) or across-channel (measured with dichotic gap detection) temporal resolution is related to fusion (measured with lag-burst thresholds; LBTs) under dichotic, anechoic, and reverberant conditions. Gap-detection thresholds (GDTs) and LBTs were measured by means of noise-burst stimuli for 3 groups of listeners: young adults with normal-hearing sensitivity (YNH), older adults with normal-hearing sensitivity (ONH), and older adults with impaired-hearing sensitivity (OIH). The GDTs indicated that across-channel temporal resolution is poorer than within-channel temporal resolution and that the effects of age and hearing loss are dependent on condition. Results for the fusion task indicated higher LBTs in reverberation than for the dichotic and anechoic conditions, regardless of group, and no effect of age or hearing loss for the nonreverberant conditions. However, higher LBTs were observed in the reverberant condition for the ONH listeners. Further, there was a correlation between across-channel temporal resolution and fusion in reverberation. Gap detection and fusion may not necessarily reflect the same underlying processes; however, across-channel gap detection may influence fusion under certain conditions (i.e., in reverberation).

Perstimulatory Tracking in Pitch Perception by Subjects with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-525
Author(s):  
Paul Skinner ◽  
Frank Antinoro
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Sensation Level ◽  
Continuous Tone ◽  
Pitch Shift ◽  
Over Time

The pitch of continuous fatiguing tones was tracked over time by six subjects who demonstrated sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and possible significance of perstimulatory tracking in pitch perception by subjects with sensorineural hearing loss. Perstimulatory tracking was done at three frequencies: 500, 2500, and 4500 Hz, and at two intensities, a moderate and a high sensation level. The duration of fatiguing stimuli varied from 3 to 8 minutes, depending on the frequency and intensity of the stimuli. Immediately after cessation of the continuous tone, poststimulatory tracking was done with pulsed tones at low sensation levels to observe the recovery trend from any observed shifts in pitch. Temporary pitch shift (TPS) was not evident at 500 Hz; however, TPS was observed for all of the conditions at 2500 and 4500 Hz. These findings were compared to observed TPS and recovery in subjects with normal hearing.

Modulation Masking in Listeners With Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lorenzi ◽  
Christophe Micheyl ◽  
Frédéric Berthommier ◽  
Serge Portalier
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Signal Modulation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Input Filter ◽  
Cochlear Damage ◽  
Moderate Hearing Loss

This study compares amplitude-modulation (AM) masking in listeners with normal hearing and in listeners with a hearing loss. To address this issue, we measured the detection of sinusoidal AM applied to a white noise carrier, as a function of the frequency of a masking sinusoidal AM applied to the same noise carrier. These input filter patterns were measured for four listeners with normal hearing and three listeners with moderate or mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing losses. Stimuli were presented at 50 dB SL for all listeners with normal hearing and for two of the three listeners with hearing loss. The third listener with hearing loss was tested at 25 dB SL. For the listeners with normal hearing, the input filter patterns obtained for 100-Hz signal modulation had a broad bandpass characteristic. All input filter patterns showed a primary masking peak at 100 Hz. A secondary masking peak was apparent also at 50 Hz. For the listeners with impaired hearing, the unmasked modulation thresholds were similar to those measured in the listeners with normal hearing. One listener with moderate hearing loss exhibited a broadly tuned input filter pattern with a masking peak at 100 Hz, but no secondary peak. The two other listeners with moderate or mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss showed no main masking peak and increased thresholds at low masker modulation frequencies. These results suggest that cochlear damage may affect performance in a modulation masking task.

Hearing-in-Noise: Comparison of Listeners with Normal and (Aided) Impaired Hearing

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (03) ◽  
pp. 216-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth A. Bentler ◽  
Catherine Palmer ◽  
Andrew B. Dittberner
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Directional Microphone ◽  
Hearing Aid Use

In this study, the performance of 48 listeners with normal hearing was compared to the performance of 46 listeners with documented hearing loss. Various conditions of directional and omnidirectional hearing aid use were studied. The results indicated that when the noise around a listener was stationary, a first- or second-order directional microphone allowed a group of hearing-impaired listeners with mild-to-moderate, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss to perform similarly to normal hearing listeners on a speech-in-noise task (i.e., they required the same signal-to-noise ratio to achieve 50% understanding). When the noise source was moving around the listener, only the second-order (three-microphone) system set to an adaptive directional response (where the polar pattern changes due to the change in noise location) allowed a group of hearing-impaired individuals with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss to perform similarly to young, normal-hearing individuals.

Across-Frequency Comparison of Temporal Speech Information by Listeners With Normal and Impaired Hearing

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1262-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. Healy ◽  
Sid P. Bacon
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Sensation Level ◽  
Frequency Information ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Impairment ◽  
Frequency Comparison ◽  
Speech Information

Listeners with normal hearing (NH) and with sensorineural hearing impairment (HI) were tested on a speech-recognition task requiring across-frequency integration of temporal speech information. Listeners with NH correctly identified a majority of key words in everyday sentences when presented with a synchronous pair of speech-modulated tones at 750 and 3000 Hz. They could tolerate small amounts (12.5 ms) of across-frequency asynchrony, but performance fell as the delay between bands was increased to 100 ms. Listeners with HI performed more poorly than those with NH when presented with synchronous across-frequency information. Further, performance of listeners with HI fell as a function of asynchrony more steeply than that of their NH counterparts. These results suggest that listeners with HI have particular difficulty comparing and effectively processing temporal speech information at different frequencies. The increased influence of asynchrony indicates that these listeners are especially hindered by slight disruptions in across-frequency information, which implies a less robust comparison mechanism. The results could not be attributed to differences in signal or sensation level, or in listener age, but instead appear to be related to the degree of hearing loss. This across-frequency deficit is unlikely to be attributed to known processing difficulties and may exist in addition to other known disruptions.

Interference and Enhancement Effects on Interaural Time Discrimination and Level Discrimination in Listeners With Normal Hearing and Those With Hearing Loss

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Smith-Olinde ◽  
Joan Besing ◽  
Janet Koehnke
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Dual Band ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Clinical Tests ◽  
Sensation Level ◽  
Time Discrimination ◽  
Interaural Difference ◽  
Interaural Differences

It is known that many listeners with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) have difficulty performing binaural tasks. In this study, interference and enhancement effects on interaural time discrimination and level discrimination were investigated in 4 listeners with normal hearing (NH) and 7 listeners with SNHL. Just-noticeable differences were measured using 1/3-octave narrowband noises centered at 0.5 and 4 kHz. Noises were presented in isolation and together at equivalent sound pressure level (EqSPL) and equivalent sensation level (EqSL). Each noise served as target and distractor in the dual-band conditions. Congruent conditions included interaural differences in both noises that varied together, and incongruent conditions included an interaural difference in one noise with the second noise diotic. No significant enhancement effects were observed for either group in either task. Interference effects for the NH group were limited to the interaural level discrimination task in the 0.5-kHz target and 4-kHz distractor condition. Performance of participants with SNHL was similar to that of the NH group for interaural time discrimination with noises at EqSL but not EqSPL. In interaural level discrimination, listeners with SNHL demonstrated interference with a 4-kHz target and 0.5-kHz distractor. Results indicated that the relative levels of low- and high-frequency targets and distractors could affect binaural performance of individuals with SNHL but that in some conditions listeners with SNHL performed similarly to those with normal hearing. Implications of these results for binaural clinical tests and hearing aid fitting strategies are discussed.

Identification and Discrimination of Vowel-Consonant Syllables in Listeners with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1975 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Reed
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Transmitted Information ◽  
Speech Encoding ◽  
Processing Modes

The speech encoding ability of eight persons with sensorineural hearing loss and three persons with normal hearing was studied in identification and discrimination paradigms. In the identification task a feature analysis of transmitted information for VC syllables was used to study encoding ability. Transmitted information was reduced from normal for persons with hearing loss, indicating a loss of ability to encode consonants. In the discrimination task, coding ability was studied by measuring reaction times (RTs) for “same” and “different” decisions. The RTs for individuals with impaired hearing were found to be significantly different from those subjects with normal hearing. The trend was for faster “same” than “different” RTs among the normal subjects and faster “different” than “same” RTs among the hearing-impaired persons. The results are interpreted as indicating that the two groups of subjects used different processing modes in discriminating between pairs of phonemes.

Effects of Age and Hearing Loss on Gap Detection and the Precedence Effect

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 482-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Lister ◽  
Richard A. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Fixed Frequency ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Participant Group ◽  
Acoustic Environments

Deficits in temporal resolution and/or the precedence effect may underlie part of the speech understanding difficulties experienced by older listeners in degraded acoustic environments. In a previous investigation, R. Roberts and J. Lister (2004) identified a positive correlation between measures of temporal resolution and the precedence effect, specifically across-channel gap detection (as measured dichotically) and fusion. Across-channel gap detection may also be measured using frequency-disparate markers. Thus, the present investigation was designed to determine if the relation is specific to dichotic gap detection or may generalize to all types of across-channel gap detection. Gap-detection thresholds (GDTs) for fixed-frequency and frequency-disparate markers and lag-burst thresholds (LBTs) were measured for 3 groups of listeners: young with normal hearing sensitivity (YNH), older with normal hearing sensitivity (ONH), and older with sensorineural hearing loss (OIH). Also included were conditions of diotic and dichotic GDT. Largest GDTs were measured for the frequency-disparate markers, whereas largest LBTs were measured for the fixed-frequency markers. ONH and OIH listeners exhibited larger frequency-disparate and dichotic GDTs than YNH listeners. Listener age and hearing loss appeared to influence temporal resolution for frequency-disparate and dichotic stimuli, which is potentially important for the resolution of timing cues in speech. Age and hearing loss did not significantly influence fusion as measured by LBTs. Within each participant group, most GDTs and LBTs were positively, but not significantly, correlated. For all participants combined, across-channel GDTs and LBTs were positively and significantly correlated. This suggests that the 2 tasks may rely on a common across-channel temporal mechanism.

Labeling of /s/ and /ʃ/ by Listeners With Normal and Impaired Hearing, Revisited

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 636-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S. Hedrick ◽  
Mary Sue Younger
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Relative Amplitude ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Temporal Separation ◽  
Variance Model ◽  
Formant Transition ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Interaction Terms ◽  
Second Formant

The two aims of this study were (a) to determine the perceptual weight given formant transition and relative amplitude information for labeling fricative place of articulation perception and (b) to determine the extent of integration of relative amplitude and formant transition cues. Seven listeners with normal hearing and 7 listeners with sensorineural hearing loss participated. The listeners were asked to label the fricatives of synthetic consonant-vowel stimuli as either /s/ or /∫/. Across the stimuli, 3 cues were varied: (a) The amplitude of the spectral peak in the 2500- Hz range of the frication relative to the adjacent vowel peak amplitude in the same frequency region, (b)the frication duration, which was either 50 or 140 ms, and (c) the second formant transition onset frequency, which was varied from 1200 to 1800 Hz. An analysis of variance model was used to determine weightings for the relative amplitude and transition cues for the different frication duration conditions. A 30-ms gap of silence was inserted between the frication and vocalic portions of the stimuli, with the intent that a temporal separation of frication and transition information might affect how the cues were integrated. The weighting given transition or relative amplitude differed between the listening groups and depended on frication duration. Use of the transition cue was most affected by insertion of the silent gap. Listeners with hearing loss had smaller interaction terms for the cues than listeners with normal hearing, suggesting less integration of cues.

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