Factors Influencing the Masking Level Difference in Cochlear Hearing-Impaired and Normal-Hearing Listeners

1984 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Hall ◽  
Richard S. Tyler ◽  
Mariano A. Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Band ◽  
Wide Band ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Temporal Coding ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Frequency Resolution ◽  
Time Discrimination ◽  
Band Noise ◽  
Level Difference ◽  
Masking Level Difference

The masking level difference (MLD) at 500 Hz was examined in wide-band (960 Hz) and narrow-band (50 Hz) noise for normal-hearing subjects and subjects with symmetrical mild-to-moderate cochlear hearing loss. Monaural tasks of intensity discrimination, temporal resolution, and frequency resolution were performed in order to examine relationships between monaural dysfunction and MLD performance. Interaural time discrimination for a 500-Hz pure tone also was examined. The performance of the hearing-impaired subjects was poorer than that of the normal-hearing subjects for MLD, interaural Δt, and most monaural tasks. However, no significant relationships were found between monaural and MLD performance when effects of threshold were taken into account. MLDs were more reduced in wide-band noise than in narrow-band noise for the hearing-impaired subjects (when Contrasted with normal-hearing subjects). MLD performance was correlated with interaural time discrimination, and it is suggested that one reason for poor MLD performance with hearing impairment may be poor temporal coding of stimulus-fine structure.

scholarly journals Susceptibility to Residual Inhibition Is Associated With Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Chronicity

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 233121652098630
Author(s):  
S. Hu ◽  
L. Anschuetz ◽  
D. A. Hall ◽  
M. Caversaccio ◽  
W. Wimmer
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Acoustic Stimulation ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Band Noise ◽  
Comparator Group ◽  
Residual Inhibition ◽  
Subject Comparison

Residual inhibition, that is, the temporary suppression of tinnitus loudness after acoustic stimulation, is a frequently observed phenomenon that may have prognostic value for clinical applications. However, it is unclear in which subjects residual inhibition is more likely and how stable the effect of inhibition is over multiple repetitions. The primary aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of hearing loss and tinnitus chronicity on residual inhibition susceptibility. The secondary aim was to investigate the short-term repeatability of residual inhibition. Residual inhibition was assessed in 74 tinnitus subjects with 60-second narrow-band noise stimuli in 10 consecutive trials. The subjects were assigned to groups according to their depth of suppression (substantial residual inhibition vs. comparator group). In addition, a categorization in normal hearing and hearing loss groups, related to the degree of hearing loss at the frequency corresponding to the tinnitus pitch, was made. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with susceptibility to residual inhibition. Repeatability of residual inhibition was assessed using mixed-effects ordinal regression including poststimulus time and repetitions as factors. Tinnitus chronicity was not associated with residual inhibition for subjects with hearing loss, while a statistically significant negative association between tinnitus chronicity and residual inhibition susceptibility was observed in normal hearing subjects (odds ratio: 0.63; p = .0076). Moreover, repeated states of suppression can be stably induced, reinforcing the use of residual inhibition for within-subject comparison studies.

scholarly journals Masking Level Difference and Electrophysiological Evaluation in Adults with Normal Hearing

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. e399-e406
Author(s):  
Joyce Miranda Santiago ◽  
Cyntia Barbosa Laureano Luiz ◽  
Michele Garcia ◽  
Daniela Gil
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Central Auditory Processing ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Binaural Interaction ◽  
Level Difference ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Masking Level Difference ◽  
The Mean

Abstract Introduction The auditory structures of the brainstem are involved in binaural interaction, which contributes to sound location and auditory figure-background perception. Objective To investigate the performance of young adults in the masking level difference (MLD) test, brainstem auditory-evoked potentials (BAEPs) with click stimulus, and frequency-following response (FFR), as well as to verify the correlation between the findings, considering the topographic origin of the components of these procedures. Methods A total of 20 female subjects between 18 and 30 years of age, with normal hearing and no complaints concerning central auditory processing underwent a basic audiological evaluation, as well as the MLD test, BAEP and FFR. Results The mean result on the MLD test was of 10.70 dB. There was a statistically significant difference in the absolute latencies of waves I, III and V in the BAEPs of the ears. A change in the FFR characterized by the absence of the C, E and F waves was noticed. There was a statistically significant difference in the positive correlation of wave V in the BAEPs with the MLD. There was a statistically significant difference in the positive correlation of the mean MLD and the V, A and F components of the FFR. Conclusion The mean MLD was adequate. In the BAEPs, we observed that the click stimulus transmission occurred faster in the right ear. The FFR showed absence of some components. The mean MLD correlated positively with the BAEPs and FFR.

Limiting Spectral Resolution in Speech for Listeners With Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher W. Turner ◽  
Siu-Ling Chi ◽  
Sarah Flock
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Present Experiment ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Frequency Resolution ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Speech Condition

Consonant recognition was measured as a function of the degree of spectral resolution of the speech stimulus in normally hearing listeners and listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Previous work (Turner, Souza, and Forget, 1995) has shown that listeners with sensorineural hearing loss could recognize consonants as well as listeners with normal hearing when speech was processed to have only one channel of spectral resolution. The hypothesis tested in the present experiment was that when speech was limited to a small number of spectral channels, both normally hearing and hearing-impaired listeners would continue to perform similarly. As the stimuli were presented with finer degrees of spectral resolution, and the poorer-than-normal spectral resolving abilities of the hearing-impaired listeners became a limiting factor, one would predict that the performance of the hearing-impaired listeners would then become poorer than the normally hearing listeners. Previous research on the frequency-resolution abilities of listeners with mild-to-moderate hearing loss suggests that these listeners have critical bandwidths three to four times larger than do listeners with normal hearing. In the present experiment, speech stimuli were processed to have 1, 2, 4, or 8 channels of spectral information. Results for the 1-channel speech condition were consistent with the previous study in that both groups of listeners performed similarly. However, the hearing-impaired listeners performed more poorly than the normally hearing listeners for all other conditions, including the 2-channel speech condition. These results would appear to contradict the original hypothesis, in that listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss would be expected to have at least 2 channels of frequency resolution. One possibility is that the frequency resolution of hearing-impaired listeners may be much poorer than previously estimated; however, a subsequent filtered speech experiment did not support this explanation. The present results do indicate that although listeners with hearing loss are able to use the temporal-envelope information of a single channel in a normal fashion, when given the opportunity to combine information across more than one channel, they show deficient performance.

Perception of Spectral Contrast by Hearing-Impaired Listeners

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 910-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Dreisbach ◽  
Marjorie R. Leek ◽  
Jennifer J. Lentz
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Stimulus Level ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Frequency Resolution ◽  
Spectral Peak ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Spectral Contrast

The ability to discriminate the spectral shapes of complex sounds is critical to accurate speech perception. Part of the difficulty experienced by listeners with hearing loss in understanding speech sounds in noise may be related to a smearing of the internal representation of the spectral peaks and valleys because of the loss of sensitivity and an accompanying reduction in frequency resolution. This study examined the discrimination by hearing-impaired listeners of highly similar harmonic complexes with a single spectral peak located in 1 of 3 frequency regions. The minimum level difference between peak and background harmonics required to discriminate a small change in the spectral center of the peak was measured for peaks located near 2, 3, or 4 kHz. Component phases were selected according to an algorithm thought to produce either highly modulated (positive Schroeder) or very flat (negative Schroeder) internal waveform envelopes in the cochlea. The mean amplitude difference between a spectral peak and the background components required for discrimination of pairs of harmonic complexes (spectral contrast threshold) was from 4 to 19 dB greater for listeners with hearing impairment than for a control group of listeners with normal hearing. In normal-hearing listeners, improvements in threshold were seen with increasing stimulus level, and there was a strong effect of stimulus phase, as the positive Schroeder stimuli always produced lower thresholds than the negative Schroeder stimuli. The listeners with hearing loss showed no consistent spectral contrast effects due to stimulus phase and also showed little improvement with increasing stimulus level, once their sensitivity loss was overcome. The lack of phase and level effects may be a result of the more linear processing occurring in impaired ears, producing poorer-than-normal frequency resolution, a loss of gain for low amplitudes, and an altered cochlear phase characteristic in regions of damage.

scholarly journals Susceptibility to Residual Inhibition is Associated with Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Chronicity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suyi Hu ◽  
Lukas Anschuetz ◽  
Deborah A. Hall ◽  
Marco Caversaccio ◽  
Wilhelm Wimmer
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Acoustic Stimulation ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Band Noise ◽  
Hearing Thresholds ◽  
Residual Inhibition

Residual inhibition, i.e. the temporary suppression of tinnitus loudness after acoustic stimulation, is a frequently observed phenomenon that may have prognostic value for clinical applications. However, it is unclear in which subjects residual inhibition is more likely and how stable the suppression can be induced repeatedly. The primary aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of hearing loss and tinnitus chronicity on residual inhibition susceptibility. The secondary aim was to investigate the short-term repeatability of residual inhibition. Residual inhibition was assessed in 74 tinnitus subjects with 60-second narrow-band noise stimuli in 10 consecutive trials. The subjects were assigned to groups according to their depth of suppression (substantial residual inhibition vs. comparator group). In addition, a categorization in normal hearing and hearing loss groups, related to the degree of hearing loss at the frequency corresponding to the tinnitus pitch, was made. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with susceptibility to residual inhibition. Repeatability of residual inhibition was assessed using mixed-effects ordinal regression including post-stimulus time and repetitions as factors. Tinnitus chronicity was not associated with residual inhibition for subjects with hearing loss, while a statistically significant negative association between tinnitus chronicity and residual inhibition susceptibility was observed in normal hearing subjects (odds ratio: 0.63; CI: 0.41 to 0.83; p = 0.0076). Moreover, repeated states of suppression can be stably induced. Our results suggest that long chronicity and residual inhibition susceptibility could be indicators for hidden lesions along the auditory pathway in subjects with normal hearing thresholds at their tinnitus frequency.

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