Measures of Signal Processing in Persons with Sensorineural Hearing Loss below 6 kHz

1988 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 659-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenis R. Long ◽  
John K. Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Band ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Young Control ◽  
Noise Masking ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Band Noise ◽  
Rate Discrimination

Estimates of threshold, wide- and narrow-band noise masking, frequency and amplitude modulation detection, gap detection, and rate discrimination were obtained from 10 subjects with near-normal hearing at frequencies above 6 kHz, but severe-to-profound hearing losses at lower frequencies. The same measures were obtained from 10 young control subjects with normal hearing sensitivity for all frequencies up to 16 kHz. The hearing-impaired subjects were able to process sounds in the region of near-normal hearing sensitivity as well as the unimpaired control subjects. Performance in the low-frequency, impaired region depended on the lowest frequency of near-normal hearing sensitivity.

Temporal Processing in Low-Frequency Channels: Effects of Age and Hearing Loss in Middle-Aged Listeners

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (07) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth D. Leigh-Paffenroth ◽  
Saravanan Elangovan
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity

Background: Hearing loss and age interfere with the auditory system's ability to process temporal changes in the acoustic signal. A key unresolved question is whether high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (HFSNHL) affects temporal processing in the low-frequency region where hearing loss is minimal or nonexistent. A second unresolved question is whether changes in hearing occur in middle-aged subjects in the absence of HFSNHL. Purpose: The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the influence of HFSNHL and aging on the auditory temporal processing abilities of low-frequency auditory channels with normal hearing sensitivity and (2) to examine the relations among gap detection measures, self-assessment reports of understanding speech, and functional measures of speech perception in middle-aged individuals with and without HFSNHL. Research Design: The subject groups were matched for either age (middle age) or pure-tone sensitivity (with or without hearing loss) to study the effects of age and HFSNHL on behavioral and functional measures of temporal processing and word recognition performance. These effects were analyzed by individual repeated-measures analyses of variance. Post hoc analyses were performed for each significant main effect and interaction. The relationships among the measures were analyzed with Pearson correlations. Study Sample: Eleven normal-hearing young adults (YNH), eight normal-hearing middle-aged adults (MANH), and nine middle-aged adults with HFSNHL were recruited for this study. Normal hearing sensitivity was defined as pure-tone thresholds ≤25 dB HL for octave frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz. HFSNHL was defined as pure-tone thresholds ≤25 dB HL from 250 to 2000 Hz and ≥35 dB HL from 3000 to 8000 Hz. Data Collection and Analysis: Gap detection thresholds (GDTs) were measured under within-channel and between-channel conditions with the stimulus spectrum limited to regions of normal hearing sensitivity for the HFSNHL group (i.e., <2000 Hz). Self-perceived hearing problems were measured by a questionnaire (Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit), and word recognition performance was assessed under four conditions: quiet and babble, with and without low-pass filtering (cutoff frequency = 2000 Hz). Results: The effects of HFSNHL and age were found for gap detection, self-perceived hearing problems, and word recognition in noise. The presence of HFSNHL significantly increased GDTs for stimuli presented in regions of normal pure-tone sensitivity. In addition, middle-aged subjects with normal hearing sensitivity reported significantly more problems hearing in background noise than the young normal-hearing subjects. Significant relationships between self-report measures of hearing ability in background noise and word recognition in babble were found. Conclusions: The conclusions from the present study are twofold: (1) HFSNHL may have an off-channel impact on auditory temporal processing, and (2) presenescent changes in the auditory system of MANH subjects increased self-perceived problems hearing in background noise and decreased functional performance in background noise compared with YNH subjects.

scholarly journals Gap Detection in School-Age Children and Adults: Effects of Inherent Envelope Modulation and the Availability of Cues Across Frequency

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 1098-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Buss ◽  
Joseph W. Hall ◽  
Heather Porter ◽  
John H. Grose
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Band ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
School Age ◽  
Band Noise ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Fluctuation Noise ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Envelope Modulation

Purpose The present study evaluated the effects of inherent envelope modulation and the availability of cues across frequency on behavioral gap detection with noise-band stimuli in school-age children. Method Listeners were 34 normal-hearing children (ages 5.2–15.6 years) and 12 normal-hearing adults (ages 18.5–28.8 years). Stimuli were continuous bands of noise centered on 2000 Hz, either 1000- or 25-Hz wide. In addition to Gaussian noise at these bandwidths, there were conditions using 25-Hz-wide noise bands modified to either accentuate or minimize inherent envelope modulation (staccato and low-fluctuation noise, respectively). Results Within the 25-Hz-wide conditions, adults' gap detection thresholds were highest in the staccato, lower in the Gaussian, and lowest in the low-fluctuation noise. Similar trends were evident in children's thresholds, although inherent envelope modulation had a smaller effect on children than on adults. Whereas adults' thresholds were comparable for the 1000-Hz-wide Gaussian and 25-Hz-wide low-fluctuation stimulus, children's performance converged on adults' performance at a younger age for the 1000-Hz-wide Gaussian stimulus. Conclusions Results are consistent with the idea that children are less susceptible to the disruptive effects of inherent envelope modulation than adults when detecting a gap in a narrow-band noise. Further, the ability to use spectrally distributed gap detection cues appears to mature relatively early in childhood.

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.

Reconstruction of the Audiogram Using Brain Stem Responses and High-Pass Noise Masking

1979 ◽  
Vol 88 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Don ◽  
Jos J. Eggermont ◽  
Derald E. Brackmann
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Pure Tone Audiometry ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Noise Masking ◽  
Specific Frequency ◽  
High Pass ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Air Conduction

Contributions to the brain stem electrical responses (BSER) presumably initiated from specific frequency regions of the cochlea with center frequencies similar to the major audiometric frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 kHz) are derived by the application of a high-pass noise masking technique utilizing click stimuli. In normal hearing subjects, these derived narrow-band responses from the midfrequency regions (4, 2, and 1 kHz) can be recognized at click levels as low as 10 dB HL. For the frequency regions around 8 kHz and 0.5 kHz, these derived responses can be discerned at click levels of 30 dB HL and higher. When one uses the lowest click level at which these derived responses can be obtained from a given frequency region, the differences between a patient with a hearing loss and a normal hearing subject correlate well with the amount of hearing loss (air conduction) recorded by conventional pure tone audiometry. Use of the high-pass noise masking technique to reconstruct the audiogram may be of great potential value in assessing young children and other individuals who cannot or will not respond to conventional audiometry.

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.

Comparative Bekesy Typing with Broad and Modulated Narrow-Band Noise

1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 840-846
Author(s):  
Charles T. Grimes ◽  
Alan S. Feldman
Keyword(s):  
White Noise ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Band Width ◽  
Masking Effect ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Noise Masking ◽  
Narrow Band Noise ◽  
Band Noise ◽  
Continuous Tone ◽  
Békésy Audiometry

This study explored the effectiveness of modulated narrow-band noise as a masking source for sweep-frequency Bekesy audiometry. Five sophisticated normal-hearing subjects traced Bekesy audiometry thresholds for pulsed and continuous tone with no masking and under three conditions of contralateral masking: (1) white noise, (2) modulated narrow-band noise with a constant band-width of ±150 Hz, and (3) modulated narrow-band noise with a band-width of ±300 Hz. Results indicated that the continuous tone tracing obtained under the second condition separated from the pulsed tracing supportive of a Type II tracing. With the third condition, pulsed-continuous differences were somewhat smaller. Under the first condition, the difference between pulsed and continuous tracings was not apparent. When two unsophisticated subjects were tested with the modified band-width noise, results indicated extreme variation between pulsed and continuous tracings. We concluded that the masking effect of a constant band-width modulated narrow-band noise is about the same as that of white noise for a pulsed tone tracing. However, the use of a modulated narrow-band noise masking source may cause false Type II Bekesy audiograms due to the greater masking effect on a continuous tone threshold.

Frequency-Discrimination Ability of Hearing-Impaired Listeners

1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Zurek ◽  
C. Formby
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Frequency Modulation ◽  
Hearing Threshold ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Frequency Discrimination ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Discrimination Ability ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity

Thresholds for frequency modulation were measured by an adaptive, two-alternative, forced-choice method with ten listeners: eight who showed varying degrees of sensorineural hearing impairment, and two with normal-hearing sensitivity. Results for test frequencies spaced at octave intervals between 125 and 4000 Hz showed that, relative to normal-hearing listeners, the ability of the hearing-impaired listeners to detect a sinusoidal frequency modulation: (1) is diminished above a certain level of hearing loss; and (2) is more disrupted for low-frequency tones than for high-frequency tones, given the same degree of hearing loss at the test frequency. The first finding is consistent with that of previous studies which show a general deterioration of frequency-discrimination ability associated with moderate, or worse, hearing loss. It is proposed that the second finding may be explained: 1) by differential impairment of the temporal and place mechanisms presumed to, encode pitch at the lower and higher frequencies, respectively; and/or, 2) for certain configurations of hearing loss, by the asymmetrical pattern of cochlear excitation that may lead to the underestimation, from measurements of threshold sensitivity, of hearing impairment for low-frequency tones and consequently to relatively large changes in frequency discrimination for small shifts in hearing threshold.

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