Neural Transformation of Dissonant Intervals in the Auditory Brainstem

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 445-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyung Myun Lee ◽  
Erika Skoe ◽  
Nina Kraus ◽  
Richard Ashley
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Response Spectrum ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Distortion Products ◽  
Stimulus Waveform

Acoustic periodicity is an important factor for discriminating consonant and dissonant intervals. While previous studies have found that the periodicity of musical intervals is temporally encoded by neural phase locking throughout the auditory system, how the nonlinearities of the auditory pathway influence the encoding of periodicity and how this effect is related to sensory consonance has been underexplored. By measuring human auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to four diotically presented musical intervals with increasing degrees of dissonance, this study seeks to explicate how the subcortical auditory system transforms the neural representation of acoustic periodicity for consonant versus dissonant intervals. ABRs faithfully reflect neural activity in the brainstem synchronized to the stimulus while also capturing nonlinear aspects of auditory processing. Results show that for the most dissonant interval, which has a less periodic stimulus waveform than the most consonant interval, the aperiodicity of the stimulus is intensified in the subcortical response. The decreased periodicity of dissonant intervals is related to a larger number of nonlinearities (i.e., distortion products) in the response spectrum. Our findings suggest that the auditory system transforms the periodicity of dissonant intervals resulting in consonant and dissonant intervals becoming more distinct in the neural code than if they were to be processed by a linear auditory system.

scholarly journals Variation in interpeak latencies of auditory brainstem responses with age in male adults:An observation

Biomedicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-492
Author(s):  
Shilpa Khullar ◽  
S. Aijaz Abbas Rizvi ◽  
Ankur Sachdeva ◽  
Archana Sood ◽  
Syed Sibte Akbar Abidi
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Hearing Threshold ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Threshold ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
P Value ◽  
Conduction Time ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Group 2

Introduction and Aim: Aging of the auditory pathway is a complex phenomenon consisting of changes in the auditory processing along with a significant elevation of the hearing threshold. The aim of our study was to see the variation in interpeak latencies (IPLs) of Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABRs) with advancing age in males.   Materials and Methods: It was an observational study conducted on 60 Indian male subjects aged between 20 and 80 years divided into three groups on the basis of age: Group 1: 20-40 years, Group 2: 41-60 years and Group 3: 61-80 years. Auditory threshold and ABRs were recorded and analysed for interpeak latencies (IPLs) – I-III,I-V and III-V in msec.The comparison of data between the groups was done using one – way ANOVA and Tukey Kramer multiple comparison test. The results were considered significantly different between the groups when ‘P value’ was ? 0.05.   Results: It was found that there was no significant difference in the auditory threshold and interpeak latencies (IPLs) when comparison was made between the three groups.   Conclusion: Hence we conclude thatage does not have any significant influence on neural conduction time of the auditory pathway which is represented by the IPLs in ABRs.  

scholarly journals Elimination of peripheral auditory pathway activation does not affect motor responses from ultrasound neuromodulation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Mohammadjavadi ◽  
Patrick Peiyong Ye ◽  
Anping Xia ◽  
Julian Brown ◽  
Gerald Popelka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Focused Ultrasound ◽  
Response Duration ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Motor Responses ◽  
Peripheral Auditory System

AbstractRecent studies in a variety of animal models including rodents, monkeys, and humans suggest that transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) has considerable promise for non-invasively modulating neural activity with the ability to target deep brain structures. However, concerns have been raised that motor responses evoked by tFUS may be due to indirect activation of the auditory pathway rather than direct activation of motor circuits. In this study, tFUS-induced electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded and analyzed in wild-type (WT) normal hearing mice and two strains of genetically deaf mice to examine the involvement of the peripheral auditory system in tFUS-stimulated motor responses. In addition, auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were measured to elucidate the effect of the tFUS stimulus envelope on auditory and motor responses. We also varied the tFUS stimulation duration to measure its effect on motor response duration. We show, first, that the sharp edges in a tFUS rectangular envelope stimulus activate the peripheral afferent auditory pathway and, second, that smoothing these edges eliminates the auditory responses without affecting the motor responses in normal hearing WT mice. We further show that by eliminating peripheral auditory activity using two different strains of deaf knockout mice, motor responses are the same as in normal hearing WT mice. Finally, we demonstrate a high correlation between tFUS pulse duration and EMG response duration. These results support the concept that tFUS-evoked motor responses are not a result of stimulation of the peripheral auditory system.

Central Auditory Evaluation of Patients with Spasmodic Dysphonia

1997 ◽  
Vol 76 (10) ◽  
pp. 710-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele L. Middleton ◽  
Keith M. Wilson ◽  
Robert W. Keith
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Spasmodic Dysphonia ◽  
Central Auditory Processing ◽  
Cortical Function ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Positive Scan ◽  
High Stimulus

Spasmodic dysphonia is a focal laryngeal dystonia characterized by inappropriate contractions of the intrinsic laryngeal musculature. The prevalence of associated neurological findings has led to detailed investigation of the central nervous system. Previous research revealed latency abnormalities in patients’ auditory brainstem responses. The present study further investigated central auditory findings in patients with spasmodic dysphonia, including brainstem and cortical function. Fourteen normal-hearing patients with spasmodic dysphonia were tested using the auditory brainstem response (ABR) and SCAN-A test of central auditory processing. The ABR estimated brainstem transmission time and evaluated auditory pathway integrity at a high stimulus rate. SCAN-A assessed the auditory cerebral cortex. Implications of these findings are discussed. We found no ABR abnormalities in subjects with spasmodic dysphonia. Positive SCAN-A findings were negligible. The ABR findings contradict previous reports.

scholarly journals Speech Evoked Auditory Brainstem Response in Stuttering

Scientifica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Tahaei ◽  
Hassan Ashayeri ◽  
Akram Pourbakht ◽  
Mohammad Kamali
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Central Auditory Processing ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Speech Stimuli ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Processing Deficits

Auditory processing deficits have been hypothesized as an underlying mechanism for stuttering. Previous studies have demonstrated abnormal responses in subjects with persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) at the higher level of the central auditory system using speech stimuli. Recently, the potential usefulness of speech evoked auditory brainstem responses in central auditory processing disorders has been emphasized. The current study used the speech evoked ABR to investigate the hypothesis that subjects with PDS have specific auditory perceptual dysfunction.Objectives. To determine whether brainstem responses to speech stimuli differ between PDS subjects and normal fluent speakers.Methods. Twenty-five subjects with PDS participated in this study. The speech-ABRs were elicited by the 5-formant synthesized syllable/da/, with duration of 40 ms.Results. There were significant group differences for the onset and offset transient peaks. Subjects with PDS had longer latencies for the onset and offset peaks relative to the control group.Conclusions. Subjects with PDS showed a deficient neural timing in the early stages of the auditory pathway consistent with temporal processing deficits and their abnormal timing may underlie to their disfluency.

Audiological findings in glomus tumours

1997 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Qiu ◽  
Shengguang S. Yin ◽  
Fred J. Stucker ◽  
Mardjohan Hardjasudarma
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Auditory System ◽  
Middle Ear ◽  
Otoacoustic Emissions ◽  
Cerebellopontine Angle ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri

AbstractGlomus tumours involving the middle ear and the cerebellopontine angle are reported with emphasis on audiological findings. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), angiographic and pathological results are presented. Audiological tests, including impedance audiometry, evoked otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses, are valuable in evaluation of the effect of glomus tumours on the auditory system as well as their pathological extent.

Auditory processing of complex sounds: an overview

1992 ◽  
Vol 336 (1278) ◽  
pp. 295-306 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory System ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Frequency Selectivity ◽  
Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Cochlear Nerve ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Time Coding

The past 30 years has seen a remarkable development in our understanding of how the auditory system - particularly the peripheral system - processes complex sounds. Perhaps the most significant has been our understanding of the mechanisms underlying auditory frequency selectivity and their importance for normal and impaired auditory processing. Physiologically vulnerable cochlear filtering can account for many aspects of our normal and impaired psychophysical frequency selectivity with important consequences for the perception of complex sounds. For normal hearing, remarkable mechanisms in the organ of Corti, involving enhancement of mechanical tuning (in mammals probably by feedback of electro-mechanically generated energy from the hair cells), produce exquisite tuning, reflected in the tuning properties of cochlear nerve fibres. Recent comparisons of physiological (cochlear nerve) and psychophysical frequency selectivity in the same species indicate that the ear’s overall frequency selectivity can be accounted for by this cochlear filtering, at least in band width terms. Because this cochlear filtering is physiologically vulnerable, it deteriorates in deleterious conditions of the cochlea - hypoxia, disease, drugs, noise overexposure, mechanical disturbance - and is reflected in impaired psychophysical frequency selectivity. This is a fundamental feature of sensorineural hearing loss of cochlear origin, and is of diagnostic value. This cochlear filtering, particularly as reflected in the temporal patterns of cochlear fibres to complex sounds, is remarkably robust over a wide range of stimulus levels. Furthermore, cochlear filtering properties are a prime determinant of the ‘place’ and ‘time’ coding of frequency at the cochlear nerve level, both of which appear to be involved in pitch perception. The problem of how the place and time coding of complex sounds is effected over the ear’s remarkably wide dynamic range is briefly addressed. In the auditory brainstem, particularly the dorsal cochlear nucleus, are inhibitory mechanisms responsible for enhancing the spectral and temporal contrasts in complex sounds. These mechanisms are now being dissected neuropharmacologically. At the cortical level, mechanisms are evident that are capable of abstracting biologically relevant features of complex sounds. Fundamental studies of how the auditory system encodes and processes complex sounds are vital to promising recent applications in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of the hearing impaired.

scholarly journals Cochlear Synaptopathy: A Primary Factor Affecting Speech Recognition Performance in Presbycusis

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Zhe Chen ◽  
Yanmei Zhang ◽  
Junbo Zhang ◽  
Rui Zhou ◽  
Zhen Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Action Potential ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Hearing Ability ◽  
Summating Potential

The results of recent animal studies have suggested that cochlear synaptopathy may be an important factor involved in presbycusis. Therefore, here, we aimed to examine whether cochlear synaptopathy frequently exists in patients with presbycusis and to describe the effect of cochlear synaptopathy on speech recognition in noise. Based on the medical history and an audiological examination, 94 elderly patients with bilateral, symmetrical, sensorineural hearing loss were diagnosed as presbycusis. An electrocochleogram, auditory brainstem responses, auditory cortical evoked potentials, and speech audiometry were recorded to access the function of the auditory pathway. First, 65 ears with hearing levels of 41-50 dB HL were grouped based on the summating potential/action potential (SP/AP) ratio, and the amplitudes of AP and SP were compared between the two resulting groups. Second, 188 ears were divided into two groups: the normal SP/AP and abnormal SP/AP groups. The speech recognition abilities in the two groups were compared. Finally, the relationship between abnormal electrocochleogram and poor speech recognition (signal-to-noise ratio loss ≥7 dB) was analyzed in 188 ears. The results of the present study showed: (1) a remarkable reduction in the action potential amplitude was observed in patients with abnormal SP/AP ratios; this suggests that cochlear synaptopathy was involved in presbycusis. (2) There was a large proportion of patients with poor speech recognition in the abnormal SP/AP group. Furthermore, a larger number of cases with abnormal SP/AP ratios were confirmed among patients with presbycusis and poor speech recognition. We concluded that cochlear synaptopathy is not uncommon among elderly individuals who have hearing ability deficits, and it may have a more pronounced effect on ears with declining auditory performance in noisy environments.

scholarly journals Auditory neuropathy in a patient exposed to xylene: case report

2008 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
T H J Draper ◽  
D-E Bamiou
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Otoacoustic Emissions ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Neuropathy ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Solvent Exposure ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Acoustic Reflexes

AbstractObjective:To report the case of an adult patient who developed auditory complaints following xylene exposure, and to review the literature on the effects of solvent exposure on hearing.Case report:The patient presented with a gradual deterioration in his ability to hear in difficult acoustic environments and also to hear complex sounds such as music, over a 40-year period. His symptoms began following exposure to the solvent xylene, and in the absence of any other risk factor. Our audiological investigations revealed normal otoacoustic emissions with absent auditory brainstem responses and absent acoustic reflexes in both ears, consistent with a diagnosis of bilateral auditory neuropathy. Central test results were also abnormal, indicating possible involvement of the central auditory pathway.Conclusions:To our knowledge, this is the first report of retrocochlear hearing loss following xylene exposure. The test results may provide some insight into the effect of xylene as an isolated agent on the human auditory pathway.

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