Forward masking recovery and peripheral compression in normal‐hearing and cochlear‐impaired ears

1999 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 2176-2177 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Nelson ◽  
Anna C. Schroder
Keyword(s):  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Forward Masking ◽  
Peripheral Compression

Forward masking in children and adults with normal hearing and hearing loss

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 2226-2226
Author(s):  
Marc A. Brennan ◽  
Walt Jesteadt ◽  
Ryan McCreery
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Forward Masking

Suprathreshold Auditory Processing and Speech Perception in Noise: Hearing-Impaired and Normal-Hearing Listeners

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. 274-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Van Summers ◽  
Matthew J. Makashay ◽  
Sarah M. Theodoroff ◽  
Marjorie R. Leek
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Frequency Selectivity ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Peripheral Compression

Background: It is widely believed that suprathreshold distortions in auditory processing contribute to the speech recognition deficits experienced by hearing-impaired (HI) listeners in noise. Damage to outer hair cells and attendant reductions in peripheral compression and frequency selectivity may contribute to these deficits. In addition, reduced access to temporal fine structure (TFS) information in the speech waveform may play a role. Purpose: To examine how measures of peripheral compression, frequency selectivity, and TFS sensitivity relate to speech recognition performance by HI listeners. To determine whether distortions in processing reflected by these psychoacoustic measures are more closely associated with speech deficits in steady-state or modulated noise. Research Design: Normal-hearing (NH) and HI listeners were tested on tasks examining frequency selectivity (notched-noise task), peripheral compression (temporal masking curve task), and sensitivity to TFS information (frequency modulation [FM] detection task) in the presence of random amplitude modulation. Performance was tested at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz at several presentation levels. The same listeners were tested on sentence recognition in steady-state and modulated noise at several signal-to-noise ratios. Study Sample: Ten NH and 18 HI listeners were tested. NH listeners ranged in age from 36 to 80 yr (M = 57.6). For HI listeners, ages ranged from 58 to 87 yr (M = 71.8). Results: Scores on the FM detection task at 1 and 2 kHz were significantly correlated with speech scores in both noise conditions. Frequency selectivity and compression measures were not as clearly associated with speech performance. Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) analyses indicated only small differences in speech audibility across subjects for each signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) condition that would predict differences in speech scores no greater than 10% at a given SNR. Actual speech scores varied by as much as 80% across subjects. Conclusions: The results suggest that distorted processing of audible speech cues was a primary factor accounting for differences in speech scores across subjects and that reduced ability to use TFS cues may be an important component of this distortion. The influence of TFS cues on speech scores was comparable in steady-state and modulated noise. Speech recognition was not related to audibility, represented by the SII, once high-frequency sensitivity differences across subjects (beginning at 5 kHz) were removed statistically. This might indicate that high-frequency hearing loss is associated with distortions in processing in lower-frequency regions.

Auditory Time Constants for Off-Frequency Forward Masking in Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Nelson ◽  
Rosemary Pavlov
Keyword(s):  
Time Constant ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Forward Masking ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Time Constants ◽  
Temporal Masking ◽  
Short Term Adaptation ◽  
Probe Frequency ◽  
Parameter Values

Previous research has shown that frequency-specific estimates of auditory time constants for recovery from short-term adaptation can be made using a fixed-probe forward-masking procedure (Nelson & Freyman, 1987) if the masker and the probe stimuli are at the same frequency. This study examines the validity of time-constant estimates for off-frequency forward-masking conditions in which the masker frequency is below (900 Hz) or above (1100 Hz) the probe frequency (1000 Hz). Fixed-probe-level temporal masking functions were obtained from four normal-hearing and four hearing-impaired listeners. Auditory time constants were estimated with iterative least-squares procedures to derive parameter values for an exponential model of recovery from forward masking. After appropriate corrections were made for attenuation to the maskers provided by the auditory filter centered at the probe frequency, recovery from forward masking produced by either off-frequency or on-frequency maskers could be described by a single time constant. That time constant was around 50 ms in normal-hearing listeners and was larger in those hearing-impaired listeners who demonstrated moderate hearing loss at the probe frequency.

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