scholarly journals Influence of aging on human sound localization

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 2471-2486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina S. Dobreva ◽  
William E. O'Neill ◽  
Gary D. Paige

Errors in sound localization, associated with age-related changes in peripheral and central auditory function, can pose threats to self and others in a commonly encountered environment such as a busy traffic intersection. This study aimed to quantify the accuracy and precision (repeatability) of free-field human sound localization as a function of advancing age. Head-fixed young, middle-aged, and elderly listeners localized band-passed targets using visually guided manual laser pointing in a darkened room. Targets were presented in the frontal field by a robotically controlled loudspeaker assembly hidden behind a screen. Broadband targets (0.1–20 kHz) activated all auditory spatial channels, whereas low-pass and high-pass targets selectively isolated interaural time and intensity difference cues (ITDs and IIDs) for azimuth and high-frequency spectral cues for elevation. In addition, to assess the upper frequency limit of ITD utilization across age groups more thoroughly, narrowband targets were presented at 250-Hz intervals from 250 Hz up to ∼2 kHz. Young subjects generally showed horizontal overestimation (overshoot) and vertical underestimation (undershoot) of auditory target location, and this effect varied with frequency band. Accuracy and/or precision worsened in older individuals for broadband, high-pass, and low-pass targets, reflective of peripheral but also central auditory aging. In addition, compared with young adults, middle-aged, and elderly listeners showed pronounced horizontal localization deficiencies (imprecision) for narrowband targets within 1,250–1,575 Hz, congruent with age-related central decline in auditory temporal processing. Findings underscore the distinct neural processing of the auditory spatial cues in sound localization and their selective deterioration with advancing age.

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (6) ◽  
pp. 1658-1668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Tollin ◽  
Janet L. Ruhland ◽  
Tom C. T. Yin

Sound localization along the azimuthal dimension depends on interaural time and level disparities, whereas localization in elevation depends on broadband power spectra resulting from the filtering properties of the head and pinnae. We trained cats with their heads unrestrained, using operant conditioning to indicate the apparent locations of sounds via gaze shift. Targets consisted of broadband (BB), high-pass (HP), or low-pass (LP) noise, tones from 0.5 to 14 kHz, and 1/6 octave narrow-band (NB) noise with center frequencies ranging from 6 to 16 kHz. For each sound type, localization performance was summarized by the slope of the regression relating actual gaze shift to desired gaze shift. Overall localization accuracy for BB noise was comparable in azimuth and in elevation but was markedly better in azimuth than in elevation for sounds with limited spectra. Gaze shifts to targets in azimuth were most accurate to BB, less accurate for HP, LP, and NB sounds, and considerably less accurate for tones. In elevation, cats were most accurate in localizing BB, somewhat less accurate to HP, and less yet to LP noise (although still with slopes ∼0.60), but they localized NB noise much worse and were unable to localize tones. Deterioration of localization as bandwidth narrows is consistent with the hypothesis that spectral information is critical for sound localization in elevation. For NB noise or tones in elevation, unlike humans, most cats did not have unique responses at different frequencies, and some appeared to respond with a “default” location at all frequencies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 233121652095656
Author(s):  
Maureen J. Shader ◽  
Sandra Gordon-Salant ◽  
Matthew J. Goupell

Accurate processing of temporal information is critical to understanding speech through a cochlear implant (CI). This has potential implications for the growing population of CI users who are ≥65 years of age because of age-related auditory temporal processing deficits. The goal of this study was to measure temporal processing ability in a gap detection task in younger, middle-aged, and older CI users and to determine the relative contributions of chronological age and peripheral neural survival to performance. Single-electrode gap detection thresholds (GDTs) were measured using direct stimulation at five electrode locations and three electrical stimulation rates. The relationship between peripheral status (e.g., electrode-to-neural interface) and GDTs was assessed by the slope of the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) amplitude growth function. Results showed that ECAP slope was the strongest subject-level predictor of GDTs. Steeper ECAP slopes, which are partially indicative of better peripheral function, were associated with better GDTs in younger participants. However, ECAP slope significantly interacted with stimulation rate and age, suggesting that ECAP slopes were not predictive of GDTs in middle-aged and older participants at some stimulation rates. ECAP slope was also related to age, with middle-aged and older participants exhibiting relatively shallow slopes and smaller ranges of slopes compared with younger participants. This pattern of ECAP results limited the evaluation of the independent effects of aging per se and peripheral status on temporal processing ability.


Author(s):  
Erna Verawati ◽  
Surya Darma Nasution ◽  
Imam Saputra

Sharpening the image of the road display requies a degree of brightness in the process of sharpening the image from the original image result of the improved image. One of the sharpening of the street view image is image processing. Image processing is one of the multimedia components that plays an important role as a form of visual information. There are many image processing methods that are used in sharpening the image of street views, one of them is the gram schmidt spectral sharpening method and high pass filtering. Gram schmidt spectral sharpening method is method that has another name for intensity modulation based on a refinement fillter. While the high pass filtering method is a filter process that btakes image with high intensity gradients and low intensity difference that will be reduced or discarded. Researce result show that the gram schmidt spectral sharpening method and high pass filtering can be implemented properly so that the sharpening of the street view image can be guaranteed sharpening by making changes frome the original image to the image using the gram schmidt spectral sharpening method and high pass filtering.Keywords: Image processing, gram schmidt spectral sharpening and high pass filtering.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron L. Slusher ◽  
Tiffany M. Zúñiga ◽  
Edmund O. Acevedo

Age-related elevations in proinflammatory cytokines, known as inflamm-aging, are associated with shorter immune cell telomere lengths. Purpose. This study examined the relationship of plasma PTX3 concentrations, a biomarker of appropriate immune function, with telomere length in 15 middle-aged (40-64 years) and 15 young adults (20-31 years). In addition, PBMCs were isolated from middle-aged and young adults to examine their capacity to express a key mechanistic component of telomere length maintenance, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), following ex vivo cellular stimulation. Methods. Plasma PTX3 and inflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-6, IL-10, TGF-β, and TNF-α), PBMC telomere lengths, and PBMC hTERT gene expression and inflammatory protein secretion following exposure to LPS, PTX3, and PTX3+LPS were measured. Results. Aging was accompanied by the accumulation of centrally located visceral adipose tissue, without changes in body weight and BMI, and alterations in the systemic inflammatory milieu (decreased plasma PTX3 and TGF-β; increased TNF-α (p≤0.050)). In addition, shorter telomere lengths in middle-aged compared to young adults (p=0.011) were negatively associated with age, body fat percentages, and plasma TNF-α (r=−0.404, p=0.027; r=−0.427, p=0.019; and r=−0.323, p=0.041, respectively). Finally, the capacity of PBMCs to increase hTERT gene expression following ex vivo stimulation was impaired in middle-aged compared to young adults (p=0.033) and negatively associated with telomere lengths (r=0.353, p=0.028). Conclusions. Proinflammation and the impaired hTERT gene expression capacity of PBMCs may contribute to age-related telomere attrition and disease.


2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (04) ◽  
pp. 507-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHAHRAM MINAEI ◽  
ERKAN YUCE

In this paper, a universal current-mode second-order active-C filter for simultaneously realizing low-pass, band-pass and high-pass responses is proposed. The presented filter employs only three plus-type second-generation current-controlled conveyors (CCCII+s). This filter needs no critical active and passive component matching conditions and no additional active and passive elements for realizing high output impedance low-pass, band-pass and high-pass characteristics. The angular resonance frequency (ω0) and quality factor (Q) of the proposed resistorless filter can be tuned electronically. To verify the theoretical analysis and to exhibit the performance of the proposed filter, it is simulated with SPICE program.


2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 159-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUDHANSHU MAHESHWARI ◽  
IQBAL A. KHAN

A novel voltage-mode universal filter employing only two current differencing buffered amplifiers (CDBAs) is proposed. The filter uses four inputs and single output to realize six responses, viz. low-pass, high-pass, inverting band-pass, noninverting band-pass, band-elimination, and all-pass through input selection with independent pole-Q control. Computer simulation results using SPICE are also given to verify the theory.


1982 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 559-562
Author(s):  
Claire Etaugh ◽  
Sharon Weber

48 female and 48 male college students used the Bern Sex-role Inventory to describe either a young or middle-aged woman or man. Female subjects perceived that women become increasingly feminine and less androgynous with age. No age-related changes were perceived in men's sex-role behaviors.


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