Development of a fast method for measuring sensitivity to temporal fine structure information at low frequencies

Abstract

Abstract

Recent work suggests that hearing-impaired subjects are relatively insensitive to temporal fine structure (TFS) information, but that sensitivity among subjects varies considerably. developed a fast and easy to administer test of sensitivity to TFS, but it can only be used at medium to high frequencies. Here we describe a binaural method that can be used at lower frequencies. An adaptive two-alternative forced-choice task was used. Each interval contained four tones with frequency f; in one interval all tones were diotic, and in the other tones one and three were diotic while tones two and four had an interaural phase shift, Δϕ. The task was to identify the interval with the phase-shifted tones. For normal-hearing subjects, the effects of sensation level and training on performance were small, and the test could be performed reliably for f = 250, 500, and 750 Hz.

Sumario

Varios trabajos recientes sugieren que las personas con impedimentos auditivos son relativamente no sensibles a la información temporal de estructura fina (TFS), pero la sensibilidad entre sujetos varía considerablemente. desarrollaron una prueba rápida de sensibilidad TFS fácil de administrar, pero solo puede usarse en las frecuencias medias y altas. Describimos aquí un método binaural que puede usarse en frecuencias graves. Se usó una tarea adaptativa para la selección forzada de dos alternativas. Cada intervalo contenía cuatro tonos con frecuencia f; en un intervalo, todos los tonos fueron dicóticos y con los otros tonos, uno y tres, fueron dicóticos mientras que los tonos dos y cuatro, tuvieron un cambio de fase interaural Δϕ. La tarea fue identificar el intervalo con los tonos que tenían cambio de fase. En los sujetos con audición normal, fueron pequeños los efectos del nivel de sensación y el entrenamiento en el desempeño, y la prueba podría ser realizada confiablemente para f =250, 500 y 750 Hz.

Key Words:

• Temporal fine structure
• Interaural phase difference

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Oticon Foundation and the Medical Research Council (UK). This work was presented at the British Society of Audiology short papers meeting (Southampton, September 2009). We thank Michael Akeroyd and Thomas Lunner for helpful discussions, and three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.