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1.
Hear Res ; 437: 108839, 2023 09 15.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37429100

RESUMEN

The binaural interaction component (BIC) of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) is the difference obtained after subtracting the sum of right and left ear ABRs from binaurally evoked ABRs. The BIC has attracted interest as a biomarker of binaural processing abilities. Best binaural processing is presumed to require spectrally-matched inputs at the two ears, but peripheral pathology and/or impacts of hearing devices can lead to mismatched inputs. Such mismatching can degrade behavioral sensitivity to interaural time difference (ITD) cues, but might be detected using the BIC. Here, we examine the effect of interaural frequency mismatch (IFM) on BIC and behavioral ITD sensitivity in audiometrically normal adult human subjects (both sexes). Binaural and monaural ABRs were recorded and BICs computed from subjects in response to narrowband tones. Left ear stimuli were fixed at 4000 Hz while right ear stimuli varied over a ∼2-octave range (re: 4000 Hz). Separately, subjects performed psychophysical lateralization tasks using the same stimuli to determine ITD discrimination thresholds jointly as a function of IFM and sound level. Results demonstrated significant effects of IFM on BIC amplitudes, with lower amplitudes in mismatched conditions than frequency-matched. Behavioral ITD discrimination thresholds were elevated at mismatched frequencies and lower sound levels, but also more sharply modulated by IFM at lower sound levels. Combinations of ITD, IFM and overall sound level that resulted in fused and lateralized percepts were bound by the empirically-measured BIC, and also by model predictions simulated using an established computational model of the brainstem circuit thought to generate the BIC.


Asunto(s)
Potenciales Evocados Auditivos del Tronco Encefálico , Localización de Sonidos , Masculino , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Estimulación Acústica/métodos , Potenciales Evocados Auditivos del Tronco Encefálico/fisiología , Tronco Encefálico/fisiología , Electroencefalografía , Localización de Sonidos/fisiología
2.
Hear Res ; 414: 108394, 2022 02.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34911017

RESUMEN

Our ears capture sound from all directions but do not encode directional information explicitly. Instead, subtle acoustic features associated with unique sound source locations must be learned through experience. Surprisingly, aspects of this mapping process remain highly plastic throughout adulthood: Adult human listeners can accommodate acutely modified acoustic inputs ("new ears") over a period of a few weeks to recover near-normal sound localization, and this process can be accelerated with explicit training. Here we evaluated the extent of such plasticity given only transient exposure to distorted inputs. Distortions were produced via earplugs, which severely degrade sound localization performance, constraining their usability in real-world settings that require accurate directional hearing. Localization was measured over a period of ten weeks. Provision of feedback via simple paired auditory and visual stimuli led to a rapid decrease in the occurrence of large errors (responses >|±30°| from target) despite only once-weekly exposure to the altered inputs. Moreover, training effects generalized to untrained sound source locations. Lesser but qualitatively similar improvements were observed in a group of subjects that did not receive explicit feedback. In total, data demonstrate that even transient exposure to altered spatial acoustic information is sufficient for meaningful perceptual improvement (i.e., chronic exposure is not required), offering insight on the nature and time course of perceptual learning in the context of spatial hearing. Data also suggest that the large and potentially hazardous errors in localization caused by earplugs can be mitigated with appropriate training, offering a practical means to increase their usability.


Asunto(s)
Dispositivos de Protección de los Oídos , Localización de Sonidos , Estimulación Acústica , Adulto , Audición/fisiología , Pruebas Auditivas , Humanos , Localización de Sonidos/fisiología
3.
Trends Hear ; 25: 23312165211030411, 2021.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34293981

RESUMEN

Acoustic hearing listeners use binaural cues-interaural time differences (ITDs) and interaural level differences (ILDs)-for localization and segregation of sound sources in the horizontal plane. Cochlear implant users now often receive two implants (bilateral cochlear implants [BiCIs]) rather than one, with the goal to provide access to these cues. However, BiCI listeners often experience difficulty with binaural tasks. Most BiCIs use independent sound processors at each ear; it has often been suggested that such independence may degrade the transmission of binaural cues, particularly ITDs. Here, we report empirical measurements of binaural cue transmission via BiCIs implementing a common "n-of-m" spectral peak-picking stimulation strategy. Measurements were completed for speech and nonspeech stimuli presented to an acoustic manikin "fitted" with BiCI sound processors. Electric outputs from the BiCIs and acoustic outputs from the manikin's in-ear microphones were recorded simultaneously, enabling comparison of electric and acoustic binaural cues. For source locations away from the midline, BiCI binaural cues, particularly envelope ITD cues, were found to be degraded by asymmetric spectral peak-picking. In addition, pulse amplitude saturation due to nonlinear level mapping yielded smaller ILDs at higher presentation levels. Finally, while individual pulses conveyed a spurious "drifting" ITD, consistent with independent left and right processor clocks, such variation was not evident in transmitted envelope ITDs. Results point to avenues for improvement of BiCI technology and may prove useful in the interpretation of BiCI spatial hearing outcomes reported in prior and future studies.


Asunto(s)
Implantación Coclear , Implantes Cocleares , Localización de Sonidos , Estimulación Acústica , Señales (Psicología) , Humanos
4.
Ear Hear ; 42(3): 629-643, 2021.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33141776

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVES: The binaural interaction component (BIC) of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) is obtained by subtracting the sum of the monaural right and left ear ABRs from the binaurally evoked ABR. The result is a small but prominent negative peak (herein called "DN1"), indicating a smaller binaural than summed ABR, which occurs around the latency of wave V or its roll-off slope. The BIC has been proposed to have diagnostic value as a biomarker of binaural processing abilities; however, there have been conflicting reports regarding the reliability of BIC measures in human subjects. The objectives of the current study were to: (1) examine prevalence of BIC across a large group of normal-hearing young adults; (2) determine effects of interaural time differences (ITDs) on BIC; and (3) examine any relationship between BIC and behavioral ITD discrimination acuity. DESIGN: Subjects were 40 normal-hearing adults (20 males and 20 females), aged 21 to 48 years, with no history of otologic or neurologic disorders. Midline ABRs were recorded from electrodes at high forehead (Fz) referenced to the nape of the neck (near the seventh cervical vertebra), with Fpz (low forehead) as the ground. ABRs were also recorded with a conventional earlobe reference for comparison to midline results. Stimuli were 90 dB peSPL biphasic clicks. For BIC measurements, stimuli were presented in a block as interleaved right monaural, left monaural, and binaural stimuli with 2000+ presentations per condition. Four measurements were averaged for a total of 8000+ stimuli per analyzed waveform. BIC was measured for ITD = 0 (simultaneous bilateral) and for ITDs of ±500 and ±750 µs. Subjects separately performed a lateralization task, using the same stimuli, to determine ITD discrimination thresholds. RESULTS: An identifiable BIC DN1 was obtained in 39 of 40 subjects at ITD = 0 µs in at least one of two measurement sessions, but was seen in lesser numbers of subjects in a single session or as ITD increased. BIC was most often seen when a subject was relaxed or sleeping, and less often when they fidgeted or reported neck tension, suggesting myogenic activity as a possible factor in disrupting BIC measurements. Mean BIC latencies systematically increased with increasing ITD, and mean BIC amplitudes tended to decrease. However, across subjects, there was no significant relationship between the amplitude or latency of the BIC and behavioral ITD thresholds. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous studies, measurement of the BIC was time consuming and a BIC was sometimes difficult to obtain in awake normal-hearing subjects. The BIC will thus continue to be of limited clinical utility unless stimulus parameters and measurement techniques can be identified that produce a more robust response. Nonetheless, modulation of BIC characteristics by ITD supports the concept that the ABR BIC indexes aspects of binaural brainstem processing and thus may prove useful in selected research applications, e.g. in the examination of populations expected to have aberrant binaural signal processing ability.


Asunto(s)
Potenciales Evocados Auditivos del Tronco Encefálico , Pruebas Auditivas , Estimulación Acústica , Tronco Encefálico , Electrodos , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Adulto Joven
5.
J Neurophysiol ; 122(3): 1110-1122, 2019 09 01.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31314646

RESUMEN

The auditory brain stem response (ABR) is an evoked potential that indexes a cascade of neural events elicited by sound. In the present study we evaluated the influence of sound frequency on a derived component of the ABR known as the binaural interaction component (BIC). Specifically, we evaluated the effect of acoustic interaural (between-ear) frequency mismatch on BIC amplitude. Goals were to 1) increase basic understanding of sound features that influence this long-studied auditory potential and 2) gain insight about the persistence of the BIC with interaural electrode mismatch in human users of bilateral cochlear implants, presently a limitation on the prospective utility of the BIC in audiological settings. Data were collected in an animal model that is audiometrically similar to humans, the chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera; 6 females). Frequency disparities and amplitudes of acoustic stimuli were varied over broad ranges, and associated variation of BIC amplitude was quantified. Subsequently, responses were simulated with the use of established models of the brain stem pathway thought to underlie the BIC. Collectively, the data demonstrate that at high sound intensities (≥85 dB SPL), the acoustically elicited BIC persisted with interaurally disparate stimulation (click frequencies ≥1.5 octaves apart). However, sharper tuning emerged at moderate sound intensities (65 dB SPL), with the largest BIC occurring for stimulus frequencies within ~0.8 octaves, equivalent to ±1 mm in cochlear place. Such responses were consistent with simulated responses of the presumed brain stem generator of the BIC, the lateral superior olive. The data suggest that leveraging focused electrical stimulation strategies could improve BIC-based bilateral cochlear implant fitting outcomes.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Traditional hearing tests evaluate each ear independently. Diagnosis and treatment of binaural hearing dysfunction remains a basic challenge for hearing clinicians. We demonstrate in an animal model that the prospective utility of a noninvasive electrophysiological signature of binaural function, the binaural interaction component (BIC), depends strongly on the intensity of auditory stimulation. Data suggest that more informative BIC measurements could be obtained with clinical protocols leveraging stimuli restricted in effective bandwidth.


Asunto(s)
Audiología/métodos , Percepción Auditiva/fisiología , Chinchilla/fisiología , Implantes Cocleares , Potenciales Evocados Auditivos del Tronco Encefálico/fisiología , Pérdida Auditiva/diagnóstico , Audición/fisiología , Estimulación Acústica , Animales , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Electroencefalografía , Femenino
6.
Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol ; 42(4): 520-527, 2019 Apr.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30506168

RESUMEN

PURPOSE: Minimally invasive alternatives to transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) such as prostate arterial embolization (PAE) and photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) are being explored as adjuncts in the care of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, there are conflicting reports of the costs of these procedures. The purpose of this study was to compare the direct and indirect hospital costs of TURP, PAE and PVP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A chart review was performed in patients who underwent TURP, PVP and PAE from April 2015 to March 2017. All hospital costs were collected in accordance with the Ontario Case Costing Initiative, a standardized medical case costing system. Costs were characterized as direct or indirect and fixed or variable. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted to study cost uncertainty. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 209 men underwent TURP, 28 PVP and 21 PAE. Mean age (years) was as follows: TURP 71.43; PVP 73.66; PAE 70.77 (p = 0.366). Mean length of stay (days) was as follows: TURP 1.63; PVP 1.55; PAE 1 (p = 0.076). Total costs of the PAE group ($3829, SD $1582) were less than both PVP ($5719, SD $1515) and TURP groups ($5034, SD $1997, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in direct costs between the groups. Monte Carlo simulation demonstrated that PAE was the least costly alternative majority of the time. CONCLUSIONS: The total hospital costs of PAE at our institution are significantly lower than those of PVP and TURP.


Asunto(s)
Análisis Costo-Beneficio/economía , Embolización Terapéutica/economía , Costos de Hospital/estadística & datos numéricos , Terapia por Láser/economía , Hiperplasia Prostática/terapia , Resección Transuretral de la Próstata/economía , Anciano , Humanos , Masculino , Hiperplasia Prostática/economía , Resultado del Tratamiento
7.
Hear Res ; 370: 65-73, 2018 12.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30326382

RESUMEN

Sensory performance is constrained by the information in the stimulus and the precision of the involved sensory system(s). Auditory spatial acuity is robust across a broad range of sound frequencies and source locations, but declines at eccentric lateral angles. The basis of such variation is not fully understood. Low-frequency auditory spatial acuity is mediated by sensitivity to interaural time difference (ITD) cues. While low-frequency spatial acuity varies across azimuth and some physiological models predict strong medial bias in the precision of ITD sensitivity, human psychophysical ITD sensitivity appears to vary only slightly with reference ITD magnitude. Correspondingly, recent analyses suggest that spatial variation in human low-frequency acuity is well-accounted for by acoustic factors alone. Here we examine the matter of high-frequency auditory acuity, which is mediated by sensitivity to interaural level difference (ILD) cues. Using two different psychophysical tasks in human subjects, we demonstrate decreasing ILD acuity with increasing ILD magnitude. We then demonstrate that the multiplicative combination of spatially variant sensory precision and physical cue information (local slope of the ILD cue) provides improved prediction of classic high-frequency spatial acuity data. Finally, we consider correlates of magnitude dependent acuity in neurons that are sensitive to ILDs.


Asunto(s)
Estimulación Acústica/métodos , Corteza Auditiva/fisiología , Señales (Psicología) , Detección de Señal Psicológica , Localización de Sonidos , Adulto , Animales , Vías Auditivas/fisiología , Conducta Animal , Chinchilla , Potenciales Evocados Auditivos , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Psicoacústica , Factores de Tiempo
8.
Hear Res ; 356: 35-50, 2017 12.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29128159

RESUMEN

The morphology of the head and pinna shape the spatial and frequency dependence of sound propagation that give rise to the acoustic cues to sound source location. During early development, the physical dimensions of the head and pinna increase rapidly. Thus, the binaural (interaural time and level differences, ITD and ILD) and monaural (spectral shape) cues are also hypothesized to change rapidly. Complex interactions between the size and shape of the head and pinna limit the accuracy of simple acoustical models (e.g. spherical) and necessitate empirical measurements. Here, we measured the cues to location in the developing guinea pig, a precocial species commonly used for studies of the auditory system. We measured directional transfer functions (DTFs) and the dimensions of the head and pinna in guinea pigs from birth (P0) through adulthood. Dimensions of the head and pinna increased by 87% and 48%, respectively, reaching adult values by ∼8 weeks (P56). The monaural acoustic gain produced by the head and pinna increased with frequency and age, with maximum gains at higher frequencies (>8 kHz) reaching values of 10-21 dB for all ages. The center frequency of monaural spectral notches also decreased with age, from higher frequencies (∼17 kHz) at P0 to lower frequencies (∼12 kHz) in adults. In all animals, ILDs and ITDs were dependent on both frequency and spatial location. Over development, the maximum ILD magnitude increased from ∼15 dB at P0 to ∼30 dB in adults (at frequencies >8 kHz), while the maximum low frequency ITDs increased from ∼185 µs at P0 to ∼300 µs in adults. These results demonstrate that the changes in the acoustical cues are directly related to changes in head and pinna morphology.


Asunto(s)
Señales (Psicología) , Pabellón Auricular/crecimiento & desarrollo , Cabeza/crecimiento & desarrollo , Audición , Localización de Sonidos , Estimulación Acústica , Acústica , Factores de Edad , Animales , Cefalometría , Femenino , Cobayas , Masculino , Movimiento (Física) , Sonido , Espectrografía del Sonido , Factores de Tiempo
9.
J Neurosci ; 36(38): 9908-21, 2016 09 21.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27656028

RESUMEN

UNLABELLED: In mammals, localization of sound sources in azimuth depends on sensitivity to interaural differences in sound timing (ITD) and level (ILD). Paradoxically, while typical ILD-sensitive neurons of the auditory brainstem require millisecond synchrony of excitatory and inhibitory inputs for the encoding of ILDs, human and animal behavioral ILD sensitivity is robust to temporal stimulus degradations (e.g., interaural decorrelation due to reverberation), or, in humans, bilateral clinical device processing. Here we demonstrate that behavioral ILD sensitivity is only modestly degraded with even complete decorrelation of left- and right-ear signals, suggesting the existence of a highly integrative ILD-coding mechanism. Correspondingly, we find that a majority of auditory midbrain neurons in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (of chinchilla) effectively encode ILDs despite complete decorrelation of left- and right-ear signals. We show that such responses can be accounted for by relatively long windows of bilateral excitatory-inhibitory interaction, which we explicitly measure using trains of narrowband clicks. Neural and behavioral data are compared with the outputs of a simple model of ILD processing with a single free parameter, the duration of excitatory-inhibitory interaction. Behavioral, neural, and modeling data collectively suggest that ILD sensitivity depends on binaural integration of excitation and inhibition within a ≳3 ms temporal window, significantly longer than observed in lower brainstem neurons. This relatively slow integration potentiates a unique role for the ILD system in spatial hearing that may be of particular importance when informative ITD cues are unavailable. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: In mammalian hearing, interaural differences in the timing (ITD) and level (ILD) of impinging sounds carry critical information about source location. However, natural sounds are often decorrelated between the ears by reverberation and background noise, degrading the fidelity of both ITD and ILD cues. Here we demonstrate that behavioral ILD sensitivity (in humans) and neural ILD sensitivity (in single neurons of the chinchilla auditory midbrain) remain robust under stimulus conditions that render ITD cues undetectable. This result can be explained by "slow" temporal integration arising from several-millisecond-long windows of excitatory-inhibitory interaction evident in midbrain, but not brainstem, neurons. Such integrative coding can account for the preservation of ILD sensitivity despite even extreme temporal degradations in ecological acoustic stimuli.


Asunto(s)
Vías Auditivas/fisiología , Lateralidad Funcional/fisiología , Modelos Neurológicos , Neuronas/fisiología , Localización de Sonidos/fisiología , Estimulación Acústica , Animales , Chinchilla , Señales (Psicología) , Femenino , Humanos , Colículos Inferiores/citología , Masculino , Psicofísica , Sonido
10.
J Neurophysiol ; 114(5): 2991-3001, 2015 Nov.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26400253

RESUMEN

Normal-hearing human listeners and a variety of studied animal species localize sound sources accurately in reverberant environments by responding to the directional cues carried by the first-arriving sound rather than spurious cues carried by later-arriving reflections, which are not perceived discretely. This phenomenon is known as the precedence effect (PE) in sound localization. Despite decades of study, the biological basis of the PE remains unclear. Though the PE was once widely attributed to central processes such as synaptic inhibition in the auditory midbrain, a more recent hypothesis holds that the PE may arise essentially as a by-product of normal cochlear function. Here we evaluated the PE in a unique human patient population with demonstrated sensitivity to binaural information but without functional cochleae. Users of bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) were tested in a psychophysical task that assessed the number and location(s) of auditory images perceived for simulated source-echo (lead-lag) stimuli. A parallel experiment was conducted in a group of normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Key findings were as follows: 1) Subjects in both groups exhibited lead-lag fusion. 2) Fusion was marginally weaker in CI users than in NH listeners but could be augmented by systematically attenuating the amplitude of the lag stimulus to coarsely simulate adaptation observed in acoustically stimulated auditory nerve fibers. 3) Dominance of the lead in localization varied substantially among both NH and CI subjects but was evident in both groups. Taken together, data suggest that aspects of the PE can be elicited in CI users, who lack functional cochleae, thus suggesting that neural mechanisms are sufficient to produce the PE.


Asunto(s)
Umbral Auditivo/fisiología , Cóclea/fisiología , Audición/fisiología , Localización de Sonidos/fisiología , Estimulación Acústica , Anciano , Implantes Cocleares , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Psicofísica
11.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 134(2): 1242-52, 2013 Aug.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23927122

RESUMEN

Temporal variation in listeners' sensitivity to interaural time and level differences (ITD and ILD) was assessed using the temporal weighting function (TWF) paradigm [Stecker and Hafter (2002). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 1046-1057] in the context of sound-source lateralization. Brief Gabor click trains were presented over headphones with overall ITD and/or ILD ranging ±500 µs ITD and/or ±5 dB ILD across trials; values for individual clicks within each train varied by an additional ±100 µs or ±2 dB to allow TWF calculation by multiple regression. In separate conditions, TWFs were measured for (i) ITD alone, (ii) ILD alone, (iii) ITD and ILD covarying ("in agreement"), and (iv) ITD and ILD varying independently across clicks. Consistent with past studies that measured TWF for binaural discrimination, TWFs demonstrated high weight on the first click for stimuli with short interclick interval (ICI = 2 ms), but flatter weighting for longer ICI (5-10 ms). Some conditions additionally demonstrated greater weight for clicks near the offset than near the middle of the train [Stecker and Hafter (2009). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125, 3914-3924]. The latter result was observed only when stimuli carried ILD, and appeared more reliably for 5 ms than for 2 or 10 ms ICI.


Asunto(s)
Vías Auditivas/fisiología , Señales (Psicología) , Localización de Sonidos , Percepción del Tiempo , Estimulación Acústica , Audiometría , Umbral Auditivo , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Psicoacústica , Detección de Señal Psicológica , Factores de Tiempo
12.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 133(5): 2883-98, 2013 May.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23654394

RESUMEN

The present investigation assessed fusion and localization dominance aspects of the precedence effect under headphones across a variety of stimulus conditions in 10 normal-hearing listeners. Listeners were presented with "lead-lag" pairs of brief (123 µs) impulses or trains of such pairs lateralized by interaural time or level differences (ITD or ILD). Listeners used a touch-sensitive display to indicate for the final lead-lag pair presented on each trial (1) whether one or two locations were perceived and (2) the location perceived. In the event two locations were perceived, subjects were further instructed to indicate the left-most location perceived. Results demonstrated that lead-lag fusion was more robust for stimuli lateralized by ITD than ILD, particularly when cues of the test stimulus differed from cues of the preceding "buildup" stimulus, consistent with Krumbholz and Nobbe [(2002). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 654-663]. Unexpectedly, results also demonstrated reduced localization dominance with increasing lead-lag delay, suggesting that the fusion aspect of the precedence effect may be dissociated from the localization dominance aspect under buildup. It is thus argued that buildup of fusion might be understood more generally as an example of auditory object formation rather than a special facility for enhanced sound localization.


Asunto(s)
Acústica/instrumentación , Lateralidad Funcional , Localización de Sonidos , Percepción del Tiempo , Transductores , Estimulación Acústica , Adulto , Audiometría de Tonos Puros , Umbral Auditivo , Diseño de Equipo , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Psicoacústica , Tiempo de Reacción , Factores de Tiempo , Adulto Joven
13.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 132(3): 1573-80, 2012 Sep.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22978886

RESUMEN

The relative sensitivity of human listeners to interaural level differences (ILDs) carried by the onsets, offsets, and interior portions of brief sounds was examined. Stimuli consisted of single 4000-Hz Gabor clicks (Gaussian-windowed tone bursts) or trains of 16 such clicks repeating at an interclick interval (ICI) of 2 or 5 ms. In separate conditions, ILDs favored the right ear by a constant amount for all clicks (condition RRRR) or a changing amount that was maximal at sound onset (condition R000), offset (condition 000R), both onset and offset (condition R00R), or at the temporal midpoint of the stimulus (condition 0RR0). ILD increases and decreases were implemented as linear decibel sweeps across four clicks to minimize transient distortion. Threshold ILDs were determined adaptively for each of these conditions and for single clicks. Thresholds were similar for ILDs presented near sound onset or offset (condition R000 vs 000R) but lower when ILDs were carried by both onset and offset clicks (condition R00R) than for ILDs carried by interior clicks alone (condition 0RR0). The results suggest that similar sensitivity to onset and offset ILD does not reflect uniform temporal weighting; instead, ILD sensitivity favors onsets and offsets over the interior portions of sounds.


Asunto(s)
Vías Auditivas/fisiología , Percepción Auditiva , Discriminación en Psicología , Estimulación Acústica , Análisis de Varianza , Audiometría de Tonos Puros , Umbral Auditivo , Señales (Psicología) , Lateralidad Funcional , Humanos , Psicoacústica , Localización de Sonidos , Factores de Tiempo
14.
Hear Res ; 291(1-2): 52-6, 2012 Sep.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-22732693

RESUMEN

Human listeners' sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITD) was assessed for 1000 Hz tone bursts (500 ms duration) preceded by trains of 500-ms "adapter" tone bursts (7 s total adapter duration, frequencies of 200, 665, 1000, or 1400 Hz) carrying random ITD, or by an equal-duration period of silence. Presentation of the adapter burst train reduced ITD sensitivity in a frequency-specific manner. The observed effect differs from previously described forms of location-specific psychophysical adaptation, as it was produced using a binaurally diffuse sequence of tone bursts (i.e., a location-nonspecific adapter stimulus). Results are discussed in the context of pre-binaural adaptation.


Asunto(s)
Percepción Auditiva/fisiología , Localización de Sonidos/fisiología , Estimulación Acústica , Adaptación Fisiológica , Umbral Auditivo/fisiología , Humanos , Psicoacústica , Factores de Tiempo
15.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 129(1): 293-300, 2011 Jan.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21303010

RESUMEN

Recent work has demonstrated that sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITD) carried by high-rate cochlear implant pulse trains or analogous acoustic signals can be enhanced by imposing random temporal variation on the stimulus rate [see Goupell et al. (2009). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 126, 2511-2521]. The present study characterized the effect of such "temporal jitter" on normal-hearing listeners' weighting of ITD and interaural level differences (ILD) applied to brief trains of Gabor clicks (4 kHz center frequency) presented at nominal interclick intervals (ICI) of 1.25 and 2.5 ms. Lateral discrimination judgments were evaluated on the basis of the ITD or ILD carried by individual clicks in each train. Random perturbation of the ICI significantly reduced listeners' weighting of onset cues for both ITD and ILD discrimination compared to corresponding isochronous conditions, consistent with enhanced sensitivity to post-onset binaural cues in jittered stimuli, although the reduction of onset weighting was not statistically significant at 1.25 ms ICI. An additional analysis suggested greater weighting of ITD or ILD presented following lengthened versus shortened ICI, although weights for such "gaps" and "squeezes" were comparable to other post-onset weights. Results are discussed in terms of binaural information available in jittered versus isochronous stimuli.


Asunto(s)
Vías Auditivas/fisiología , Percepción Auditiva , Señales (Psicología) , Detección de Señal Psicológica , Percepción del Tiempo , Estimulación Acústica , Adulto , Audiometría de Tonos Puros , Umbral Auditivo , Humanos , Modelos Estadísticos , Psicoacústica , Factores de Tiempo , Adulto Joven
16.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 127(5): 3092-103, 2010 May.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21117758

RESUMEN

Listeners detected interaural differences of time (ITDs) or level (ILDs) carried by single 4000-Hz Gabor clicks (Gaussian-windowed tone bursts) and trains of 16 such clicks repeating at an interclick interval (ICI) of 2, 5, or 10 ms. In separate conditions, target interaural differences favored the right ear by a constant amount for all clicks (condition RR), attained their peak value at onset and diminished linearly to 0 at offset (condition R0), or grew linearly from 0 at onset to a peak value at offset (condition 0R). Threshold ITDs and ILDs were determined adaptively in separate experiments for each of these conditions and for single clicks. ITD thresholds were found to be lower for 16-click trains than for single clicks at 10-ms ICI, regardless of stimulus condition. At 2-ms ICI, thresholds in RR and R0 conditions were similar to single click thresholds at 2-ms ICI; thresholds in the 0R condition were significantly worse than for single clicks at 2-ms ICI, consistent with strong rate-dependent onset dominance in listeners' temporal weighting of ITD. ILD thresholds, in contrast, were predominantly unaffected by ICI, suggesting little or no onset dominance for ILD of high-rate stimuli.


Asunto(s)
Vías Auditivas/fisiología , Percepción Auditiva , Señales (Psicología) , Detección de Señal Psicológica , Percepción del Tiempo , Estimulación Acústica , Audiometría de Tonos Puros , Umbral Auditivo , Lateralidad Funcional , Humanos , Masculino , Psicoacústica , Factores de Tiempo
17.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 128(1): 332-41, 2010 Jul.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20649228

RESUMEN

Temporal weighting functions (TWFs), quantifying sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITD) and interaural level differences (ILD) over the duration of brief stimuli, were measured in 6 normal hearing subjects using trains of 16 Gabor clicks centered at 4 kHz presented dichotically at 4 rates [inter-click intervals (ICI) of 10, 5, 2.5, and 1.25 ms]. Random ITD or ILD were imposed independently on each click in the train in separate conditions. The subject's task was to discriminate the lateral position of the click train ("left" or "right"). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was then used to quantify the effectiveness or "weight" of each click according to individual click ITD or ILD. Although individual differences were evident, onset cues appeared to dominate at high rates. Onset dominance was apparent for both ITD and ILD at 1.25 ms ICI and for ITD at 2.5 ms ICI, but for neither cue at 5 or 10 ms ICI. Onset dominance was greater on average for ITD than ILD, although TWFs were qualitatively similar for the two cues. No evidence was found for "upweighting" of late-arriving ILD [Stecker, G. C., and Hafter, E. R. (2009), J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125, 3914-3924].


Asunto(s)
Percepción Auditiva , Señales (Psicología) , Detección de Señal Psicológica , Percepción del Tiempo , Estimulación Acústica , Pruebas de Audición Dicótica , Humanos , Psicoacústica , Curva ROC , Factores de Tiempo
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