Temporal resolution in individuals with neurological disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Temporal processing refers to the ability of the central auditory nervous system to encode and detect subtle changes in acoustic signals. This study aims to investigate the temporal resolution ability of individuals with mesial temporal sclerosis and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the gaps-in-noise test in identifying this type of lesion. METHOD: This prospective study investigated differences in temporal resolution between 30 individuals with normal hearing and without neurological lesions (G1) and 16 individuals with both normal hearing and mesial temporal sclerosis (G2). Test performances were compared, and the sensitivity and specificity were calculated. RESULTS: There was no difference in gap detection thresholds between the two groups, although G1 revealed better average thresholds than G2 did. The sensitivity and specificity of the gaps-in-noise test for neurological lesions were 68% and 98%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal resolution ability is compromised in individuals with neurological lesions caused by mesial temporal sclerosis. The gaps-in-noise test was shown to be a sensitive and specific measure of central auditory dysfunction in these patients.

Temporal resolution in individuals with neurological disorders

OBJECTIVE:Temporal processing refers to the ability of the central auditory nervous system to encode and detect subtle changes in acoustic signals. This study aims to investigate the temporal resolution ability of individuals with mesial temporal sclerosis and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the gaps-in-noise test in identifying this type of lesion.METHOD:This prospective study investigated differences in temporal resolution between 30 individuals with normal hearing and without neurological lesions (G1) and 16 individuals with both normal hearing and mesial temporal sclerosis (G2). Test performances were compared, and the sensitivity and specificity were calculated.RESULTS:There was no difference in gap detection thresholds between the two groups, although G1 revealed better average thresholds than G2 did. The sensitivity and specificity of the gaps-in-noise test for neurological lesions were 68% and 98%, respectively.CONCLUSIONS:Temporal resolution ability is compromised in individuals with neurological lesions caused by mesial temporal sclerosis. The gaps-in-noise test was shown to be a sensitive and specific measure of central auditory dysfunction in these patients.

The effect of presentation level on the Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test.

The Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test is a new procedure used in the diagnosis of central auditory processing disorders. Performance on the GIN is recorded as approximate gap detection threshold and percent correct. In order to utilize the GIN test clinically, it is important to know how presentation level influences performance on the GIN. To this end, ten normal-hearing adults were administered the GIN at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 50 dB SL with regard to threshold to GIN noise. Results indicated that performance for both the approximate gap detection threshold (A.th) and percent correct improved with increasing presentation level. Performance at 35 dB SL was not significantly different from the standard clinical presentation level (50 dB SL). Gaps that were between 5 and 8 msec in duration tended to show more variation across presentation levels. Although an influence of presentation level was noted, this influence should not be manifested at the standard clinical presentation level.