Open AccessSensorineural Hearing Loss Diminishes Use of Temporal Envelope Cues: Evidence From Roving-Level Tone-in-Noise Detection
Author(s) -
U-Cheng Leong,
Douglas M. Schwarz,
Kenneth S. Henry,
Laurel H. Carney
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
ear and hearing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.577
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1538-4667
pISSN - 0196-0202
DOI - 10.1097/aud.0000000000000822
Subject(s) - audiology , stimulus (psychology) , sensorineural hearing loss , hearing loss , acoustics , noise (video) , two alternative forced choice , contrast (vision) , octave (electronics) , psychology , speech recognition , mathematics , computer science , physics , artificial intelligence , medicine , statistics , image (mathematics) , psychotherapist
The objective of our study is to understand how listeners with and without sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) use energy and temporal envelope cues to detect tones in noise. Previous studies of low-frequency tone-in-noise detection have shown that when energy cues are made less reliable using a roving-level paradigm, thresholds of listeners with normal hearing (NH) are only slightly increased. This result is consistent with studies demonstrating the importance of temporal envelope cues for masked detection. In contrast, roving-level detection thresholds are more elevated in listeners with SNHL at the test frequency, suggesting stronger weighting of energy cues. The present study extended these tests to a wide range of frequencies and stimulus levels. The authors hypothesized that individual listeners with SNHL use energy and temporal envelope cues differently for masked detection at different frequencies and levels, depending on the degree of hearing loss.