Evidence of across-channel processing for spectral-ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners

Spectral-ripple discrimination has been used widely for psychoacoustical studies in normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and cochlear implant listeners. The present study investigated the perceptual mechanism for spectral-ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners. The main goal of this study was to determine whether cochlear implant listeners use a local intensity cue or global spectral shape for spectral-ripple discrimination. The effect of electrode separation on spectral-ripple discrimination was also evaluated. Results showed that it is highly unlikely that cochlear implant listeners depend on a local intensity cue for spectral-ripple discrimination. A phenomenological model of spectral-ripple discrimination, as an "ideal observer," showed that a perceptual mechanism based on discrimination of a single intensity difference cannot account for performance of cochlear implant listeners. Spectral modulation depth and electrode separation were found to significantly affect spectral-ripple discrimination. The evidence supports the hypothesis that spectral-ripple discrimination involves integrating information from multiple channels.     

The effect of basilar-membrane nonlinearity on the shapes of masking period patterns in normal and impaired hearing

Masking period patterns (MPPs) were measured in listeners with normal and impaired hearing using amplitude-modulated tonal maskers and short tonal probes. The frequency of the masker was either the same as the frequency of the probe (on-frequency masking) or was one octave below the frequency of the probe (off-frequency masking). In experiment 1, MPPs were measured for listeners with normal hearing using different masker levels. Carrier frequencies of 3 and 6 kHz were used for the masker. The probe had a frequency of 6 kHz. For all masker levels, the off-frequency MPPs exhibited deeper and longer valleys compared with the on-frequency MPPs. Hearing-impaired listeners were tested in experiment 2. For some hearing-impaired subjects, masker frequencies of 1.5 kHz and 3 kHz were paired with a probe frequency of 3 kHz. MPPs measured for listeners with hearing loss had similar shapes for on- and off-frequency maskers. It was hypothesized that the shapes of MPPs reflect nonlinear processing at the level of the basilar membrane in normal hearing and more linear processing in impaired hearing. A model assuming different cochlear gains for normal versus impaired hearing and similar parameters of the temporal integrator for both groups of listeners successfully predicted the MPPs.     

Level discrimination of single tones in a multitone complex by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

A conditional-on-a-single-stimulus (COSS) analysis procedure [B. G. Berg, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 86, 1743-1746 (1989)] was used to estimate how well normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners selectively attend to individual spectral components of a broadband signal in a level discrimination task. On each trial, two multitone complexes consisting of six octave frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz were presented to listeners. The levels of the individual tones were chosen independently and at random on each presentation. The target tone was selected, within a block of trials, as the 250-, 1000-, or 4000-Hz component. On each trial, listeners were asked to indicate which of the two complex sounds contained the higher level target. As a group, normal-hearing listeners exhibited greater selectivity than hearing-impaired listeners to the 250-Hz target, while hearing-impaired listeners showed greater selectivity than normal-hearing listeners to the 4000-Hz target, which is in the region of their hearing loss. Both groups of listeners displayed large variability in their ability to selectively weight the 1000-Hz target. Trial-by-trial analysis showed a decrease in weighting efficiency with increasing frequency for normal-hearing listeners, but a relatively constant weighting efficiency across frequency for hearing-impaired listeners. Interestingly, hearing-impaired listeners selectively weighted the 4000-Hz target, which was in the region of their hearing loss, more efficiently than did the normal-hearing listeners.     

Extension of a temporal model of frequency discrimination: intensity effects in normal and hearing-impaired listeners

The effects of intensity on the difference limen for frequency (DLF) in normal-hearing and in hearing-impaired listeners are incorporated into the temporal model of frequency discrimination proposed by Goldstein and Srulovicz [Psychophysics and Physiology of Hearing, edited by E. F. Evans and J.P. Wilson (Academic, New York, 1977)]. A simple extension of the temporal mode, which includes the dependence of phase locking on intensity, is sufficient to predict the effects of intensity on the DLF in normal-hearing listeners. To account for elevated DLFs in hearing-impaired listeners the impairment is modeled as a reduction in the synchrony of the discharge from VIIIth-nerve fibers that innervate the region of hearing loss. Constraints on the optimal processor and the validity of the temporal model at high frequencies are discussed.     

Relations among some psychoacoustic parameters in normal and cochlearly impaired listeners

Frequency resolution (viz., masking by low-pass-filtered noise and broadband noise) and temporal resolution (viz., masking by interrupted noise) were compared with hearing thresholds and acoustic reflex thresholds for four normally hearing and 13 cochlearly impaired subjects. Two models, one for frequency resolution (model I) and one for temporal resolution (model II), were introduced, and these provided a means of predicting individual frequency and temporal resolution from hearing thresholds for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Model I is based on the assumption that the upward spread of masking increases in cochlearly impaired hearing with an amount proportional to the hearing threshold in dB HL. Model II is based on the assumption that the poststimulatory masked thresholds return to the level of the hearing threshold within a duration of 200 ms, independent of the level of the masker and the amount of cochlear hearing loss. Model parameters were determined from results from other studies. Although some discrepancies between measured and predicted values were observed, the model predictions generally agree with measurements. Thus, to a first-order approximation, it seems possible to predict individual frequency and temporal resolution of cochlearly hearing-impaired listeners solely on the basis of their hearing thresholds.     

The relationship between frequency selectivity and pitch discrimination: sensorineural hearing loss

This study tested the relationship between frequency selectivity and the minimum spacing between harmonics necessary for accurate fo discrimination. Fundamental frequency difference limens (fo DLs) were measured for ten listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and three normal-hearing listeners for sine- and random-phase harmonic complexes, bandpass filtered between 1500 and 3500 Hz, with fo's ranging from 75 to 500 Hz (or higher). All listeners showed a transition between small (good) fo DLs at high fo's and large (poor) fo DLs at low fo's, although the fo at which this transition occurred (fo,tr) varied across listeners. Three measures thought to reflect frequency selectivity were significantly correlated to both the fo,tr and the minimum fo DL achieved at high fo's: (1) the maximum fo for which fo DLs were phase dependent, (2) the maximum modulation frequency for which amplitude modulation and quasi-frequency modulation were discriminable, and (3) the equivalent rectangular bandwidth of the auditory filter, estimated using the notched-noise method. These results provide evidence of a relationship between fo discrimination performance and frequency selectivity in listeners with SNHL, supporting "spectral" and "spectro-temporal" theories of pitch perception that rely on sharp tuning in the auditory periphery to accurately extract fo information.     

Detection and discrimination of simple and complex sounds by hearing-impaired Belgian Waterslager canaries

Belgian Waterslager canaries (BWC) are bred to produce a distinctive low-pitched song with energy restricted to a lower range of frequencies than in other types of canaries. Previous studies have shown a high frequency hearing loss primarily above 2000 Hz that is related to hair cell abnormalities in BWC, but little is known about auditory perception in these birds. Here, frequency, duration, and intensity discrimination, temporal integration, gap detection, and discrimination of temporally reversed harmonic complexes in BWC were measured and compared to normal-hearing non-BWC. BWC had excellent frequency discrimination ability at 1000 Hz, but showed poor frequency discrimination compared to non-BWC at frequencies in the region of hearing loss. Duration and intensity discrimination were not adversely affected in BWC. Temporal integration was reduced in BWC, except at 2000 Hz. Gap detection and discrimination of temporally reversed stimuli were somewhat better in BWC than in non-BWC. Those tests that relied primarily on temporal processing were less affected by the cochlear damage in BWC than tests that probably relied more on audibility and spectral analysis. Thus, despite significant high frequency hearing loss and extensive damage along the basilar papilla, BWC retain relatively good hearing abilities under many conditions.     

Auditory filter nonlinearity in mild/moderate hearing impairment

Sensorineural hearing loss has frequently been shown to result in a loss of frequency selectivity. Less is known about its effects on the level dependence of selectivity that is so prominent a feature of normal hearing. The aim of the present study is to characterize such changes in nonlinearity as manifested in the auditory filter shapes of listeners with mild/moderate hearing impairment. Notched-noise masked thresholds at 2 kHz were measured over a range of stimulus levels in hearing-impaired listeners with losses of 20-50 dB. Growth-of-masking functions for different notch widths are more parallel for hearing-impaired than for normal-hearing listeners, indicating a more linear filter. Level-dependent filter shapes estimated from the data show relatively little change in shape across level. The loss of nonlinearity is also evident in the input/output functions derived from the fitted filter shapes. Reductions in nonlinearity are clearly evident even in a listener with only 20-dB hearing loss.     

Inferred basilar-membrane response functions for listeners with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss

Psychophysical estimates of cochlear function suggest that normal-hearing listeners exhibit a compressive basilar-membrane (BM) response. Listeners with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss may exhibit a linearized BM response along with reduced gain, suggesting the loss of an active cochlear mechanism. This study investigated how the BM response changes with increasing hearing loss by comparing psychophysical measures of BM compression and gain for normal-hearing listeners with those for listeners who have mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Data were collected from 16 normal-hearing listeners and 12 ears from 9 hearing-impaired listeners. The forward masker level required to mask a fixed low-level, 4000-Hz signal was measured as a function of the masker-signal interval using a masker frequency of either 2200 or 4000 Hz. These plots are known as temporal masking curves (TMCs). BM response functions derived from the TMCs showed a systematic reduction in gain with degree of hearing loss. Contrary to current thinking, however, no clear relationship was found between maximum compression and absolute threshold.     

Relating binaural pitch perception to the individual listener's auditory profile

The ability of eight normal-hearing listeners and fourteen listeners with sensorineural hearing loss to detect and identify pitch contours was measured for binaural-pitch stimuli and salience-matched monaurally detectable pitches. In an effort to determine whether impaired binaural pitch perception was linked to a specific deficit, the auditory profiles of the individual listeners were characterized using measures of loudness perception, cognitive ability, binaural processing, temporal fine structure processing, and frequency selectivity, in addition to common audiometric measures. Two of the listeners were found not to perceive binaural pitch at all, despite a clear detection of monaural pitch. While both binaural and monaural pitches were detectable by all other listeners, identification scores were significantly lower for binaural than for monaural pitch. A total absence of binaural pitch sensation coexisted with a loss of a binaural signal-detection advantage in noise, without implying reduced cognitive function. Auditory filter bandwidths did not correlate with the difference in pitch identification scores between binaural and monaural pitches. However, subjects with impaired binaural pitch perception showed deficits in temporal fine structure processing. Whether the observed deficits stemmed from peripheral or central mechanisms could not be resolved here, but the present findings may be useful for hearing loss characterization.     

Excess masking among listeners with a sensorineural hearing loss

Three experiments were conducted to determine whether listeners with a sensorineural hearing loss exhibited greater than normal amounts of masking at frequencies above the frequency of the masker. Excess masking was defined as the difference (in dB) between the masked thresholds actually obtained from a hearing-impaired listener and the expected thresholds calculated for the same individual. The expected thresholds were the power sum of the listener's thresholds in quiet and the average masked thresholds obtained from a group of normal-hearing subjects at the test frequency. Hearing-impaired listeners, with thresholds in quiet ranging from approximately 35-70 dB SPL (at test frequencies between 500-3000 Hz), displayed approximately 12-15 dB of maximum excess masking. The maximum amount of excess masking occurred in the region where the threshold in quiet of the hearing-impaired listener and the average normal masked threshold were equal. These findings indicate that listeners with a sensorineural hearing loss display one form of reduced frequency selectivity (i.e., abnormal upward spread of masking) even when their thresholds in quiet are taken into account.     

Intensity discrimination as a function of level and frequency and its relation to high-frequency hearing

This paper examines how intensity discrimination depends on the test frequency, the level, and the subjects's high-frequency hearing. Three experiments were performed. In the first experiment, intensity discrimination of pulsed tones was measured as a function of level at 1 and 14 kHz in five listeners. Results show less deviation from Weber's law at 14 kHz than at 1 kHz. In the second experiment, intensity discrimination was measured for a 1-kHz tone at 90-dB SPL as a function of the cutoff frequency of a high-pass masking noise in two listeners. Results show that the audibility of very high frequencies is important for frequency discrimination at 1 kHz. The DL increased by a factor between 1.5 and 2.0 as the cutoff frequency of the noise was lowered from 19 to 6 kHz. In the third experiment, thresholds from 6 to 20 kHz and intensity discrimination for a 1-kHz tone was measured in 12 listeners. Results show that the DLs at 80-dB SPL are correlated with the ability to hear very high frequencies. Results of all three experiments are consistent with the multiband version of the excitation-pattern model for intensity discrimination [Florentine and Buus, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 70, 1646-1654 (1981)].     

Psychometric functions for discrimination of two-component complex tones in listeners with normal hearing and listeners with hearing loss

This study compared the ability of 5 listeners with normal hearing and 12 listeners with moderate to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss to discriminate complementary two-component complex tones (TCCTs). The TCCTs consist of two pure tone components (f1 and f2) which differ in frequency by delta f (Hz) and in level by delta L (dB). In one of the complementary tones, the level of the component f1 is greater than the level of component f2 by the increment delta L; in the other tone, the level of component f2 exceeds that of component f1 by delta L. Five stimulus conditions were included in this study: fc = 1000 Hz, delta L = 3 dB; fc = 1000 Hz, delta L = 1 dB; fc = 2000 Hz, delta L = 3 dB; fc = 2000 Hz, delta L = 1 dB; and fc = 4000 Hz, delta L = 3 dB. In listeners with normal hearing, discrimination of complementary TCCTs (with a fixed delta L and a variable delta f) is described by an inverted U-shaped psychometric function in which discrimination improves as delta f increases, is (nearly) perfect for a range of delta f's, and then decreases again as delta f increases. In contrast, group psychometric functions for listeners with hearing loss are shifted to the right such that above chance performance occurs at larger values of delta f than in listeners with normal hearing. Group psychometric functions for listeners with hearing loss do not show a decrease in performance at the largest values of delta f included in this study. Decreased TCCT discrimination is evident when listeners with hearing loss are compared to listeners with normal hearing at both equal SPLs and at equal sensation levels. In both groups of listeners, TCCT discrimination is significantly worse at high center frequencies. Results from normal-hearing listeners are generally consistent with a temporal model of TCCT discrimination. Listeners with hearing loss may have deficits in using phase locking in the TCCT discrimination task and so may rely more on place cues in TCCT discrimination.     

A computational model of human auditory signal processing and perception

A model of computational auditory signal-processing and perception that accounts for various aspects of simultaneous and nonsimultaneous masking in human listeners is presented. The model is based on the modulation filterbank model described by Dau et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 2892 (1997)] but includes major changes at the peripheral and more central stages of processing. The model contains outer- and middle-ear transformations, a nonlinear basilar-membrane processing stage, a hair-cell transduction stage, a squaring expansion, an adaptation stage, a 150-Hz lowpass modulation filter, a bandpass modulation filterbank, a constant-variance internal noise, and an optimal detector stage. The model was evaluated in experimental conditions that reflect, to a different degree, effects of compression as well as spectral and temporal resolution in auditory processing. The experiments include intensity discrimination with pure tones and broadband noise, tone-in-noise detection, spectral masking with narrow-band signals and maskers, forward masking with tone signals and tone or noise maskers, and amplitude-modulation detection with narrow- and wideband noise carriers. The model can account for most of the key properties of the data and is more powerful than the original model. The model might be useful as a front end in technical applications.     

Auditory-nerve responses predict pitch attributes related to musical consonance-dissonance for normal and impaired hearing

Human listeners prefer consonant over dissonant musical intervals and the perceived contrast between these classes is reduced with cochlear hearing loss. Population-level activity of normal and impaired model auditory-nerve (AN) fibers was examined to determine (1) if peripheral auditory neurons exhibit correlates of consonance and dissonance and (2) if the reduced perceptual difference between these qualities observed for hearing-impaired listeners can be explained by impaired AN responses. In addition, acoustical correlates of consonance-dissonance were also explored including periodicity and roughness. Among the chromatic pitch combinations of music, consonant intervals/chords yielded more robust neural pitch-salience magnitudes (determined by harmonicity/periodicity) than dissonant intervals/chords. In addition, AN pitch-salience magnitudes correctly predicted the ordering of hierarchical pitch and chordal sonorities described by Western music theory. Cochlear hearing impairment compressed pitch salience estimates between consonant and dissonant pitch relationships. The reduction in contrast of neural responses following cochlear hearing loss may explain the inability of hearing-impaired listeners to distinguish musical qualia as clearly as normal-hearing individuals. Of the neural and acoustic correlates explored, AN pitch salience was the best predictor of behavioral data. Results ultimately show that basic pitch relationships governing music are already present in initial stages of neural processing at the AN level.     

Frequency difference limens in normal and sensorineural hearing impaired chinchillas

This study assessed normal frequency discrimination ability in the chinchilla and determined how this ability changes as a function of an experimentally induced sensorineural hearing loss. Four chinchillas were trained by the methods of positive reinforcement to report absolute thresholds and frequency difference limens (FDLs). Subjects were then treated with the aminoglycosidic antibiotic amikacin until a 30-dB hearing loss was measured at 10.0 kHz. Absolute and frequency difference thresholds were determined during and after drug treatment. When post-drug thresholds had stabilized, subjects were sacrificed and their cochleas stained, embedded in plastic, microdissected, and viewed with phase contrast microscopy to permit examination of the cochlear tissue. Post-drug data suggest that frequency discrimination at a high frequency is unaffected by a 40- to 45-dB sensorineural hearing loss, considerable hair cell damage, and the resultant disruption of the cochlear micromechanics. The data, in concert with previously published reports, suggest that FDLs may be less affected by a high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss than by a low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss.     

Pitch strength and pitch dominance of iterated rippled noises in hearing-impaired listeners.

Reports using a variety of psychophysical tasks indicate that pitch perception by hearing-impaired listeners may be abnormal, contributing to difficulties in understanding speech and enjoying music. Pitches of complex sounds may be weaker and more indistinct in the presence of cochlear damage, especially when frequency regions are affected that form the strongest basis for pitch perception in normal-hearing listeners. In this study, the strength of the complex pitch generated by iterated rippled noise was assessed in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Pitch strength was measured for broadband noises with spectral ripples generated by iteratively delaying a copy of a given noise and adding it back into the original. Octave-band-pass versions of these noises also were evaluated to assess frequency dominance regions for rippled-noise pitch. Hearing-impaired listeners demonstrated consistently weaker pitches in response to the rippled noises relative to pitch strength in normal-hearing listeners. However, in most cases, the frequency regions of pitch dominance, i.e., strongest pitch, were similar to those observed in normal-hearing listeners. Except where there exists a substantial sensitivity loss, contributions from normal pitch dominance regions associated with the strongest pitches may not be directly related to impaired spectral processing. It is suggested that the reduced strength of rippled-noise pitch in listeners with hearing loss results from impaired frequency resolution and possibly an associated deficit in temporal processing.     

Further evaluation of a model of loudness perception applied to cochlear hearing loss.

This paper describes further tests of a model for loudness perception in people with cochlear hearing loss. It is assumed that the hearing loss (the elevation in absolute threshold) at each audiometric frequency can be partitioned into a loss due to damage to outer hair cells (OHCs) and a loss due to damage to inner hair cells (IHCs) and/or neurons. The former affects primarily the active mechanism that amplifies the basilar membrane (BM) response to weak sounds. It is modeled by increasing the excitation level required for threshold, which results in a steeper growth of specific loudness with increasing excitation level. Loss of frequency selectivity, which results in broader excitation patterns, is also assumed to be directly related to the OHC loss. IHC damage is modeled by an attenuation of the calculated excitation level at each frequency. The model also allows for the possibility of complete loss of IHCs or functional neurons at certain places within the cochlea ("dead" regions). The parameters of the model (OHC loss at each audiometric frequency, plus frequency limits of the dead regions) were determined for three subjects with unilateral cochlear hearing loss, using data on loudness matches between sinusoids presented alternately to their two ears. Further experiments used bands of noise that were either 1-equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB) wide or 6-ERBs wide, centered at 1 kHz. Subjects made loudness matches for these bands of noise both within ears and across ears. The model was reasonably accurate in predicting the results of these matches without any further adjustment of the parameters.     

Effect of stimulation rate on phoneme recognition by nucleus-22 cochlear implant listeners

This study investigated the effect of pulsatile stimulation rate on medial vowel and consonant recognition in cochlear implant listeners. Experiment 1 measured phoneme recognition as a function of stimulation rate in six Nucleus-22 cochlear implant listeners using an experimental four-channel continuous interleaved sampler (CIS) speech processing strategy. Results showed that all stimulation rates from 150 to 500 pulses/s/electrode produced equally good performance, while stimulation rates lower than 150 pulses/s/electrode produced significantly poorer performance. Experiment 2 measured phoneme recognition by implant listeners and normal-hearing listeners as a function of the low-pass cutoff frequency for envelope information. Results from both acoustic and electric hearing showed no significant difference in performance for all cutoff frequencies higher than 20 Hz. Both vowel and consonant scores dropped significantly when the cutoff frequency was reduced from 20 Hz to 2 Hz. The results of these two experiments suggest that temporal envelope information can be conveyed by relatively low stimulation rates. The pattern of results for both electrical and acoustic hearing is consistent with a simple model of temporal integration with an equivalent rectangular duration (ERD) of the temporal integrator of about 7 ms.     

Prediction of speech intelligibility in spatial noise and reverberation for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

Binaural speech intelligibility of individual listeners under realistic conditions was predicted using a model consisting of a gammatone filter bank, an independent equalization-cancellation (EC) process in each frequency band, a gammatone resynthesis, and the speech intelligibility index (SII). Hearing loss was simulated by adding uncorrelated masking noises (according to the pure-tone audiogram) to the ear channels. Speech intelligibility measurements were carried out with 8 normal-hearing and 15 hearing-impaired listeners, collecting speech reception threshold (SRT) data for three different room acoustic conditions (anechoic, office room, cafeteria hall) and eight directions of a single noise source (speech in front). Artificial EC processing errors derived from binaural masking level difference data using pure tones were incorporated into the model. Except for an adjustment of the SII-to-intelligibility mapping function, no model parameter was fitted to the SRT data of this study. The overall correlation coefficient between predicted and observed SRTs was 0.95. The dependence of the SRT of an individual listener on the noise direction and on room acoustics was predicted with a median correlation coefficient of 0.91. The effect of individual hearing impairment was predicted with a median correlation coefficient of 0.95. However, for mild hearing losses the release from masking was overestimated.