A variant temporal-masking-curve method for inferring peripheral auditory compression

Lopez‐Poveda, Enrique A.; Alves-Pinto, Ana

doi:10.1121/1.2835418

Cited by 41 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…It remains to be determined to what extent the variation observed across previous studies reflects true differences in cochlear compression among individuals or measurement factors, such as choice of linear-reference TMC and fitting algorithms for inferred input-output responses. The issue may be further complicated by the contribution of subject age, which has not been explored systematically in sample sizes large enough and age ranges wide enough to permit separating effects of age and hearing loss (Lopez-Poveda and Alves-Pinto 2008). The present study investigated the use of the TMC method to estimate cochlear nonlinearities in a large sample of adults of various ages and with hearing thresholds ranging from normal to moderate hearing loss.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual Differences in Behavioral Estimates of Cochlear Nonlinearities

Poling

Horwitz

Ahlstrom

et al. 2011

JARO

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Psychophysical methods provide a mechanism to infer the characteristics of basilar membrane responses in humans that cannot be directly measured. Because these behavioral measures are indirect, the interpretation of results depends on several underlying assumptions. Ongoing uncertainty about the suitability of these assumptions and the most appropriate measurement and compression estimation procedures, and unanswered questions regarding the effects of cochlear hearing loss and age on basilar membrane nonlinearities, motivated this experiment. Here, estimates of cochlear nonlinearities using temporal masking curves (TMCs) were obtained in a large sample of adults of various ages whose hearing ranged from normal to moderate cochlear hearing loss (Experiment 1). A wide range of compression slopes was observed, even for subjects with similar ages and thresholds, which warranted further investigation (Experiment 2). Potential sources of variance contributing to these individual differences were explored, including procedural-related factors (test-retest reliability, suitability of the linearreference TMC, probe sensation levels, and parameters of TMC fitting algorithms) and subject-related factors (age and age-related changes in temporal processing, strength of cochlear nonlinearities estimated with distortion-product otoacoustic emissions, estimates of changes in cochlear function from damage to outer hair cells versus inner hair cells). Subject age did not contribute significantly to TMC or compression slopes, and TMC slopes did not vary significantly with threshold. Test-retest reliability of TMCs suggested that TMC masker levels and the general shapes of TMCs did not change in a systematic way when re-measured many weeks later. Although the strength of compression decreased slightly with increasing hearing loss, the magnitude of individual differences in compression estimates makes it difficult to determine the effects of hearing loss and cochlear damage on basilar membrane nonlinearities in humans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual Differences in Behavioral Estimates of Cochlear Nonlinearities

Poling

Horwitz

Ahlstrom

et al. 2011

JARO

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“…This could have lead to an overestimate of compression at 500 Hz. Assumption #3, however, is supported by studies showing that identical apical compression estimates are obtained with and without assuming a linear reference condition (Lopez-Poveda and Alves-Pinto 2008;Plack et al 2008). Furthermore, there is reasonable concern that compression may not have been totally absent in the apical regions of the subjects employed by Stainsby and Moore (LopezPoveda and Alves-Pinto 2008).…”

Section: Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…In any case, the present results and ideas hold true so long as responses to sinusoidal and NN maskers are compressive at 500 Hz and 4 kHz over the range of levels considered and good evidence in support of this has been obtained elsewhere using behavioral methods that do not rely on a linear reference TMCs (e.g., Lopez-Poveda and Alves-Pinto 2008;Plack and Drga 2003) as well as with physiological methods (e.g., Gorga et al 2007;Johannesen and Lopez-Poveda 2008;Williams and Bacon 2005).…”

Section: Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…This makes it possible to infer BM I/O curves by plotting the level of a masker that is processed linearly by the BM, the so-called linear reference TMC, against the level of the masker of interest, paired according to time gap (Nelson et al 2001). Because basal BM responses to tones an octave or so below the CF are approximately linear, it is common to use the TMC for a masker frequency an octave or so below that of a highfrequency probe as the linear reference (Lopez-Poveda et al 2003;Lopez-Poveda and Alves-Pinto 2008).…”

Section: Appendix a Assumptions Of The Tmc Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isoresponse Versus Isoinput Estimates of Cochlear Filter Tuning

Eustaquio-Martín

Lopez‐Poveda

2010

JARO

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The tuning of a linear filter may be inferred from the filter's isoresponse (e.g., tuning curves) or isoinput (e.g., isolevel curves) characteristics. This paper provides a theoretical demonstration that for nonlinear filters with compressive response characteristics like those of the basilar membrane, isoresponse measures can suggest strikingly sharper tuning than isoinput measures. The practical significance of this phenomenon is demonstrated by inferring the 3-dBdown bandwidths (BW 3dB ) of human auditory filters at 500 and 4,000 Hz from behavioral isoresponse and isoinput measures obtained with sinusoidal and notched noise forward maskers. Inferred cochlear responses were compressive for the two types of maskers. Consistent with expectations, low-level BW 3dB estimates obtained from isoresponse conditions were considerably narrower than those obtained from isolevel conditions: 69 vs. 174 Hz, respectively, at 500 Hz, and 280 vs. 464 Hz, respectively, at 4,000 Hz. Furthermore, isoresponse BW 3dB decreased with increasing level while corresponding isolevel estimates remained approximately constant at 500 Hz or increased slightly at 4 kHz. It is suggested that comparisons between isoresponse supra-threshold human tuning and threshold animal neural tuning should be made with caution.

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“…The present behavioral rules were obtained from TMCs for probe frequencies equal to the DPOAE test frequencies (f 2 ). Based on the current interpretation of TMCs Lopez-Poveda and Alves-Pinto 2008;Nelson et al 2001), the behavioral rules thus reflect L 1 -L 2 combinations for which the two maskers (f 1 , f 2 ) produce equal responses at a cochlear site with a CF∼f 2 . Therefore, the match between behavioral and DPOAE optimal rules for levels below 65 dB SPL (Figs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Otoacoustic Emission Theories and Behavioral Estimates of Human Basilar Membrane Motion Are Mutually Consistent

Lopez‐Poveda

Johannesen

2009

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When two pure tones (or primaries) of slightly different frequencies (f 1 and f 2 ) are presented to the ear, new frequency components are generated by nonlinear interaction of the primaries within the cochlea. These new components can be recorded in the ear canal as otoacoustic emissions (OAE). The level of the 2f 1 −f 2 OAE component is known as the distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) and is regarded as an indicator of the physiological state of the cochlea. The current view is that maximal level DPOAEs occur for primaries that produce equal excitation at the f 2 cochlear region, but this notion cannot be directly tested in living humans because it is impossible to record their cochlear responses while monitoring their ear canal DPOAE levels. On the other hand, it has been claimed that the temporal masking curve (TMC) method of inferring human basilar membrane responses allows measurement of the levels of equally effective pure tones at any given cochlear site. The assumptions of this behavioral method, however, lack firm physiological support in humans. Here, the TMC method was applied to test the current notion on the conditions that maximize DPOAE levels in humans. DPOAE and TMC results were mutually consistent for frequencies of 1 and 4 kHz and for levels below around 65 dB sound pressure level. This match supports the current view on the generation of maximal level DPOAEs as well as the assumptions of the behavioral TMC method.

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A variant temporal-masking-curve method for inferring peripheral auditory compression

Cited by 41 publications

References 26 publications

Individual Differences in Behavioral Estimates of Cochlear Nonlinearities

Individual Differences in Behavioral Estimates of Cochlear Nonlinearities

Isoresponse Versus Isoinput Estimates of Cochlear Filter Tuning

Otoacoustic Emission Theories and Behavioral Estimates of Human Basilar Membrane Motion Are Mutually Consistent

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