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

Abstract

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.

Development of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure

“…Across all runs, the geometric mean for all listeners was 1382 Hz. This observed upper limit of binaural processing is in very good agreement with previous findings (Hughes 1940;Santurette and Dau 2012;Brughera, Dunai and Hartmann 2013) for trained NH listeners.…”

“…It was expected that, even for listeners who could not perform the TFS-LF test, the TFS-AF test would be possible if the frequency were made low enough. The test is conceptually similar to those used in previous investigations (Ross et al 2007;Grose and Mamo 2010;Neher et al 2011;Santurette and Dau 2012) but differs in its implementation.…”

Characterizing the binaural contribution to speech-in-noise reception in elderly hearing-impaired listeners

“…Consistent with earlier findings (Kollmeier et al, 1990;Santurette and Dau, 2012), inter-individual BILD differences were large (>5 dB). Standard audiological measures were ineffective predictors of these differences, as reflected by the relatively weak correlations with age, PTA4, and PTALF (Sec.…”

“…For the analyses, the two resultant BILD estimates were averaged. Typically, normal-hearing listeners achieve BILDs of $4 dB (Kollmeier et al, 1990;Santurette and Dau, 2012).…”

“…In principle, monaural, binaural, and cognitive factors can all play a role. More recently, sensitivity to phase (or temporal fine structure) information has emerged as a promising predictor of speech-in-noise abilities (e.g., Strelcyk and Dau, 2009;Santurette and Dau, 2012). Phase information is encoded monaurally and then transmitted to the auditory brainstem where the two ear signals are combined.…”