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Biomedical subjects

S E Gerber

Publications and source records attributed to S E Gerber.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Effects of hemodialysis on pure-tone thresholds and blood chemistry measures.

Eight adults suffering from end-stage renal disease and undergoing hemodialysis were subjected to pure tone audiometry before and after each of five consecutive hemodialysis treatments. In addition, pre-treatment and post-treatment blood chemistries were analyzed. Computer statistics for these audiometric and physiologic variables indicated that these subjects, as a group, did not exhibit significant differences in threshold before and after hemodialysis, although individual differences did appear. No trend regarding the direction of change was evident. However, threshold shifts did occur which might reflect transient imbalance in the labyrinthine system produced by hemodialysis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Visual scoring of the middle latency response.

Interjudge validity and intrajudge reliability were studied in a task in which three sets of judges (scores) identified middle latency responses under varying conditions of intensity and number of stimuli per response. The results demonstrated that intensity level was the only factor that had a statistically significant effect on the scorers' judgments. As intensity decreased it became increasingly difficult to detect middle latency responses; however, silent controls were clearly identified as response absent. Definite trends were seen for the scorer groups as a function of experience; the experienced groups generally had slightly higher mean confidence levels and percent correct judgments than the naive scorers. Surprisingly, increasing the number of stimuli had no significant effect on the scorers' judgments. Last, intrajudge reliability was high across all scorers for all conditions except at 10 dB SL. Most of the unreliable judgments and difficulty in detection (interjudge validity) occurred at the 10 dB SL.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of noise bandwidth on the auditory arousal response of neonates.

Eighteen full-size, full-term, healthy, newborn infants were used in an experiment to determine the relative efficiency of three different noise spectra as audible stimuli. These three signals were high-pass filtered noises with cutoff frequencies of 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz. The metric of efficiency was a very simple count: how many times did an infant display an arousal response to each signal? Each of the three signals was presented eight times to each infant, but the 24 signals were presented in a different random order to each infant. Results showed that neonates are more responsive to wider band signals but are also responsive to lower frequencies. These data are consistent with our earlier findings (also described) and continue to support the use of calibrated wideband signals for auditory screening of newborns.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

SSW test performance-intensity functions for hearing-impaired adults.

The present study investigated the effects of intensity on hearing-impaired adults' performance on the Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) test. Fifteen adults having mild-to-moderate cochlear hearing losses were administered the 40-item SSW test which was subdivided into four groups of ten items each, and presented at different intensity levels (20, 30, 40, and 50 dB SL re the three-frequency, pure-tone average). Subjects' responses were used to generate performance-intensity functions. Scores were analyzed for overall, competing, and noncompeting conditions. No significant differences were found for these hearing-impaired listeners' performance for items presented at the standard 50 dB and those at the low sensation levels.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stimulus, response, and state variables in the testing of neonates.

This paper endeavors to answer three closely related questions: What motor behavior displayed by an infant may be considered to be a response to acoustic stimulation? What acoustic phenomena elicit such behavior? Does responsiveness vary with postconceptual age? Review of our work over the past decade reveals that we know the answers to the first two questions, but not the third. Briefly, arousal responses (eye and limb movements) are reliably elicited by wideband signals but not by narrowband signals. However, there is still confusion about whether preterm infants are more or less responsive than full term infants.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prediction of hearing aid users' satisfaction.

This study raised the question of whether certain methods of hearing aid evaluation could predict subjects' satisfaction and willingness to use their aids. For this purpose, we compared two hearing aid evaluation methods on 30 subjects between the ages of 55 and 65 years, all of whom were hearing aid users for some months. Five signal-to-noise ratios were used. The results of this experiment indicated a significant and positive correlation between subject satisfaction and subject willingness to use the hearing aid. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that both evaluation methods were better predictors of usage than of satisfaction.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiovascular response to acoustic stimuli in one-, two-, and three-month-old infants.

Fifteen normal infants were seen at the ages of 1, 2, and 3 months. Cardiac responses to auditory stimuli of various frequencies and intensities were evaluated to determine the effects of age of the infant, frequency of the stimulus, and intensity of the stimulus. Heart rate was measured by a fingertip pulse counter and recorded on a polygraph. While the heart rate was being monitored, the infant was presented with a series of tone bursts of 1.5-sec duration with an interstimulus interval of 13.5 sec. Frequencies and intensities of stimuli were found to have no effects on the response. The cardiac rate response was influenced more by the ages of the infants than by stimulus parameters. Variability of the data for two-month-old children seemed to indicate a transition occurring at this age. However, the major influence upon the response was found to be the prestimulus heart rate.

Acoustic Stimulation↗