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PubMed1983

A model of binocular brightness and binaural loudness perception in humans with general applications to nonlinear summation of sensory inputs.

A single neural model is proposed to account for how responses of the two eyes and two ears combine to form the perception of binocular brightness and binaural loudness respectively. It involves nonlinear reciprocal feedback inhibition between left and right channels, followed by linear summation between the channels. Local circuit synaptic interactions are an important source of nonlinearity. The model combines inputs in a manner that approximates vector magnitude models in general. This suggests that the model can be applied to a variety of circumstances beyond the visual and auditory data discussed here.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed2005

A prospective randomized controlled trial evaluating alcohol on loudness perception in cochlear implant users.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of alcohol on the psychophysical responses in patients with cochlear implants. This has not been previously studied. It was also hoped to provide information that could suggest possible sites of action of the known effects of alcohol on the auditory pathway. DESIGN: A prospective randomized placebo-controlled trial, with full ethical approval. PARTICIPANTS: Eight successful cochlear implant users were selected, of whom two had bilateral implants which were tested separately. In total 10 cochlear implants were tested. INTERVENTION: Alcohol was given in the form of vodka (50% alcohol, 1 mL/kg body weight) with 500 mL of orange and cranberry juice. The placebo control was given in the form of 500 mL of orange and cranberry juice alone. OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: The 'comfort level' (C level) was recorded before, and 1 h after alcohol or placebo ingestion for each patient's cochlear implant. Blood alcohol concentration was determined prior to alcohol or placebo consumption and then repeated after 45, 60, 90 and 180 min. RESULTS: The mean blood alcohol concentration 1 h after ingestion was 50 mg/dL. In the 'alcohol' arm the mean electrical unit increase in the C level was 19.9 with a standard deviation of 2.2. In the control arm the mean change in C level was 0.10 with a standard deviation of 0.3. CONCLUSIONS: In this first prospective randomized control study of the effect of alcohol on sound perception in cochlear implant users, alcohol significantly increased the upper end of the dynamic range (C levels) in comparison with placebo (P = <0.0001 using paired t-test analysis). This effect is likely to be the result of change in the auditory pathways proximal to the cochlea.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Fitting hearing aids to individual loudness-perception measures.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the prescribed gain, compression ratios, compression thresholds, and the relative predicted speech intelligibility (Speech Intelligibility Index [SII], American National Standards Institute 3.79, proposed) provided by four strategies proposed for selecting hearing aid parameters for low-threshold compression hearing instruments and by a traditional threshold-based hearing aid fitting procedure. The strategies used were Desired Sensation Level Input/Output (DSLTM[i/o]; Cornelisse, Seewald, & Jamieson, 1994), Visual Input-Output Locator Algorithm (VIOLA; Cox, 1994), FIG6 strategy (Killion, Reference Note 2), Ricketts and Bentler strategy (RAB), and a threshold-based hearing aid fitting procedure (National Acoustics Laboratories-Revised [NAL-R]; Byrne & Dillion, 1986). These new strategies have been suggested as alternatives to threshold-based strategies, which do not provide the varying amounts of target gain, as a function of input level, necessary to fit low-threshold compression hearing aids. DESIGN: The electroacoustic prescriptions and the predicted speech intelligibility were calculated across all five fitting strategies for 20 subjects. The threshold and loudness growth information used for each fitting was reported previously (Ricketts & Bentler, in press). RESULTS: Comparison across prescriptions revealed that the NAL-R strategy (due to the linear gain provided) prescribed the least gain for low-level inputs and the greatest gain for high-level inputs. Gain comparisons across fitting by loudness (FBL) strategies revealed a more shallow frequency response slope for strategies that require individual measures of loudness growth (RAB, VIOLA) in comparison with strategies that assumed average data (FIG6, DSLTM[i/o]). SII results revealed greater predicted speech intelligibility for the FIG6 and the DSLTM[i/o] compared with the NAL-R, RAB, and VIOLA. These differences were most apparent in noise backgrounds and least evident when loudness differences were minimized. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that differences in SII scores across the FBL fitting strategies are due, in part, to differences in the loudness of the output signal. It is assumed that differences in high-frequency shaping may also be a factor. These data do not appear to support the use of additional clinical time to obtain individual loudness growth measures. However, due to the fact that SII results are based on average performance, it is difficult to predict whether differences across these fitting strategies would be realized in actual measures of speech intelligibility or sound quality on an individual basis.

Correction of Hearing Impairment↗
PubMed1977

Loudness perception for short-duration tones in masking noise.

The effect of masking noise on the temporal summation of loudness is investigated here by performing loudness balances between a standard 500-msec tone burst (1000 Hz at either 20-, 50-, or 80-dB SPL) and either masked or unmasked comparison tone bursts (1000 Hz with durations between 10 and 640 msec). In all but two instances, the obtained functions relating SPL for equal loudness to stimulus duration could be plotted as two line segments that met to form a knee. The slopes of the line segments at durations less than the kneepoints are altered by the masking noise, becoming less steep with increased masking. The rate of the slope decrease is related to the standard sound pressure level (SPL) and is greatest using the 80-dB SPL standard and least with the 20-dB SPL standard. Temporal summation of loudness continues at durations above the kneepoints. However, the obtained slopes are less than those found below the knee, and are independent of the test conditions. The slope changes are found to be related to the noise producing a power transformation on the operating characteristics of the auditory system. These latter findings are discussed in relation to Zwislocki's quantitative theory of the temporal summation of loudness.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1992

Perception of loudness and musical preference: comparison of musicians and nonmusicians.

To estimate the relationship between musical preference and perceived loudness, 25 subjects, musicians and nonmusicians, were asked to match the loudness of a neutral stimulus to a given musical selection. Ten different types of music were used; each was rated for likability by the subject. Over-all analysis of loudness ratings indicated that nonmusicians were more accurate in matching loudness of a neutral stimulus with the musical selections. This finding suggests differences in loudness perception between musicians and nonmusicians. Both groups were most accurate on the selection which could be inferred as most familiar.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Perception of loudness in children with ADD and without ADD.

Twenty-eight children identified with attention deficits and a comparison group of children without ADD were asked to judge the loudness of speech as comfortable (MCL) or tolerable (TL). Results indicated that children with attention deficits required a softer level to make both of these loudness judgements. Children with ADD had statistically significant differences in their choices of comfort levels (MCL = 51 dBHL) and choices of tolerance levels (TL = 95 dBHL) from their peers without ADD (MCL = 59 dBHL, TL = 100 dBHL). These findings are viewed in relation to perceptual differences between children with and without ADD. Additionally, implications for classroom management are discussed.

Attention↗
PubMed1994

"Recalibrating" the auditory system: the perception of loudness.

Listening to relatively intense tones at 1 frequency and weak tones at another makes the latter relatively louder. The auditory system's relative response to low-frequency (f1) and high-frequency (f2) tones depends on the separation between f1 and f2. When f1 and f2 differ little, loudness matches change little with shifts in mean sound pressure levels (SPLs) at each frequency; but when f1 and f2 differ more, matches change markedly, showing how the auditory system "recalibrates" its responses to f1 and f2. The magnitude of recalibration and its frequency bandwidth also depend to a modest degree on the range of SPLs, their mean level, and the experimental paradigm. The representation of loudness reflects the processing and recalibration of multidimensional peripheral inputs within a higher level, context-sensitive (adaptationlike) mechanism. Other perceptual modalities show evidence of analogous mechanisms.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Reliability of the Contour Test in a population of adults with hearing loss.

With the increasing popularity of hearing aids with wide dynamic range compression, where the goal may be to restore normal perception of loudness, there has been renewed interest in obtaining individual loudness judgments in a clinically feasible, reliable manner as part of the hearing aid evaluation. The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Contour Test of Loudness Perception. Twenty-seven adults with hearing loss participated in the experiment. They produced loudness judgments on two separate occasions. Results as assessed by the intraclass correlation statistic revealed that the Contour Test has adequate consistency and absolute agreement across frequency and loudness categories over two test sessions separated in time. Results are discussed in relation to previous reliability findings from other loudness judgment methods and other subject populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Recalibrating the auditory system: a speed-accuracy analysis of intensity perception.

Recalibration in loudness perception refers to an adaptation-like change in relative responsiveness to auditory signals of different sound frequencies. Listening to relatively weak tones at one frequency and stronger tones at another makes the latter appear softer. The authors showed recalibration not only in magnitude estimates of loudness but also in simple response times (RTs) and choice RTs. RTs depend on sound intensity and may serve as surrogates for loudness. Most important, the speeded classification paradigm also provided measures of errors. RTs and errors can serve jointly to distinguish changes in sensitivity from changes in response criterion. The changes in choice RT under different recalibrating conditions were not accompanied by changes in error rates predicted by the speed-accuracy tade-off. These results lend support to the hypothesis that loudness recalibration does not result from shifting decisional criteria but instead reflects a change in the underlying representation of auditory intensity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Increased perception of loudness in autism.

Clinical reports on autism describe abnormal responses to auditory stimuli such as intolerance to sounds. The present study assessed subjective perception of loudness in subjects with autism compared to healthy controls, using two psychoacoustic tests. First, the auditory dynamic range was evaluated at six different tone frequencies. Secondly, loudness growth as a function of the intensity level of a 1 kHz tone was estimated. Verbal responses from a group of 11 children and adolescents with autism were compared to responses of 11 age- and gender- matched healthy controls. Smaller auditory dynamic ranges were found in the autistic group than in the control group, as well as increased perception of loudness, indicating hyperacusis in subjects with autism.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of interstimulus interval on subjective categorical loudness judgements.

The Independent Hearing Aid Fitting Forum uses the visual input/output locator algorithm and the Contour Test of Loudness Perception to achieve the goal of restoring normal loudness perception with amplification. This method presupposes that subjective categorical loudness judgments are valid and reliable when using the procedure outlined by the test developers. There is no indication in the instructions of the Contour Test of a specific duration for interstimulus interval (ISI). The effect of ISI on loudness perception is important to establish because of potential time-error effects. Time-error refers to the extent to which the judged magnitude of a second stimulus varies with the time interval by which it follows the first stimulus. Past research has indicated that judgments of a second stimulus are shifted in the direction of the intensity of the preceding stimulus and that this effect intensifies with shorter ISIs. The current experiment was designed to examine whether a change in ISI produced a change in the loudness rating of the subsequent stimulus for subjective categorical loudness judgment testing. A trend toward lower, median dB values for ratings 2 to 5 at 500 Hz in a group of subjects with normal hearing was noted when 1-sec intervals were used in comparison with longer ISIs. No trends for the effect of ISI were noted at 3000 Hz. The findings provide ISI recommendations for loudness judgment test administration.

Hearing Aids↗
PubMed1996

The effect of test signal type and bandwidth on the categorical scaling of loudness.

Recently several methods for obtaining clinical measures of loudness growth through the use of categorical scaling (CS) have been proposed for the selection of hearing aids. These methods use differing test signals or suggest frequency-specific level corrections in an attempt to reflect the loudness perception of hearing aid-processed speech. While some decisions regarding the stimuli utilized for loudness perception procedures are based on measured relationships to speech signals, the effect on loudness perception of changing signal type and bandwidth (as measured by CS) remains unclear. The relationships between the CS loudness growth of signals of differing type, (pure tones, noise bands, filtered/temporally inverted/passband speech) and bandwidth were examined for subjects with both normal and impaired hearing. Results suggest that when the bandwidth is similar (e.g., pure tone and 1/3 oct), signal type does not have significant bearing on loudness perception. As expected, increasing the bandwidth beyond the critical band affected loudness growth, as wideband speech stimuli were judged to be significantly louder than narrow-band speech at equivalent overall sound levels. In this investigation, similar loudness growth patterns were noted across category ratings for all test signal bandwidths. In contrast, loudness growth data obtained using an intelligible speech signal [Cox et al., The American Academy of Audiology (1994a)], revealed loudness growth patterns for speech were fundamentally different than those obtained for tones. Implications for hearing aid fitting strategies are discussed.

Adult↗