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Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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Sep 1999

Volume 106, Issue 3, pp. 1195-L35

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Effects of aspirin on psychophysical measures of frequency selectivity, two-tone suppression, and growth of masking

Michelle L. Hicks and Sid P. Bacon

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 106, Issue 3, pp. 1436-1451 (1999); (16 pages) | Cited 13 times

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Three psychophysical measures of nonlinearity were evaluated before and during a course of aspirin ingestion to investigate the role of outer hair cells (OHCs) in these measures, as aspirin is thought to alter the functioning of OHCs. Six normal-hearing individuals received a moderate dose (3.9 g/day) of aspirin for four days, producing essentially flat, temporary hearing losses that ranged from 5–20 dB. The losses were about 2 dB greater for a 300-ms signal than for a 15-ms signal, indicating reduced temporal integration with aspirin. On the final three days of aspirin use, three experiments were completed; each was designed to measure one aspect of nonlinear behavior: (1) the effects of level on frequency selectivity in simultaneous masking using notched-noise maskers, (2) two-tone suppression using forward maskers at the signal frequency (fs) and suppressor tones above fs, and (3) growth-of-masking functions in forward masking using a masking tone below fs. Signal frequencies of 750 and 3000 Hz were used to evaluate the effects of aspirin at relatively low- and high-frequency regions of the cochlea. In experiment 1, aspirin broadened the auditory filters and reduced the effect of level on frequency selectivity. In experiment 2, aspirin reduced or eliminated two-tone suppression. And, in experiment 3, aspirin reduced the slopes of the growth-of-masking functions. Thus, the aspirin was effective in reducing nonlinearity in all three experiments, suggesting that these measures reflect the same (or a similar) active, nonlinear mechanism, namely the compressive nonlinearity provided by the OHCs. In all experiments, aspirin tended to have larger detrimental effects on the nonlinear measures at 3000 Hz than at 750 Hz, which can be explained in terms of greater involvement of nonlinear processing at higher frequencies. Finally, these effects of aspirin were found to be similar to those observed in preliminary measurements in two subjects with mild, permanent hearing loss. © 1999 Acoustical Society of America.
Show PACS
43.66.Ba Models and theories of auditory processes
43.66.Dc Masking
43.66.Sr Deafness, audiometry, aging effects

Evaluation of spectral enhancement in hearing aids, combined with phonemic compression

Bas A. M. Franck, C. Sidonne G. M. van Kreveld-Bos, Wouter A. Dreschler, and Hans Verschuure

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 106, Issue 3, pp. 1452-1464 (1999); (13 pages) | Cited 9 times

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In this study, the separate and combined effects on speech perception of compensation of the reduced dynamic range by compression and compensation of the reduced frequency resolution by spectral enhancement is investigated. The study has been designed to compare the effects of signal processing on monosyllabic consonant–vowel–consonant words for hearing-impaired listeners in conditions of quiet, fluctuating noise, and continuous noise. Speech perception of spectrally enhanced speech was compared with unprocessed speech. In addition, a comparison was made between combinations of spectrally enhanced speech and two types of phonemic compression. In the past, the definition “syllabic compressor” is often used to indicate fast compressors. However, the time constants of the fast compressors used in this study are so short that syllabic has become an inappropriate term. Moreover, intelligibility tests were performed in which scores were acquired of monosyllabic words, and their constituent “phonemic” parts. Therefore, the definitions “phoneme” and phonemic will be used throughout this paper. In one condition, spectral enhancement produced significant improvements for vowel perception. But, this was counteracted by deterioration of the consonant scores for all but one subject. In general, the best overall scores for consonant–vowel–consonant words were obtained in the unprocessed condition. After the spectral enhancement, a single-channel phonemic compressor added no improvement. There are indications that a multichannel phonemic compressor and spectral enhancement have opposite effects, because the scores for this combination are, in general, the lowest. © 1999 Acoustical Society of America.
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43.66.Dc Masking
43.66.Sr Deafness, audiometry, aging effects
43.66.Ts Auditory prostheses, hearing aids

Auditory localization of nearby sources. Head-related transfer functions

Douglas S. Brungart and William M. Rabinowitz

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 106, Issue 3, pp. 1465-1479 (1999); (15 pages) | Cited 23 times

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Although researchers have long recognized the unique properties of the head-related transfer function (HRTF) for nearby sources (within 1 m of the listener’s head), virtually all of the HRTF measurements described in the literature have focused on source locations 1 m or farther from the listener. In this study, HRTFs for sources at distances from 0.12 to 1 m were calculated using a rigid-sphere model of the head and measured using a Knowles Electronic Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) and an acoustic point source. Both the calculations and the measurements indicate that the interaural level difference (ILD) increases substantially for lateral sources as distance decreases below 1 m, even at low frequencies where the ILD is small for distant sources. In contrast, the interaural time delay (ITD) is roughly independent of distance even when the source is close. The KEMAR measurements indicate that the direction of the source relative to the outer ear plays an important role in determining the high-frequency response of the HRTF in the horizontal plane. However, the elevation-dependent characteristics of the HRTFs are not strongly dependent on distance, and the contribution of the pinna to the HRTF is independent of distance beyond a few centimeters from the ear. Overall, the results suggest that binaural cues play an important role in auditory distance perception for nearby sources. © 1999 Acoustical Society of America.
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43.66.Qp Localization of sound sources

Individual differences in external-ear transfer functions reduced by scaling in frequency

John C. Middlebrooks

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 106, Issue 3, pp. 1480-1492 (1999); (13 pages) | Cited 27 times

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This study examined inter-subject differences in the transfer functions from the free field to the human ear canal, which are commonly know as head-related transfer functions. The directional components of such transfer functions are referred here to as directional transfer functions (DTFs). The DTFs of 45 subjects varied systematically among subjects in regard to the frequencies of spectral features such as peaks and notches. Inter-subject spectral differences in DTFs were quantified between 3.7 and 12.9 kHz for sound-source directions throughout the coordinate sphere. For each pair of subjects, an optimal frequency scale factor aligned spectral features between subjects and, thus, minimized inter-subject spectral differences. Frequency scaling of DTFs reduced spectral differences by a median value of 15.5% across all pairs of subjects and by more than half in 9.5% of subject pairs. Optimal scale factors showed a median value of 1.061 and a maximum of 1.38. The optimal scale factor between any pair of subjects correlated highly with the ratios of subjects’ maximum interaural delays, sizes of their external ears, and widths of their heads. © 1999 Acoustical Society of America.  
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43.66.Pn Binaural hearing
43.64.Ha Acoustical properties of the outer ear; middle-ear mechanics and reflex
43.66.Qp Localization of sound sources

Virtual localization improved by scaling nonindividualized external-ear transfer functions in frequency

John C. Middlebrooks

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 106, Issue 3, pp. 1493-1510 (1999); (18 pages) | Cited 27 times

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This study examined virtual sound localization in three conditions that differed according to the directional transfer functions (DTFs) that were used to synthesize the virtual targets. The own-ear and other-ear conditions used DTFs measured from listeners’ own ears and those measured from other subjects, respectively. The scaled-ear condition employed other-ear DTFs that were scaled in frequency to minimize the mismatch between spectral features in the listener’s and the other subject’s DTFs. All measures of localization error typically were lowest in the own-ear condition. In other-ear conditions, all error measures tended to increase in proportion to the inter-subject differences in DTFs. When spectral features in an other-ear set of DTFs fell systematically lower in frequency than in a listener’s own DTFs, low frontal targets typically were reported as low in the rear, and high rear targets were reported as high in front. When spectral features in a set of DTFs fell systematically higher in frequency than in a listener’s own DTFs, elevation judgements showed an upward bias. In the scaled-ear condition, all measures of performance tended to improve relative to the other-ear condition. In the majority of cases, frequency scaling more than halved the penalty for use of another subject’s DTFs. © 1999 Acoustical Society of America.
Show PACS
43.66.Pn Binaural hearing
43.66.Qp Localization of sound sources
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