Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing

The ability to process binaural temporal fine structure (TFS) information was assessed using the TFS-AF test (where AF stands for adaptive frequency) for 26 listeners aged 60 years or more with normal or elevated low-frequency audiometric thresholds. The test estimates the highest frequency at which...

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Main Authors: Füllgrabe, Christian, Moore, Brian C.J.
Format: Article
Published: Sage 2017
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46766/
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author Füllgrabe, Christian
Moore, Brian C.J.
author_facet Füllgrabe, Christian
Moore, Brian C.J.
author_sort Füllgrabe, Christian
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The ability to process binaural temporal fine structure (TFS) information was assessed using the TFS-AF test (where AF stands for adaptive frequency) for 26 listeners aged 60 years or more with normal or elevated low-frequency audiometric thresholds. The test estimates the highest frequency at which a fixed interaural phase difference (IPD) of ϕ (varied here between 30° and 180°) can be discriminated from an IPD of 0°, with higher thresholds indicating better performance. A sensation level of 30 dB was used. All listeners were able to perform the task reliably, giving thresholds well above the lowest allowed frequency of 30 Hz. The duration of a run averaged 5 min. Repeated testing of the normal-hearing listeners showed no significant practice effects. Thresholds varied markedly across listeners, but their ranking was fairly consistent across values of ϕ. Thresholds decreased (worsened) with decreasing ϕ and were lower than for a group of young listeners tested in an earlier study. There were weak to moderate, negative correlations between TFS-AF thresholds and audiometric thresholds at low frequencies (125–1000 Hz) but not at high frequencies (4000–8000 Hz). In conclusion, the TFS-AF test yielded a graded measure of binaural TFS sensitivity for all listeners. This contrasts with the TFS-LF (low-frequency) test, which measures the smallest detectable shift in IPD for a fixed frequency. The absence of practice effects and a reasonably short administration time make the TFS-AF test a good candidate for the assessment of sensitivity to changes in binaural TFS for older listeners without or with hearing loss.
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spelling nottingham-467662020-05-04T19:07:55Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46766/ Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing Füllgrabe, Christian Moore, Brian C.J. The ability to process binaural temporal fine structure (TFS) information was assessed using the TFS-AF test (where AF stands for adaptive frequency) for 26 listeners aged 60 years or more with normal or elevated low-frequency audiometric thresholds. The test estimates the highest frequency at which a fixed interaural phase difference (IPD) of ϕ (varied here between 30° and 180°) can be discriminated from an IPD of 0°, with higher thresholds indicating better performance. A sensation level of 30 dB was used. All listeners were able to perform the task reliably, giving thresholds well above the lowest allowed frequency of 30 Hz. The duration of a run averaged 5 min. Repeated testing of the normal-hearing listeners showed no significant practice effects. Thresholds varied markedly across listeners, but their ranking was fairly consistent across values of ϕ. Thresholds decreased (worsened) with decreasing ϕ and were lower than for a group of young listeners tested in an earlier study. There were weak to moderate, negative correlations between TFS-AF thresholds and audiometric thresholds at low frequencies (125–1000 Hz) but not at high frequencies (4000–8000 Hz). In conclusion, the TFS-AF test yielded a graded measure of binaural TFS sensitivity for all listeners. This contrasts with the TFS-LF (low-frequency) test, which measures the smallest detectable shift in IPD for a fixed frequency. The absence of practice effects and a reasonably short administration time make the TFS-AF test a good candidate for the assessment of sensitivity to changes in binaural TFS for older listeners without or with hearing loss. Sage 2017-09-20 Article PeerReviewed Füllgrabe, Christian and Moore, Brian C.J. (2017) Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing. Trends in Hearing, 21 . ISSN 2331-2165 (In Press) interaural phase; supra-threshold processing; practice effects; clinical screen; sound localization http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2331216517737230 doi:10.1177/2331216517737230 doi:10.1177/2331216517737230
spellingShingle interaural phase; supra-threshold processing; practice effects; clinical screen; sound localization
Füllgrabe, Christian
Moore, Brian C.J.
Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
title Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
title_full Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
title_fullStr Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
title_short Evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS-AF test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
title_sort evaluation of a method for determining binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure (tfs-af test) for older listeners with normal and impaired low-frequency hearing
topic interaural phase; supra-threshold processing; practice effects; clinical screen; sound localization
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46766/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46766/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/46766/