Recovery from on- and off-frequency forward masking in listeners with normal and impaired hearing.
The aim of this study was to investigate the possible mechanisms underlying an effect reported earlier [Wojtczak, M., and Oxenham, A. J. (2009). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125, 270-281] in normal-hearing listeners, whereby recovery from forward masking can be slower for off-frequency tonal maskers than for on-frequency tonal maskers that produce the same amount of masking at a 0-ms masker-signal delay. To rule out potential effects of confusion between the tonal signal and tonal masker, one condition used a noise-band forward masker. To test whether the effect involved temporal build-up, another condition used a short-duration (30-ms) forward masker. To test whether the effect is dependent on normal cochlear function, conditions were tested in five listeners with sensorineural hearing loss. For the 150-ms noise maskers, the data from normal-hearing listeners replicated the findings from the previous study that used tonal maskers. In contrast, no significant difference in recovery from on- and off-frequency masking was observed for the 30-ms tonal maskers in normal-hearing listeners, or for the 150-ms tonal maskers in hearing-impaired listeners. Overall, the results are consistent with a mechanism based on efferent feedback that affects the recovery from forward masking in the normal auditory system.
Wojtczak
Magdalena
M
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. wojtc001@umn.edu
Oxenham
Andrew J
AJ
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003051:Cochlea / Q000503:physiopathology; D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D020127:Recovery of Function; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult