title: Effects of the use of personal music players on amplitude modulation detection and frequency discrimination.
abstract: Measures of auditory performance were compared for an experimental group who listened regularly to music via personal music players (PMP) and a control group who did not. Absolute thresholds were similar for the two groups for frequencies up to 2 kHz, but the experimental group had slightly but significantly higher thresholds at higher frequencies. Thresholds for the frequency discrimination of pure tones were measured for a sensation level (SL) of 20 dB and center frequencies of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 kHz. Thresholds were significantly higher (worse) for the experimental than for the control group for frequencies from 3 to 8 kHz, but not for lower frequencies. Thresholds for detecting sinusoidal amplitude modulation (AM) were measured for SLs of 10 and 20 dB, using four carrier frequencies 0.5, 3, 4, and 6 kHz, and three modulation frequencies 4, 16, and 50 Hz. Thresholds were significantly lower (better) for the experimental than for the control group for the 4- and 6-kHz carriers, but not for the other carriers. It is concluded that listening to music via PMP can have subtle effects on frequency discrimination and AM detection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Acoustics Research Center, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, OS Bragstads plass 2B, Norway-7491 Trondheim, Norway. vinay.nagaraj@iet.ntnu.no
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Vinay
authors.forename: Brian C J
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D055539:MP3-Player; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D010897:Pitch Discrimination; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological