title: Bimodal listeners are not sensitive to interaural time differences in unmodulated low-frequency stimuli (L).
abstract: Sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs) with unmodulated low-frequency stimuli was assessed in bimodal listeners who had previously shown to be good performers in ITD experiments. Two types of stimuli were used: (1) an acoustic sinusoid combined with an electric transposed signal and (2) an acoustic sinusoid combined with an electric clicktrain. No or very low sensitivity to ITD was found for these stimuli, even though subjects were highly trained on the task and were intensively tested in multiple test sessions. In previous studies with users of a cochlear implant (CI) and a contralateral hearing aid (HA) (bimodal listeners), sensitivity was shown to ITD with modulated stimuli with frequency content between 600 and 3600 Hz. The outcomes of the current study imply that in speech processing design for users of a CI in combination with a HA on the contralateral side, the emphasis should be more on providing salient envelope ITD cues than on preserving fine-timing ITD cues present in acoustic signals.
authors.affiliation: Division of Experimental Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, O & N2, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. anneke.lenssen@med.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Anneke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lenssen
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Francart
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brokx
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wouters
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001299:Audiometry; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment / Q000523:psychology; D003463:Cues; D004867:Equipment Design; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010897:Pitch Discrimination; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013997:Time Factors