title: Auditory and tactile gap discrimination by observers with normal and impaired hearing.
abstract: Temporal processing ability for the senses of hearing and touch was examined through the measurement of gap-duration discrimination thresholds (GDDTs) employing the same low-frequency sinusoidal stimuli in both modalities. GDDTs were measured in three groups of observers (normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and normal-hearing with simulated hearing loss) covering an age range of 21-69 yr. GDDTs for a baseline gap of 6 ms were measured for four different combinations of 100-ms leading and trailing markers (250-250, 250-400, 400-250, and 400-400 Hz). Auditory measurements were obtained for monaural presentation over headphones and tactile measurements were obtained using sinusoidal vibrations presented to the left middle finger. The auditory GDDTs of the hearing-impaired listeners, which were larger than those of the normal-hearing observers, were well-reproduced in the listeners with simulated loss. The magnitude of the GDDT was generally independent of modality and showed effects of age in both modalities. The use of different-frequency compared to same-frequency markers led to a greater deterioration in auditory GDDTs compared to tactile GDDTs and may reflect differences in bandwidth properties between the two sensory systems.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Joseph G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Desloge
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Charlotte M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Louis D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Braida
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Zachary D
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Lorraine A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Delhorne
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Villabona
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D055698:Touch Perception; D014732:Vibration; D055815:Young Adult