Exploration of stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emission suppression tuning in hearing-impaired listeners

Karolina K. Charaziak*, Pamela E. Souza, Jonathan H. Siegel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) can provide useful measures of tuning of auditory filters. We previously established that stimulus-frequency (SF) OAE suppression tuning curves (STCs) reflect major features of behavioral tuning (psychophysical tuning curves, PTCs) in normally-hearing listeners. Here, we aim to evaluate whether SFOAE STCs reflect changes in PTC tuning in cases of abnormal hearing. Design: PTCs and SFOAE STCs were obtained at 1 kHz and/or 4 kHz probe frequencies. For exploratory purposes, we collected SFOAEs measured across a wide frequency range and contrasted them to commonly measured distortion product (DP) OAEs. Study sample: Thirteen listeners with varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss. Results: Except for a few listeners with the most hearing loss, the listeners had normal/nearly normal PTCs. However, attempts to record SFOAE STCs in hearing-impaired listeners were challenging and sometimes unsuccessful due to the high level of noise at the SFOAE frequency, which is not a factor for DPOAEs. In cases of successful measurements of SFOAE STCs there was a large variability in agreement between SFOAE STC and PTC tuning. Conclusions: These results indicate that SFOAE STCs cannot substitute for PTCs in cases of abnormal hearing, at least with the paradigm adopted in this study.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)96-105
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Audiology
Volume54
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2015

Keywords

  • Frequency selectivity
  • Hearing impairment
  • Otoacoustic emissions
  • Psychophysical tuning curve
  • Suppression tuning curve

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Speech and Hearing
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language

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