Effects of interaural delay, center frequency, and no more than ”slight” hearing loss on binaural processing: Behavioral data and quantitative analyses

Abstract

Recent neurophysiological studies concerning “hidden hearing loss” have motivated investigators to attempt to uncover behaviorally-measured auditory deficits that might exist in human listeners who would be categorized via standard audiometry as having normal hearing or, at most, “slight” hearing loss. We hypothesized that behavioral measures of binaural auditory performance could reveal the presence of deficits that may not be discoverable via standard audiometric testing or via measures of monaural processing. That hypothesis was based on the notion that monaural (perhaps, peripheral) deficits would be effectively multiplied via binaural interaction. Groups of listeners, all having no greater than “slight” hearing loss were tested. Binaural detection thresholds were elevated across a wide range of center frequencies for listeners whose absolute thresholds at 4 kHz exceed 7.5 dB HL. Quantitative predictions made via an interaural correlation-based model of binaural processing suggest that the elevated binaural detection thresholds observed for listeners having slightly elevated absolute thresholds stem solely from their having elevated levels of internal noise. They appear to stem neither from reduced sensitivity to signal-dependent changes in information derived from the stimuli as processed internally nor from increased noise along the listener’s putative internal delay line.