Evaluation of Temporal Resolution Around the Tinnitus Frequency in Adults with Tonal Tinnitus

Abstract

Objective: The perceptual characteristics of tinnitus are usually assessed by a matching procedure, where loudness and pitch of an external sound are matched to those of the tinnitus percept. For a complete assessment of tinnitus, central auditory processing abilities should be considered in addition to other routine evaluation. Temporal processing is one of the important auditory processing skills that is essential for complex higher level auditory processing. The gap detection test (GDT) and duration discrimination test are relatively simple psychoacoustic methods of measuring temporal resolution [1]. Hence, the present study is aimed at finding the duration discrimination threshold in tinnitus patients at the tinnitus frequency and half an octave above and below the frequency of tinnitus perception. Method: 15 participants with normal or minimal hearing loss with tinnitus in the age range of 18–40 years were enrolled in the present study. Duration discrimination test was administered on all the participants using MATLAB software (MLP toolbox) at the matched tinnitus frequency, half an octave below and above the frequency of tinnitus perception. Results: The results of the study revealed that there was a significant increase in duration discrimination thresholds at the tinnitus frequency compared to half an octave above and below the matched frequency. The result suggests that temporal resolution abilities are affected at the tinnitus frequency in individuals with tinnitus. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that the temporal processing ability is affected in individuals with tinnitus especially at the frequency of tinnitus.