Abstract
BackgroundThe present study investigated whether the frequency-following response (FFR) of the auditory brainstem can represent individual frequency-discrimination ability.MethodWe measured behavioral frequency-difference limens (FDLs) in normal hearing young adults. Then FFRs were evoked by two pure tones, whose frequency difference was no larger than behavioral FDL. Discrimination of FFRs to individual frequencies was conducted as the neural representation of stimulus frequency difference. Participants were 15 Chinese college students (ages 19–25; 3 males, 12 females) with normal hearing characteristics.ResultsAccording to discriminative neural representations of individual frequencies, FFRs accurately reflected individual FDLs and detected stimulus-frequency differences smaller than behavioral threshold (e.g., 75% of FDL).ConclusionsThese results suggest that when a frequency difference cannot be behaviorally distinguished, there is still a possibility of it being detected physiologically.
Highlights
The present study investigated whether the frequency-following response (FFR) of the auditory brainstem can represent individual frequency-discrimination ability
FFR representation of frequency difference Figure 1A shows the waveform of the FFR evoked by a 140-Hz tone, as well as data preceding stimulus onset
The FFR correlates of frequency differences were assessed by comparing the FFRs evoked by The reference frequency (F_ref) and The comparison frequency (F_comp) in the spectral and time domains (Figure 2)
Summary
The present study investigated whether the frequency-following response (FFR) of the auditory brainstem can represent individual frequency-discrimination ability. Pitch plays an important role in the perception of speech, language and music. Sounds may be ordered on a scale extending from low to high pitch. Pitch carries information about talker identification and emotions. The physical correlate of pitch is frequency [1]. The pitches of pure tones are used as standards to judge the pitches of other sounds [2]
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