Introduction to auditory perception in listeners with hearing losses

Abstract

Listeners with hearing losses cannot hear low-level sounds. In addition, they often complain that audible sounds do not have a comfortable loudness, lack clarity, and are difficult to hear in the presence of other sounds. In particular, they have difficulty understanding speech in background noise. The mechanisms underlying these complaints are not completely understood, but hearing losses are known to alter many aspects of auditory processing. This presentation highlights alterations in audibility, loudness, pitch, spectral and temporal processes, and binaural hearing that may result from hearing losses. The changes in these auditory processes can vary widely across individuals with seemingly similar amounts of hearing loss. For example, two listeners with nearly identical thresholds can differ in their ability to process spectral and temporal features of sounds. Such individual differences make rehabilitation of hearing losses complex. [Work supported by NIH/NIDCD.]