Forward Masking Procedure Research Articles

Multistage Nonlinear Optimization to Recover Neural Activation Patterns From Evoked Compound Action Potentials of Cochlear Implant Users.

Electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) have been employed as a measure of neural activation evoked by cochlear implant (CI) stimulation. A forward-masking procedure is commonly used to reduce stimulus artefacts. This method estimates the joint neural activation produced by two electrodes-one acting as probe and the other as masker; as such, the measured ECAPs depend on the activation patterns produced by both. We describe an approach--termed panoramic ECAP ("PECAP")--that allows reconstruction of the underlying neural activation pattern of individual channels from ECAP amplitudes. The proposed approach combines two constrained nonlinear optimization stages. PECAP was validated against simulated and physiological data from CI users. The physiological data consisted of ECAPs measured from four users of Cochlear devices. For each subject, an 18 ×18 ECAP amplitude matrix was measured using a forward-masking method. The results from computer simulations indicate that our approach can reliably estimate the underlying activation patterns from ECAP amplitudes even for instances of neural "dead regions" or cross-turn stimulation. The operating signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the proposed algorithm was 5 dB or higher, which matched well the SNR measured from human physiological data. Human ECAPs were fitted with our procedure to determine neural activation patterns. PECAP can be used to identify undesirable features of the neural activation pattern of individual CI users. Our approach may have clinical application as an objective measure of electrode-to-neuron interface and may be used to devise ad hoc stimulation strategies.

Rapid enumeration within a fraction of a single glance: The role of visible persistence in object individuation capacity

The number of items that can be individuated at a single glance is limited. Here, we investigate object individuation at a higher temporal resolution, in fractions of a single glance. In two experiments involving object individuation we manipulated the duration of visual persistence of the target items with a forward masking procedure. The number of items as well as their stimulus–onset asynchrony (SOA) to the mask was varied independently. The results showed main effects of numerosity and SOA, as well as an interaction. These effects were not caused by a generic reduction of item visibility by the mask. Instead, the SOA manipulation appeared to fractionate the time to access the sensory image. These findings suggest that the capacity limit of 3–4 items found in object individuation is, at least partially, the consequence of the temporal window of access to sensory information.

Reducing current spread using current focusing in cochlear implant users

Cochlear implant performance in difficult listening situations is limited by channel interactions. It is known that partial tripolar (PTP) stimulation reduces the spread of excitation (SOE). However, the greater the degree of current focusing, the greater the absolute current required to maintain a fixed loudness. As current increases, so does SOE. In experiment 1, the SOE for equally loud stimuli with different degrees of current focusing is measured via a forward-masking procedure. Results suggest that at a fixed loudness, some but not all patients have a reduced SOE with PTP stimulation. Therefore, it seems likely that a PTP speech processing strategy could improve spectral resolution for only those patients with a reduced SOE. In experiment 2, the ability to discriminate different levels of current focusing was measured. In experiment 3, patients subjectively scaled verbal descriptors of stimuli of various levels of current focusing. Both discrimination and scaling of verbal descriptors correlated well with SOE reduction, suggesting that either technique have the potential to be used clinically to quickly predict which patients would receive benefit from a current focusing strategy.

Vibrotactile thresholds of the Non-Pacinian I channel: I. Methodological issues

Thresholds of the Non-Pacinian I (NP I) channel were measured using a two-interval forced-choice paradigm, a technique independent of the subject's criterion. The studies were performed using the terminal phalanx of the human middle finger with a 40-Hz vibratory stimulus. Unlike most of the previous experiments performed in our laboratory, a contactor surround was not used. This was done to enable comparison with population models of mechanoreceptive fibers in the literature. Since the Pacinian (P) channel and NP I channel have similar vibrotactile thresholds at 40 Hz, a forward-masking procedure was used to elevate the thresholds of the P channel with respect to the NP I channel. While it has been established that the Pacinian fibers are entrained at high stimulus levels, the P channel can be perceptually masked using a 250-Hz stimulus presented prior to the 40-Hz test stimulus. The masking functions were found to be approximately linear on log-log axes and the threshold shifts were found to increase as the masking-stimulus levels increased. The results are discussed in relation to previous studies that were performed at various stimulation sites by using a contactor surround or not. A companion paper presents the variation of NP I-channel thresholds, measured using the methods described herein, and addresses the effects of stimulation along the proximo-distal axis of the phalanx. The companion paper also discusses the predictions of a computational model, recently proposed, in light of the empirical results presented.

Compression estimates using behavioral and otoacoustic emission measures

Cochlear compression in normal-hearing listeners was estimated at octave frequencies from 250 to 4000 Hz using a forward-masking paradigm. Temporal masking curves (TMCs) for a 10-dB SL signal were obtained with two maskers – one equal in frequency to the signal and another an octave below the signal. The ratio of the slope of the off-frequency function to that of the mid-level portion of the on-frequency function was computed as an estimate of the amount of compression at each frequency. Compression was less frequency selective at low frequencies, so an average of the off-frequency slopes at high frequencies (1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz) was used in computing the ratio for each signal frequency. Results indicated strong compression (∼0.15–0.30) at all frequencies using the averaged off-frequency slopes, indicating little difference in compression across frequencies. Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) input–output (I–O) functions were obtained for each subject at 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. The slopes of the DPOAE I–O functions and the psychophysical growth rates were similar to one another, reinforcing the assumption that the forward-masking procedure is providing an estimate of cochlear compression, at least at frequencies from 1000 to 4000 Hz.

Forward masking in young children: Rocketship psychophysics

A three-alternative forced choice forward masking procedure was embedded in an arcade-style rocketship video game. Human subjects were categorized into five groups; adults and 5-, 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old children. The masker was a 500-msec noise that simulated rocket engines and the 20-msec, 500-Hz sinusoidal signal was achirp from agremlin. The gremlin hid, at random, in one of the three rockets. Subjects responded and interacted with the game by touching the rocket hiding the gremlin. Results revealed that masked thresholds decreased for all groups as a function of the interstimulus interval. The reliability of the psychophysical approach was confirmed and a developmental trend lends support to the hypothesis that auditory processing improves as a function of age. Children’s auditory filters were suggested to be functionally larger than those of adults.

Auditory Time Constants for Off-Frequency Forward Masking in Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Previous research has shown that frequency-specific estimates of auditory time constants for recovery from short-term adaptation can be made using a fixed-probe forward-masking procedure (Nelson & Freyman, 1987) if the masker and the probe stimuli are at the same frequency. This study examines the validity of time-constant estimates for off-frequency forward-masking conditions in which the masker frequency is below (900 Hz) or above (1100 Hz) the probe frequency (1000 Hz). Fixed-probe-level temporal masking functions were obtained from four normal-hearing and four hearing-impaired listeners. Auditory time constants were estimated with iterative least-squares procedures to derive parameter values for an exponential model of recovery from forward masking. After appropriate corrections were made for attenuation to the maskers provided by the auditory filter centered at the probe frequency, recovery from forward masking produced by either off-frequency or on-frequency maskers could be described by a single time constant. That time constant was around 50 ms in normal-hearing listeners and was larger in those hearing-impaired listeners who demonstrated moderate hearing loss at the probe frequency.

Comodulation masking release in a forward-masking paradigm.

Waveforms that yield comodulation masking release (CMR) when they are presented simultaneously with a signal were used in a standard forward-masking procedure. The signal was a 25-ms sample of a 2500-Hz tone. The masker was a band of noise centered at 2500 Hz, 100 Hz in width, and 200 ms in duration. Presented with the masker were two or four cue bands, each 100 Hz wide and centered at various distances from the masker band. These cue bands either all had the same temporal envelope as the masker band (correlated condition) or their common envelope was different from that of the masker band (uncorrelated condition). In the initial experiments, (1) detectability of the tonal signal was 7-18 dB better when the masker band was accompanied by cue bands than when it was not--an effect that would be expected from past research on lateral suppression--but further, (2) the signal was about 3 dB more detectable in the correlated conditions than in the uncorrelated conditions. In follow-up experiments, these CMR-like differences between the correlated and uncorrelated conditions were substantially reduced (although not eliminated) by presenting a contralateral, wideband noise that was gated synchronously with the masker and/or cue bands. The implications are that the initial results were attributable in part to the "confusion effects" known to exist in certain temporal-masking situations, and that listeners are able to obtain greater information about the temporal extent of a masker band from correlated cue bands than from uncorrelated bands.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of auditory fatigue on psychophysical estimates of cochlear nonlinearities.

Two-tone-suppression (2TS) effects and cubic-difference-tone (CDT) levels were measured using a forward-masking procedure, before and after exposure to an intense tonal stimulus. Changes in 2TS effects were consistent with a change in the nonlinearity, such that the system became more linear, in addition to changes due to attenuation of the primary stimuli F1 and F2. Changes in CDT levels could be accounted for on the basis of a temporary threshold shift at F1 and F2. These results indicate at least a partial dissociation of the mechanisms underlying 2TS and CDT generation.

Dose-dependent changes in the rat cochlea following aminoglycoside intoxication. I. Physiological study

The dose-dependent effects of amikacin on the rat cochlea were studied electrophysiologically using CAP audiograms, amplitude and latency-intensity curves, and CAP tuning curves using a forward masking procedure. The animals were given a daily subcutaneous injection of amikacin in doses ranging from 100 to 1000 mg/kg, for five consecutive days, and were tested one month after the end of the treatment. No functional evidence of ototoxicity was found in animals treated with 100 and 200 mg/kg per day doses of amikacin. The first electrophysiological changes were observed with doses of 300-600 mg/kg per day. They consisted of a broadening of the tip and a hypersensitivity of the tail of the CAP tuning curves, without a change in the CAP threshold sensitivity and latency. Animals treated with 700 mg of amikacin showed an elevation of the tip of the CAP tuning curves and an increase in CAP latency. The classical feature of antibiotic ototoxicity was observed in animals given 800 mg/kg per day of amikacin with an increase in CAP threshold sensitivity and latency, a disruption of the CAP amplitude-intensity function, and a clear hyposensitivity of the CAP tuning curves. These results are discussed in the light of anatomical findings described in a companion paper.

Brainstem, whole-nerve AP and single-fiber suppression in the gerbil: normative data.

Suppression of gerbil brainstem responses (BSRs) and whole-nerve AP responses was studied by means of a forward masking procedure in which a tone-burst probe was preceded by a narrow-band masker. The effectiveness of the masker in reducing the brainstem response to the probe can be diminished by presenting a tone burst simultaneously with the masker. By varying the frequency and intensity of the third stimulus, BSR suppression areas can be determined. These flank the tails and high-frequency sides of BSR tuning curves in a manner similar to the suppression areas of AP tuning curves. The shapes and sizes of the BSR and AP suppression areas vary greatly across probe frequencies and animals. However, the lower boundaries of suppression areas associated with the tails of the tuning curves occur at similar absolute levels regardless of probe frequency or tuning curve shape. The BSR and AP suppression areas are in some respects similar to areas of two-tone rate suppression in single auditory nerve fibers of the gerbil.

A comparison of brainstem, whole-nerve AP and single-fiber tuning curves in the gerbil: Normative data

Tuning curves were obtained from brainstem responses (BSRs) and whole-nerve action potential (AP) responses of gerbils using a forward masking procedure. These are compared with single-fiber tuning curves of the gerbil. The broadness of the tips, tip-to-tail ratios and the slopes of the high frequency sides of the BSR tuning curves are similar to those of the AP curves for probe frequencies ranging from 1 to 8 kHz. Also, the BSR and AP curves share a number of characteristics with single-fiber tuning curves. These results suggest that, like the AP, components of the BSR can be used to measure frequency selectivity in the periphery of an intact auditory system.

Temporal integration of forward masking in listeners having sensorineural hearing loss.

Findings are described from three experiments that were designed to contrast estimates of auditory time and frequency analysis in highly practiced, young adult subjects having sensorineural hearing loss of cochlear origin with subjects having normal hearing. In one experiment, pure-tone detection threshold was measured for two durations of tones. For the hearing-impaired subjects, smaller differences were found between thresholds for the two durations of tones than were found for the normally hearing subjects at test frequencies where the sensitivity loss was greatest. In a subsequent forward masking experiment, masked thresholds were obtained at 3 kHz as a function of masker level at several masker durations. The results indicated that, for the range of values tested, masked probe thresholds changed less as a function of masker duration for the hearing-impaired subjects than for normally hearing subjects. However, forward masking grew as a function of masker level more steeply for the hearing-impaired listeners than for the normally hearing listeners. We believe that this result indicates abnormal temporal processing of sequential sounds. In a third experiment, psychophysical tuning curves were measured in a forward masking procedure for two maskers that differed in duration by approximately an order of magnitude. Again, the hearing-impaired subjects demonstrated less change in forward masking as a function of masker duration than normally hearing subjects. Further, the sharpness of the tuning curves from the hearing-impaired listeners was markedly reduced as compared to normal. It is believed that the results reflect a disruption of the normal temporal and spectral representation of sounds in the hearing-impaired subjects.

AP unmasking and AP tuning in normal and pathological human ears.

In a group of seven normal and eight abnormal hearing subjects three-tone AP unmasking experiments and/or AP tuning experiments were performed during electrocochleography. In the unmasking experiments the Shannon forward masking paradigm was applied, i.e. two simultaneous tones (the masker and the suppressor) influence a test tone in a forward masking procedure. Frequency and intensity of the suppressor were varied. It appeared that unmasking effects are clearly present, i.e. the suppressor stimulus can reduce masking of the AP. This effect, however, is very variable, in normal ears as well as in pathological ears. AP tuning quality deteriorated with increasing hearing loss but no correlation was found between AP unmasking parameters and hearing loss. It seems that AP suppression areas shift less upward (or not at all) than the AP tuning curve does upon increasing the test tone level. These results raise some questions about the intercorrelation of the triad: hearing loss, quality of tuning and suppression effects, as single fibre experiments and psychophysical investigations suggest.

Two-tone unmasking in the forward-masking procedure: suppression or perceptual cueing?

Unmasking in the forward-masking procedure was investigated in two experiments. In the first, signal frequency (fs) was held equal to the frequency of the primary masker component (f1) while the frequency of a secondary masker component f2 (where f2 > f1) was varied. In the second experiment, f1 and f2 were held constant while signal frequency varied. The results are discussed in terms of the effects potential perceptual cues may have on unmasking in the forward-masking procedure.

Relationship between psychophysical tuning curves and "suppression".

This study examined two-tone unmasking and auditory frequency selectivity about 3 kHz for the purpose of demonstrating a qualitative relationship between the two. An adaptive 2IFC forward-masking procedure was used to collect psychophysical tuning curves (PTC's) and two-tone masking data under a quiet and noise condition for the same normal-hearing listeners. In the noise condition, a narrowband noise masker, centered one decade down from the probe, was gated on with the tonal masker(s). Kiang and Moxon [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 55, 620-630 (1974)] have found that low-frequency narrowband noise serves to decrease the sharpness of electrophysiological tuning curves by affecting only the tip segments. The data for four highly practiced listeners indicate that the gated-noise masker was effective in broadening the PTC's and in lessening the magnitude of two-tone unmasking. The mutually reflected changes in tuning curves and in two-tone unmasking indicate a close relationship between frequency selectivity and unmasking: the greater the magnitude of unmasking above the center frequency of the PTC, the sharper the tuning of the PTC.

Two‐Tone suppression areas in the chinchilla auditory nerve

Frequency Threshold Curves (FTC) and two‐tone supression (2TS) areas have been determined for single, primary fibers. 2TS is defined as a 20% or greater decrease in the firing rate evoked by a tone at the unit's characteristic frequency (CF) 10 dB above CF‐threshold associated with the addition of a second variable tone. The shape and size of 2TS areas vary systematically as a function of fiber CF. The low side 2TS areas (second tone below CF) are located outside the limits of the fiber's FTC for high CF units and within the boundaries of the FTC for units with CF of approximately 3 kHz and below. With our criterion, low side 2TS areas are rarely found for low CF units (less than 2 kHz). Whole‐nerve AP tuning curves collected with a forward masking procedure and AP supression areas collected with an unmasking method are similar to the single unit data for probe frequencies above about 4 kHz. Below 4 kHz, AP supression areas are smaller than their unit counterparts. Forward masking AP tuning curves are consistently broader than single unit FTCs.

Masking with Ripple Noise and Spatial Frequency Analysis

A low-pass noise (1500-Hz cutoff) with a sinusoidal variation in its amplitude spectrum (ripple noise) was used to mask a 1000-Hz signal (10 msec) in both a forward and a simultaneous masking procedure. The masked thresholds of the signal were measured as a function of the number of peaks (ripples) in the amplitude spectrum of the noise. The procedure was similar to that used by Houtgast who reported it at the 83rd meeting of the Acoustical Society. Houtgast used a pulsation threshold technique with ripple noise to study frequency selectivity. Pulsation threshold is similar to simultaneous forward and backward masking. The data of the present study indicate that results similar, but not identical, to Houtgast's can be obtained with forward masking alone. The frequency selectivity obtained with the forward masking procedure is sharper than has been previously obtained and might indicate the presence of lateral inhibition.