Hearing Sensitivity to Gliding Rippled Spectra in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Abstract

Objectives: Sensitivity to the gliding of ripples in rippled-spectrum signals was measured in both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Methods: The test signal was a 2 oct wide rippled noise centered at 2 kHz, with the ripples gliding downward along the frequency scale. Both the gliding velocity and ripple density were frequency-proportional across the signal band. Ripple density was specified in ripples/oct and velocity was specified in oct/s. The listener’s task was to discriminate between the signal with gliding ripples and the non-rippled signal. Results: In all listener groups, increasing the ripple density decreased the maximal velocity of detectable ripple gliding. The velocity limit of ripple gliding decreased with hearing loss. Conclusions: The results can be explained by deteriorated temporal resolution in hearing-impaired listeners.