Relationships Among Temporal Fine Structure Sensitivity, Transient Storage Capacity, and Ultra-High Frequency Hearing Thresholds in Tinnitus Patients and Normal Adults of Different Ages

Abstract

BackgroundElderlies and tinnitus patients often find it challenging to process acoustic signals in noisy environments. The sensitivity to temporal fine structure (TFS), the transient storage capacity for TFS, and the ultra-high frequency (UHF) thresholds are all associated with aging-related damage, evidenced by speech-in-noise perception deficits. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationships among TFS sensitivity, transient storage capacity, and UHF thresholds in tinnitus patients and normal adults of different ages.MethodsIn the present study, 38 tinnitus patients (age ranging from 21 to 65) and 23 non-tinnitus adults (age ranging from 22 to 56) were enrolled, and some of their auditory indicators were examined, including the TFS-adaptive frequency (TFS-AF), break in interaural correlation (BIAC) delay threshold, and UHF thresholds.ResultsWe found no significant difference in TFS-AF thresholds and BIAC delay thresholds between the tinnitus group and normal group, while their relationships with age were more evident in the tinnitus group. Moreover, these two tests were only significantly correlated in the tinnitus group. UHF thresholds were significantly correlated with TFS-AF thresholds only in the tinnitus group, suggesting that the UHF hearing was positively associated with the TFS sensitivity.ConclusionThese findings indicated that the influencing factors, such as tinnitus and UHF thresholds, should be fully considered when examining age-related hearing decline, because the combination of tinnitus and poor UHF hearing might play a role in affecting hearing ability, such as TFS sensitivity.

The relationship between interaural delay in binaural gap detection and sensitivity to temporal fine structure in young adults with or without musical training experience

“…For consistency and reproducibility, the parameters and procedures of the BIC delay threshold test have been described in detail in multiple previous studies ( Huang et al, 2009 ; Li et al, 2009 , 2013 ; Lei and Ding, 2021 ; Ding et al, 2022 ). There were two kinds of signals; in one presentation, the left-headphone noise was an exact copy of the right-headphone noise.…”

“…The relationship between interaural delay in binaural gap detection and sensitivity to TFS may vary in populations with different characteristics. A recent study (age range 21–65 years) found that the BIC delay threshold and TFS-AF tests were significantly correlated in a tinnitus group but not in a normal group, since binaural integration may be more difficult due to overt/covert hearing loss with aging and tinnitus ( Ding et al, 2022 ). However, both BIC delay threshold and TFS-AF tests are binaural-based tests that are likely to be affected by monaural coding of TFS information before binaural interaction ( Whiteford et al, 2017 ).…”

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M and Cao C (2022) The relationship between interaural delay in binaural gap detection and sensitivity to temporal fine structure in young adults with or without musical training experience.

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