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At least 721 records · Page 40Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Response magnitude and timing of auditory response initiation in the inferior colliculus of the awake chinchilla.

Recent single-unit studies in anesthetized cats have revealed that the latency and strength of transient responses to tone burst stimuli are determined largely by stimulus events in the first few ms of the signal. The present study sought to extend these findings by studying the inferior colliculus potential (ICP) in unanesthetized chinchillas. The ICP magnitude and latency were studied as a function of the plateau amplitude and rise time of noise burst stimuli. ICP amplitude increased with stimulus amplitude and decreased with stimulus rise time. ICP latency decreased with stimulus amplitude and increased with stimulus rise time. The absolute values of the ICP latencies confirmed that it is only the first few ms of the stimulus which determine the timing of response initiation, and therefore, that it is not the plateau level of the stimulus that directly determines the latent period. These data constitute a direct link between earlier single-unit studies in anesthetized animals and brainstem-evoked potential data in animals and man.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Computation, rhythm, and cerebral slow waves.

The trajectories of data and modelling from formerly divergent research efforts now seem to be converging to an unexpected region of the phase space of neuroscience. Computational network theory and simulation assume that temporal rhythm may be a significant parameter for the successful organization of nonlinear analog computation effected by hierarchical sets of biological neurons and of nonbiological circuitry alike. For neurobiology, the apparently chaotic rhythms of cerebral compound field potentials--the electroencephalogram (EEG) and slow waves of event related brain potentials (ERBP)--have long been a phenomenological embarrassment, of only marginal clinical utility. But recent data from molecular biophysics, nonlinear dynamics, artificial intelligence, and scalp-conducted human electrocorticography suggest a possible functional role in the serial gating of neural network computations for the familiar theta-alpha-beta rhythms of the EEG clinic.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed1985

[Tachistophony, a measuring method for time threshold in hearing. A contribution to hearing theory].

Tachistophony is presented as a method of measuring time-thresholds for understanding spoken signals and for recognising sound levels. The minimum total-time of periodically interrupted sound-events per second is assessed. The pause-total can reach a value between 4 and 9 times (in extreme cases up to 14 times) the sound flow period. The total of sound-pulses is measured only at 250 to 100 ms, with the recognition of values still operative. Due to the low information-content of numerical words their time-threshold is the lowest. The time-threshold lies considerably higher for one-syllable words and sentences with a higher information-content. The superiority of the left ear with dichotic stimulation is confirmed with monaural tachistophonic stimulation. These values are related to phase-frequencies of between 13 and 40 Hz. When the phase-frequency is lowered, comprehension below 8 Hz falls considerably. This is less apparent with phase-frequencies between 40 and 110 Hz.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed2005

Cochlear implantation in children younger than 12 months.

OBJECTIVES: As a result of universal newborn hearing screening and improved evaluation tools, many children with severe to profound hearing loss are being diagnosed as infants. This affords the opportunity to provide these children access to cochlear implantation, although medical and audiologic challenges must be addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of cochlear implantation in children who are younger than 1 year. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted of 18 children who had confirmed severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss and received cochlear implants at our medical center before 12 months of age. The length of device usage ranged from 6 months to 4 years, 5 months. The main outcomes measured were perioperative and postoperative surgical/medical aspects, the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale and age-appropriate phoneme, and word and sentence recognition tests, when appropriate. RESULTS: All children had full insertions of the electrode array without surgical complications and are developing age-appropriate auditory perception and oral language skills. CONCLUSIONS: Early implantation is feasible and beneficial in some children who are younger than 12 months and should be considered with attention to variables involved in the decision-making process, including possible increased surgical risk, skull size and scalp thickness, and mastoid development.

Auditory Threshold↗
PubMed2000

Brain correlates of stuttering and syllable production. A PET performance-correlation analysis.

To distinguish the neural systems of normal speech from those of stuttering, PET images of brain blood flow were probed (correlated voxel-wise) with per-trial speech-behaviour scores obtained during PET imaging. Two cohorts were studied: 10 right-handed men who stuttered and 10 right-handed, age- and sex-matched non-stuttering controls. Ninety PET blood flow images were obtained in each cohort (nine per subject as three trials of each of three conditions) from which r-value statistical parametric images (SPI¿r¿) were computed. Brain correlates of stutter rate and syllable rate showed striking differences in both laterality and sign (i.e. positive or negative correlations). Stutter-rate correlates, both positive and negative, were strongly lateralized to the right cerebral and left cerebellar hemispheres. Syllable correlates in both cohorts were bilateral, with a bias towards the left cerebral and right cerebellar hemispheres, in keeping with the left-cerebral dominance for language and motor skills typical of right-handed subjects. For both stutters and syllables, the brain regions that were correlated positively were those of speech production: the mouth representation in the primary motor cortex; the supplementary motor area; the inferior lateral premotor cortex (Broca's area); the anterior insula; and the cerebellum. The principal difference between syllable-rate and stutter-rate positive correlates was hemispheric laterality. A notable exception to this rule was that cerebellar positive correlates for syllable rate were far more extensive in the stuttering cohort than in the control cohort, which suggests a specific role for the cerebellum in enabling fluent utterances in persons who stutter. Stutters were negatively correlated with right-cerebral regions (superior and middle temporal gyrus) associated with auditory perception and processing, regions which were positively correlated with syllables in both the stuttering and control cohorts. These findings support long-held theories that the brain correlates of stuttering are the speech-motor regions of the non-dominant (right) cerebral hemisphere, and extend this theory to include the non-dominant (left) cerebellar hemisphere. The present findings also indicate a specific role of the cerebellum in the fluent utterances of persons who stutter. Support is also offered for theories that implicate auditory processing problems in stuttering.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Differences in resting state regional cerebral blood flow assessed with 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT and brain atlas matching between depressed patients with and without tinnitus.

An increased occurrence of major depressive disorder has been reported in tinnitus patients, and of tinnitus in depressive patients. Involvement of several Brodmann areas (BAs) has been reported in tinnitus perception. The aim of this study was to assess the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes in depressed patients with and without tinnitus. The rCBF distribution at rest was compared among 45 patients with a lifetime prevalence of major depressive disorder, of whom 27 had severe tinnitus, and 26 normal healthy subjects. 99mTc-hexamethylenepropylene amine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), using a three-headed gamma camera, was performed and the uptake in 34 functional sub-volumes of the brain bilaterally was assessed by a computerized brain atlas. Decreased rCBF in right frontal lobe BA 45 (P<0.05), the left parietal lobe BA 39 (P<0.00) and the left visual association cortex BA 18 (P<0.05) was found in tinnitus patients compared with non-tinnitus patients. The proportion of tinnitus patients with pronounced rCBF alterations in one or more of the temporal lobe BAs 41+21+22 was increased compared to gender matched controls (P<0.00) and patients without tinnitus (P<0.05). Positive correlations were found between trait anxiety scales from the Karolinska Scales of Personality and rCBF in tinnitus patients only in three limbic BAs (P<0.01), and inverse correlations in non-tinnitus patients only in five BAs subserving auditory perception and processing (P<0.05). rCBF differences between healthy controls and depressed patients with and without tinnitus were found in this study. The rCBF alterations were distributed in the cortex and were particularly specific in the auditory cortex. These findings suggest that taking audiological symptoms into account may yield more consistent results between rCBF studies of depression.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Sound lateralization during passive whole-body rotation.

The effect of passive whole-body rotation about the earth-vertical axis on the lateralization of dichotic sound was investigated in human subjects. Pure-tone pulses (1 kHz; 0.1 s duration) with various interaural time differences were presented via headphones during brief, low-amplitude rotation (angular acceleration 400 degrees/s2; maximum velocity 90 degrees/s; maximum displacement 194 degrees ). Subjects made two-alternative forced-choice (left/right) judgements on the acoustic stimuli. The auditory median plane of the head was shifted opposite to the direction of rotation, indicating a shift of the intracranial auditory percept in the direction of rotation. The mean magnitude of the shift was 10.7 micros. This result demonstrates a slight, but significant, influence of rotation on sound lateralization, suggesting that vestibular information is taken into account by the brain for accurate localization of stationary sound sources during natural head and body motion.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Some otological differences between pigmented and albino-type guinea pigs.

Cochlear action potential thresholds across frequency (AP audiograms) and AP tuning curves were compared in albino (Dunkin-Hartley) guinea pigs and normal pigmented animals. AP audiograms were very similar; on average the albinos had AP thresholds 2-3 dB lower at 2 kHz and below compared with the pigmented guinea pig. AP tuning curves at 16 kHz were, on average, significantly less sharply tuned in the albino, but similar at 8, 4, and 2 kHz. Although we find only small differences in these measures of normal cochlear function, other evidence in the literature suggests that in auditory research the use of "albino" guinea pigs is best avoided.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

An anatomical and physiological study of regeneration of the eighth nerve in the leopard frog.

The ability of auditory fibers in the anuran's VIIIth nerve to regenerate back into the central nervous system after their axons have been served was studied electrophysiologically and anatomically. Single unit recordings in the regenerated portion of the nerve indicate that: (1) fibers from both the amphibian and basilar papillae regenerate; (2) tuning curves of regenerated fibers, as in normal fibers, are 'V' shaped and retain their sharp frequency selectivity; (3) latency and threshold measurements of regenerated fibers are similar to values obtained in intact nerves. Filling the posterior branch of the regenerated VIIIth nerve with horseradish peroxidase indicates that fibers in this branch remain together within the nerve during regeneration and succeed in terminating in their correct target nuclei and no others.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Behavioral measures of vowel sensitivity in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus): effects of age and genetic origin.

Absolute thresholds for complex vowel stimuli were compared in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) as a function of age and genetic origin. For a group of 12-month-old 'domestic' gerbils obtained from Tumblebrook Farms, lowest thresholds averaging 14 dB SPL occurred for the vowel /alpha/, which had its most intense formant (F1) at 730 Hz. Thresholds increased to 22 dB SPL for /i/, which had its two most intense formants (F1 and F3) at 270 and 3000 Hz, respectively. Highest thresholds of 30 dB SPL occurred for /u/, which had its most intense formant (F1) at 300 Hz. Thresholds increased by about 10 dB per year through the ages of 12-36 months, with most of the loss occurring for /alpha/ and /u/. The domestic gerbils' /alpha/ thresholds corresponded well to those measured in aging gerbils in electrophysiological studies. Vowel thresholds were also measured in a group of first-generation offspring of 'wild' gerbils imported from Asia, first tested at the ages of 18-24 months. Thresholds were similar to those of the 12-month-old domestic gerbils, and showed no hearing loss with age up to 36 months. The wild gerbils were also free of ear impactions, which commonly occurred in the domestic gerbils. The hearing loss with age in the domestic gerbils may have a genetic basis, and might be due to inbreeding in the domestic strain, in contrast to the hybrid vigor of the wild gerbils.

Aging↗
PubMed1983

Cochlear dysfunction in the jerker mouse.

Surface preparations show that the jerker (je/je) mutant mouse has a normal total number of cochlear hair cells when young but that these progressively degenerate with increasing age. However, no gross 8th nerve action potentials or cochlear microphonics could be detected at the round window in 12-20-day-old mutants, although many hair cells still appear to be intact at these ages. Light microscopy of surface preparations is apparently a poor indicator of the functional state of hair cells, at least in genetically determined inner ear defects. The endocochlear potential (EP) was significantly higher in the mutants than in controls during the maturation of the cochlea. During anoxia induced in adults, EP fell to a significantly less negative value in mutants than in control mice. This abnormality in the anoxia potential probably reflects an organ of Corti abnormality.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Behavioral limits of auditory temporal resolution in the rat: amplitude modulation and duration discrimination.

Thresholds for detecting the presence of amplitude modulation in a noise carrier were determined for rats using conditioned avoidance procedures. There was a progressive increase in threshold with modulation rates between 5 Hz and 2 kHz. Further tests were conducted to determine difference thresholds for detecting an increase in modulation rate for standard rates of 10, 50, and 100 Hz. The size of the difference threshold increased progressively as the standard rate increased. In addition, thresholds for detecting an increase in the duration of a noise burst were determined for various standard durations. The difference thresholds were constant for values between 10 and 50 ms but increased progressively, with standard durations between 0.1 and 1.0 s.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A review of age changes in perceptual information processing ability with regard to driving.

Age related changes in the sensory modalities of hearing and vision, along with changes in the information processing abilities of selective attention, perceptual style, and perceptual-motor reaction time, were reviewed in the context of driving behavior. Literature reported, indicated age related changes in these abilities have relevance for the understanding of the driving behavior of the older adult.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed1983

An analysis of psychophysical tuning curves in normal and pathological ears.

Simultaneous psychophysical tuning curves were obtained from normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, using probe tones that were either at similar sound pressure levels or at similar sensation levels for the two types of listeners. Tuning curves from the hearing-impaired listeners were flat, erratic, broad, and/or inverted, depending upon the frequency region of the probe tone and the frequency characteristics of the hearing loss. Tuning curves from the normal-hearing listeners at low-SPL's were sharp as expected; tuning curves at high-SPL's were discontinuous. An analysis of high-SPL tuning curves suggests that tuning curves from normal-hearing listeners reflect low-pass filter characteristics instead of the sharp bandpass filter characteristics seen with low-SPL probe tones. Tuning curves from hearing-impaired listeners at high-SPL probe levels appear to reflect similar low-pass filter characteristics, but with much more gradual high-frequency slopes than in the normal ear. This appeared as abnormal downward spread of masking. Relatively good temporal resolution and broader tuning mechanisms were proposed to explain inverted tuning curves in the hearing-impaired listeners.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Intense sounds may alter the mechanical properties of the cochlear partition.

Morphological and structural changes have been observed in various cochlear elements following exposure to intense sounds. Whether these changes are sufficient to locally alter the mechanical properties of the cochlear partition is unknown. Here a psychophysical test for mechanical changes in the partition is developed and applied. Monaural exposures to an intense 1700-Hz tone were preceded and followed by a binaural task in which the subject adjusted the interaural time difference of a 250-Hz tone in order to perceive it as centered inside his head. If the local gradients of mass, stiffness, and/or coupling were altered by the exposure, then the post-exposure settings should contain a time lead toward one ear or the other, depending upon the direction of the mechanical changes. Following exposure to an intense tone, the maximum temporary threshold shift (TTS) is often displaced upward in frequency from the exposure stimulus--an effect widely known as the half-octave shift in TTS. Time leads toward the nonexposed ear in the post-exposure centering task would be in accord with a mechanical-change explanation of the half-octave shift. Settings in this direction were observed with the most intense and longest durations of exposure used, but with less intense or shorter exposures, the post-exposure settings were initially toward the exposed ear. Thus, the psychophysical evidence reported here supports the idea that exposure to intense sounds does produce temporary, local changes in cochlear mechanics, but it fails to provide a simple confirmation of the possibility that these mechanical changes underlie the half-octave shift in TTS.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The effects of intensity on the detection of interaural differences of time in high-frequency trains of clicks.

Threshold values of interaural differences of time (delta IDTs ) were measured for trains of dichotic clicks whose levels were 20, 40, or 60 dB SPL. All clicks were bandpass filtered at 4 kHz, and the number of clicks in the train (n) was 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32. The interclick interval (ICI) was 5, 2, or 1 ms. Performance was compared to that of an ideal integrator of information, which produces slopes of - 0.5 when log delta IDT versus log n is plotted. The results showed that increases in level had no effect on the slopes of the log-log functions regardless of the ICI but did decrease the intercepts. Shortening the ICI caused the slopes to go from nearly - 0.5 towards 0.0. The improvement with level could be explained by either a decrease in the temporal variability of neural discharges, or by an increase in the number of samples of IDT at higher intensities brought on by increased firing rates or the activation of more auditory units. A review of the physiological literature found the most parsimonious explanation to be that the decline in threshold IDT was mediated by an increase in the number of active units, each possessing the same degree of adaptation.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1990

Restarting the adapted binaural system.

Previous experiments using trains of high-frequency filtered clicks have shown that for lateralization based on interaural difference of time or level, there is a decline in the usefulness of interaural information after the signal's onset when the clicks are presented at a high rate. This process has been referred to as "binaural adaptation." Of interest here are the conditions that produce a recovery from adaptation and allow for a resampling of the interaural information. A train of clicks with short interclick intervals is used to produce adaptation. Then, during its course, a treatment such as the insertion of a temporal gap or the addition of another "triggering" sound is tested for its ability to restart the binaural process. All of the brief triggers tested are shown to be capable of promoting recovery from adaptation. This suggests that, while the binaural system deals with the demands of high-frequency stimulation with rapid adaptation, it quickly cancels the adaptation in response to stimulus change.

Attention↗