The effects of high-pass masking on stimulus rate changes in the auditory brainstem response
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Date
2014
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Publisher
Ohio State University. Department of Speech and Hearing Science
Abstract
The auditory brainstem response (ABR) to tonal stimuli is routinely used in a clinical setting to obtain estimates of hearing sensitivity. The latency and amplitude of ABR waveforms vary with stimulus frequency, intensity, and rate. However, interactions among these stimulus parameters on the ABR have only recently been fully examined. A study measuring effects of all three stimulus parameters in the same subjects demonstrated a latency shift of ABR Wave V in response to an increase in stimulus rate that was significantly greater for low frequency, low intensity stimuli than for other stimulus conditions tested (Hess and Hood, 2012). The goal of the current study was to replicate these findings and assure frequency regions being tested were appropriately isolated through the use of a high-pass masking paradigm. The current study was designed to further evaluate the interactions among stimulus parameters on the ABR in normal hearing adults. The ABR was recorded from sixteen adults with normal hearing for eight stimulus parameter conditions. Results revealed a significantly greater rate-induced latency shift in Wave V of the ABR for the low frequency, low intensity condition, confirming the results of the Hess and Hood (2012) study. The new finding in this study was that the latencies for all conditions remained similar in relationship with the addition of high-pass masking. These results suggest a frequency effect for lower intensity signals; however, the mechanisms behind this finding remain unknown.