The use of bone-conducted masking noise with the auditory steady-state response
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Date
2007
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Publisher
Ohio State University. Department of Speech and Hearing Science
Abstract
The present study investigated the feasibility of using a bone conducted masking noise to effectively mask an air conducted auditory steady-state response (ASSR) stimulus in normal hearing subjects. Ten normal hearing adults, ages 21 to 31, participated in this study. Behavioral and ASSR thresholds were measured for an air conducted (AC) 1 kHz mixed modulation tone in the presence of varying levels of bone conducted (BC) white noise in order to generate behavioral and electrophysiological masking level functions. Linear regression lines were fit to these data. Results of this investigation showed that BC white noise shifted both ASSR and behavioral thresholds in a linear fashion and that the behavioral and ASSR masking functions were strongly correlated with each other (r = 0.761, p < 0.001). Also, individual listener masking function slopes for ASSR and behavioral masked thresholds were significantly correlated (r = 0.660, p < 0.05). These results suggest that BC white noise can mask an AC 1 kHz mixed modulation tone during both behavioral and ASSR measures. The results also indicate that behavioral masking functions reasonably predict the occurrence and manner of threshold shift to BC masking noise in ASSR recordings.