Perceptual Loudness Growth in Cochlear Implant Users

Sungmin Lee,Soo Jung Lee 한국청각언어재활학회 2022 Audiology and Speech Research Vol.18 No.2

Purpose: Despite a growing number of cochlear implant (CI) studies, little attention has been given to loudness perception. The overall purpose of this study is to obtain the perceptual loudness growth from CI users and systematically investigate it with other relevant variables. Methods: Fourteen CI users and 14 normal hearing (NH) adults participated in this study. Loudness growth functions were obtained using three warble tones presented at 500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 4 kHz. Sentence recognition tests were implemented under favorable and adverse noise conditions. Mapping parameters including T-level, C-level, and electrical dynamic range were analyzed in conjunction with outcomes from the loudness growth. Results: The loudness growth curves for CI group were sharper than those for NH group. CI group showed a narrower acoustic dynamic range than NH group. There was no significant relationship between acoustic dynamic range and electrical dynamic range for CI users. Sentence recognition scores in adverse noise conditions were associated with electrical dynamic range in CI users. In NH group, a significant positive relationship was found between sentence recognition scores in adverse condition and acoustic dynamic range. Conclusion: This study showed that the perceptual loudness growth of CI users is not identical to that of NH adults, due to the unique way of signal processing mechanisms. Acoustic dynamic range for CI users seems affected by gain control algorithms. The adjusting mapping parameters associated with loudness may improve speech perception performance regardless of the dynamic range of CIs.

자극음 종류에 따른 쾌적역치, 불쾌역치, 역동범위

신은영,조소현 한국청각언어재활학회 2014 Audiology and Speech Research Vol.10 No.2

This study was to establish the estimates of MCL (Most Comfortable Level), UCL (UnComfortable Level), and DR(Dynamic Range) using different stimuli. There are several types of stimulus; 1) pure tone of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4kHz, 2) narrow band noise of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 kHz, 3) monosyllabic words, 4) bisyllabic words, 5) sentence, and6) speech noise. 40 ears (10 males and 10 females) with normal hearing and without sound tolerance problems werecalculated and the average of the participants’ age was 20.30±1.66 years old. Stimulus was presented by TDH- 39headphone and 5 dB steps of ascending method above threshold using pure tone average or speech recognitionthreshold continuing to the uncomfortable loud level. The nine categories of scaling were used from very soft topainfully loud. The results were as follows: 1) MCL and UCL were showed differences significantly(p < .05) withstimulus type, 2) MCL and UCL of using NBN stimuli were higher than pure tone, speech stimulus (monosyllabicwords, bisyllabic words, sentence) were the highest UCL, 3) MCL and UCL were recommended recordings by bothears. These results can be useful for considering different stimuli according to subject’s sound sensitivity anddifferent situations.

Adaptive Music Loudness Modification for Human Auditory Perception

Jong-Rul Park,Jun Dong Cho 대한전자공학회 2015 ITC-CSCC :International Technical Conference on Ci Vol.2015 No.6

This paper presents audio processing applications understanding human auditory reception responses from electroencephalography (EEG). Considering ambient noisy conditions of listening environment, instant adjust of loudness volume level to the loudness volume level to major beating rhythms causes insensitive auditory stimulation and makes the adjusted loudness volume level become low to listen silent rhythms part. Brainwave activity result from EEG monitors stimulation and perception stages of the auditory cortex. The proposed audio processing application provides intuitive perception with limited amplitudes of beating rhythms.

라우드니스 복원에 기반한 잡음 환경에서의 오디오 청취 향상

박준형(Junhyeong Pak),신종원(Jong Won Shin) 대한전자공학회 2013 전자공학회논문지 Vol.50 No.12

순음을 사용한 측정 방법에 따른 음량증가지각의 검사-재검사 신뢰도

신은영 한국청각언어재활학회 2013 Audiology and Speech Research Vol.9 No.1

The present study was to evaluate the differences with procedures, and to investigate test-retest reliability of category loudness scaling. Ten subjects(20 ears), 19~23 year-old, with normal hearing and no sound tolerance problems were participated in the session which was held twice, with a week interval. Pure tone of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 kHz were presented by using TDH- 39 headphone and ascending method in 5 dB steps from threshold. Nine scaling categories from very soft to painfully loud (Hawkins et al., 1987), and seven categories of loudness ranging from very soft to uncomfortably loud (Cox et al., 1997) were used. The UCL showed lower 10-20 dB but SD was recorded larger than normative data from different country. There were no differences of UCL according to the pure tone frequencies. The test-retest differences of category loudness scaling were investigated within 5 dB. There were differences within 10 dB in different procedures of MCL and UCL. These data might be useful in hearing aid fitting and the rehabilitation.

Measurement of Loudness Discomfort Levels as a Test for Hyperacusis: Test-Retest Reliability and Its Clinical Value

Jaclyn Leigh Vidal,박정미,한재상,Hamzah Alshaikh,박시내 대한이비인후과학회 2022 Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology Vol.15 No.1

Objectives. The aims of this study were to investigate the test-retest reliability of measurements of loudness discomfort levels (LDLs), to suggest cut-off values for diagnosing patients with hyperacusis, and to evaluate the clinical value of LDL measurements as a test for monitoring hyperacusis. Methods. For the test-retest reliability of LDL measurements (study 1), a total of 68 patients who sought consultations at our clinic were subcategorized into four groups: patients with tinnitus (group 1), tinnitus and hearing loss (group 2), hyperacusis (group 3), and normal controls (group 4). Inter-hour and inter-day test-retest reliability values using different stimuli were investigated. For study 2, the clinical value of LDL measurements using pure tone stimuli was analyzed by comparing changes after sound generator use in patients with hyperacusis. Results. In study 1, the group 3 patients showed significantly lower LDLs than the other groups. High test-retest reliability of LDL tests was demonstrated, regardless of the type of stimulus used. The cut-off values for screening patients with hyperacusis were 90 dB HL using pure tone stimuli and 62 dB HL using white-band noise stimuli. In study 2, significantly increased LDLs were correlated with improved symptoms and improved scores on tinnitus questionnaires after sound generator use, indicating that LDL measurement is a reliable test for monitoring hyperacusis during an intervention. Conclusion. LDL measurement is a reliable diagnostic tool to reflect the condition of hyperacusis, especially during the course of treatment.

차량 내 음향 장치의 음압수준 변화에 따른 사용자의 주관적인 지각 차이에 대한 연구

권상현(Sanghyun Kwon),반상우(Sangwoo Bahn),김제용(Jeyong Kim),강신규(Shinkyu Kang),윤명환(Myung Hwan Yun) 대한인간공학회 2010 대한인간공학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2010 No.10

When people hear sounds through sound system, perceptive loudness of each sound pressure level varies with each level. This difference causes some confusion in adjusting volume level and designing the volume level of sound systems. According to previous studies, it is known that perceptive sensitivity of variation in sound pressure level depends on the sound pressure level and frequency of sound source. However, quantitative analysis on user’s perceptive sensitivity of sound level which they actually perceive from the change of sound pressure level has not been studied yet. This study aims to understand the perceptive sensitivity of variation in sound pressure level for some specific frequency bands. To this end, 118 sound samples (frequencies: 500 ㎐, 1 ㎑, 2 ㎑, sound pressure levels: from 40㏈ SPL to 100㏈ SPL) were evaluated by 27 participants (male: 17, female: 10) in the condition of driving automobile. Based on the results of subjective ratings of unit change of sound pressure level and 2㏈ SPL, the characteristics of perceptive sensitivity of variation in sound pressure level were identified. Also, through curve fitting analysis of the subjective rating results, perceptive sensitivity curves of each frequency were estimated. According to the results, when frequency is high, the perceptive sensitivity tends to be more sensitive than the case of low frequency and the sensitivity curve was estimated to have cubic relation. These results could be used to adjust the volume level of sound system in automobile to meet customer’s perceptive characteristics and needs.

도심교통소음의 노출시간에 따른 라우드니스 및 어노이언스의 주관적 반응에 대한 연구

허덕재(Hur, Deog-Jae),조경숙(Jo, Kyoung-Sook),최병호(Choe, Byong-Ho) 한국소음진동공학회 2007 한국소음진동공학회 논문집 Vol.17 No.3

A study has been conducted to investigate the subjective responses of loudness and annoyance according to the exposed time of urban traffic noise in controlled laboratory environment. To make a closer inspection into psychological response relevant to noise characteristics while varying the time of exposure to noise, the subjects were presented a set of noises with different exposed time and requested to judge spontaneously on a 100-unipolar scale. To be concrete, the subjects were exposed to noises being varied in time from 15 sec up to max. 1,200 sec for the controlled traffic noise sources. So far achieved from laborious tests, it has an importance being on the logarithmic relations of perceived loudness and exposed time, say, it is more increased the perceived loudness in the sorter exposed time than in the longer exposed time. However, the trend is said to be not effective for the case of annoyance. On the other hand, the subjective impressions on relative annoyance of noise is shown to be correlated with the noise characteristics such as loudness (sones), tonality and time with logarithmic scale, the product correlation moment being calculated as $R^{2}=0.99$. The variances to be explained for annoyance assessments through varying the time of exposure were ranged between 30 % and 50% for the exposed time, $27{\sim}37%$ for tonality, and $34{\sim}20%$ for loudness, respectively With these results, hopefully, it can be helpful for those who want to work out an experimental design for evaluating an environmental noise or to quantify any psychological dimensions found in annoyance assessments.

정상 청력 성인과 감각신경성 난청 환자에서 검사 방법에 따른 불쾌강도 역치의 비교

장동혁,최정호,전승연,김경미,김동현,한솔,박지혜,박가영,최효정,심현준,안용휘 대한이비인후과학회 2023 대한이비인후과학회지 두경부외과학 Vol.66 No.12

Background and Objectives There are several variations in the technique for measuringloudness discomfort levels (LDL). The aim of this study was to evaluate LDL by measuringpure tone and narrow-band noise (NBN) in adults with normal hearing and in patients withsensorineural hearing loss, and to analyze the correlation of LDL at different frequencies. Subjects and Method Normal listeners (n=41) with the pure tone average of 12 dB HL andpatients with hearing loss (n=42) with the pure tone average of 52 dB HL were studied from2021 to 2022. Pure tone audiometry and LDL test by pure tone and NBN were performed twicein all participants at 250, 500, 1 k, 2 k, 3 k, 4 k, and 8 kHz. Results The LDL test showed some inter-subject variability with the mean being 107.0±9.4d B, 106.0±11.6 dB by pure tone, and 100.1±6.8 dB, 100.4±6.7 dB by NBN (right and left ear,respectively) in the normal hearing group. There were no significant differences between LDLaverage by pure tone or NBN between two groups. Two serial tests showed high test-retest re-liability. There was no difference in LDL between the two groups at each frequency, exceptfor LDL by pure tone at 8 kHz in the left ear. High correlation of LDL was observed betweendifferent frequencies, except between 8 kHz and the other frequencies. Conclusion LDL by pure tone and NBN were consistent with or without hearing loss. Highcorrelation of LDL between different frequencies were shown except at 8 kHz. It might be suf-ficient to measure LDL once by pure tone only, including 8 kHz.

종결법을 결정하는 운율 단서에 대한 지각적 연구

오재혁(Jea Hyuk Oh) 한국어학회 2011 한국어학 Vol.51 No.-

The study is conducted to find prosodic cues that determine syntactic moods in Korean, There were perception test with total 126 stimuli that operated length, pitch and intensity of the end of the declarative utterance. According to the result, length and pitch was important features. Intensity had no effect. With same long sentence of declarative and interrogative, subjects were confused to distinguish them at 6st higher than the original utterance. It recognized as interrogative at Higher than 6st. People pressed button more times when declarative is longer sentence. The sound category of imperative is 3st higher than the original utterance Shorter sentence had many replies. Exclamatory should be at least 6st higher.