The Early Aging Temporal Processing: Evidence from Temporal Modulation Transfer Function with Background Noise
,
Abstract
Background and Aim: Temporal processing deficits are reported to contribute to speech perception difficulties in noise. However, traditional temporal resolution tasks, which are often conducted in quiet conditions, may not always reflect a noticeable decline in temporal resolution abilities until individuals reach their late 40s or 50s. By examining temporal processing under background noise, this study aimed to provide new insights into the early manifestations of age-related auditory decline and its impact on speech perception in noise among early adulthood.
Methods: A Cross-Sectional 4 x 2 mixed Comparative Research Design was implemented, with four levels of between-group variables (age groups) and two levels of testing conditions (quiet vs noise). Eighty participants with normal hearing were recruited across four groups within the age range of 20-40 years. Temporal modulation transfer function (TMTF)was measured under a quiet and noisy background for broadband stimuli for nine modulation frequencies (2Hz - 512Hz). Signal-to-Noise Ratio-50% (SNR50) was measured using an adaptive procedure for nonsense words.
Results: One-way Analysis of Variance revealed a significant age-related decline in TMTF after 35 years, with a more pronounced deterioration in noisy conditions, particularly at higher modulation frequencies. Paired t-test revealed a significant impact of background noise became more evident after this age. Additionally, correlation analysis showed a stronger relationship between peak sensitivity, bandwidth, and SNR50 in noisy conditions.
Conclusions: The study concludes that assessing temporal processing in background noise can effectively detect early changes and better explain speech perception difficulties in noisy environments.
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24. Saxena U, Damarla V, Kumar SBR, Chacko G. Evaluation of Temporal Processing Abilities in Competing Noise. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022;74(Suppl 3):3604-9. [DOI:10.1007/s12070-020-02098-z]
25. Bacon SP, Viemeister NF. Simultaneous masking by gated and continuous sinusoidal maskers. J Acoust Soc Am. 1985;78(4):1220-30. [DOI:10.1121/1.392890]
26. Narne VK, Chatni S, Kalaiah MK, Chandan HS, Deepthi M, Barman A. Temporal processing and speech perception in quiet and noise across different degrees of ANSD. Hearing Balance Commun. 2015;13(3):100-10. [DOI:10.3109/21695717.2015.1021565]
27. Moore BC, Glasberg BR. Temporal modulation transfer functions obtained using sinusoidal carriers with normally hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. J Acoust Soc Am. 2001;110(2):1067-73. [DOI:10.1121/1.1385177]
28. Bacon SP, Grantham DW. Modulation masking: effects of modulation frequency, depth, and phase. J Acoust Soc Am. 1989;85(6):2575-80. [DOI:10.1121/1.397751]
29. Bacon SP, Viemeister NF. The temporal course of simultaneous tone-on-tone masking. J Acoust Soc Am. 1985;78(4):1231-5. [DOI:10.1121/1.392891]
30. Yuan Y, Lleo Y, Daniel R, White A, Oh Y. The Impact of Temporally Coherent Visual Cues on Speech Perception in Complex Auditory Environments. Front Neurosci. 2021;15:678029. [DOI:10.3389/fnins.2021.678029]
31. Babkoff H, Fostick L. Age-related changes in auditory processing and speech perception: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Eur J Ageing. 2017;14(3):269-81. [DOI:10.1007/s10433-017-0410-y]
32. Shetty HN. Temporal cues and the effect of their enhancement on speech perception in older adults - A scoping review. J Otol. 2016;11(3):95-101. [DOI:10.1016/j.joto.2016.08.001]
33. Roque L, Karawani H, Gordon-Salant S, Anderson S. Effects of Age, Cognition, and Neural Encoding on the Perception of Temporal Speech Cues. Front Neurosci. 2019;13:749. [DOI:10.3389/fnins.2019.00749]
2. Narne VK. Temporal processing and speech perception in noise by listeners with auditory neuropathy. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e55995. [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0055995]
3. Humes LE, Dubno JR. Factors Affecting Speech Understanding in Older Adults. In: Gordon-Salant S, Frisina R, Popper A, Fay R, editors. The Aging Auditory System. 1st ed. New York, NY: Springer; 2010. p. 211-57.
4. Moore DR, Edmondson-Jones M, Dawes P, Fortnum H, McCormack A, Pierzycki RH, et al. Relation between speech-in-noise threshold, hearing loss and cognition from 40-69 years of age. PLoS One. 2014;9(9):e107720. [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0107720]
5. Mussoi BSS, Brown CJ. Age-Related Changes in Temporal Resolution Revisited: Electrophysiological and Behavioral Findings From Cochlear Implant Users. Ear Hear. 2019;40(6):1328-44. [DOI:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000732]
6. Yost WA, Patterson R, Sheft S. A time domain description for the pitch strength of iterated rippled noise. J Acoust Soc Am. 1996;99(2):1066-78. [DOI:10.1121/1.414593]
7. Hopkins K, Moore BC. The importance of temporal fine structure information in speech at different spectral regions for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. J Acoust Soc Am. 2010;127(3):1595-608. [DOI:10.1121/1.3293003]
8. Füllgrabe C, Moore BC, Stone MA. Age-group differences in speech identification despite matched audiometrically normal hearing: contributions from auditory temporal processing and cognition. Front Aging Neurosci. 2015;6:347. [DOI:10.3389/fnagi.2014.00347]
9. Anderson S, Parbery-Clark A, White-Schwoch T, Kraus N. Aging affects neural precision of speech encoding. J Neurosci. 2012;32(41):14156-64. [DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2176-12.2012]
10. Kumar AU, A V S. Temporal processing abilities across different age groups. J Am Acad Audiol. 2011;22(1):5-12. [DOI:10.3766/jaaa.22.1.2]
11. Jain C, Kumar AU. Relationship among psychophysical abilities, speech perception in noise and working memory in individuals with normal hearing sensitivity across different age groups. [Doctoral Dissertation]. Mysore: University of Mysore; 2016.
12. Houtgast T, Steeneken HJM. A review of the MTF concept in room acoustics and its use for estimating speech intelligibility in auditoria. J Acoust Soc Am. 1985;77(3):1069-77. [DOI:10.1121/1.392224]
13. Wagener KC, Brand T. Sentence intelligibility in noise for listeners with normal hearing and hearing impairment: influence of measurement procedure and masking parameters. Int J Audiol. 2005;44(3):144-56. [DOI:10.1080/14992020500057517]
14. Kujawa SG, Liberman MC. Adding insult to injury: cochlear nerve degeneration after "temporary" noise-induced hearing loss. J Neurosci. 2009;29(45):14077-85. [DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2845-09.2009]
15. Viemeister NF. Temporal modulation transfer functions based upon modulation thresholds. J Acoust Soc Am. 1979;66(5):1364-80. [DOI:10.1121/1.383531]
16. Vaidyanath R, Yathiraj A. Screening checklist for auditory processing in adults (SCAP-A): development and preliminary findings. J Hear Sci. 2014;4(1):27-37.
17. Zeng FG, Oba S, Garde S, Sininger Y, Starr A. Temporal and speech processing deficits in auditory neuropathy. Neuroreport. 1999;10(16):3429-35. [DOI:10.1097/00001756-199911080-00031]
18. Nike. Temporal Modulation Transfer Function Regression Fit [Internet]. MATLAB Central File Exchange- MathWorks. 2016 [cited 2025 Mar 25]. Available from: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/58747-temporal-modulation-transfer-function-regression-fit
19. Kumar AU, Sandeep M. Auditory cognitive training module. ARF funded departmental project. All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore. 2013; DP113. Available from: http://203.129.241.86:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/3946
20. He NJ, Mills JH, Ahlstrom JB, Dubno JR. Age-related differences in the temporal modulation transfer function with pure-tone carriers. J Acoust Soc Am. 2008;124(6):3841-9. [DOI:10.1121/1.2998779]
21. Shen Y. Gap detection and temporal modulation transfer function as behavioral estimates of auditory temporal acuity using band-limited stimuli in young and older adults. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2014;57(6):2280-92. [DOI:10.1044/2014_JSLHR-H-13-0276]
22. Vasudevamurthy S, Kumar U A. Effect of Occupational Noise Exposure on Cognition and Suprathreshold Auditory Skills in Normal-Hearing Individuals. Am J Audiol. 2022;31(4):1098-115.
23. Dhrruvakumar S, Shambhu T, Konadath S. Assessment of Hidden Hearing Loss in Individuals Exposed to Occupational Noise Using Cochlear, Neural, Temporal Functions and Quality of Life Measures. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022;74(Suppl 1):524-31. [DOI:10.1007/s12070-021-02373-7]
24. Saxena U, Damarla V, Kumar SBR, Chacko G. Evaluation of Temporal Processing Abilities in Competing Noise. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022;74(Suppl 3):3604-9. [DOI:10.1007/s12070-020-02098-z]
25. Bacon SP, Viemeister NF. Simultaneous masking by gated and continuous sinusoidal maskers. J Acoust Soc Am. 1985;78(4):1220-30. [DOI:10.1121/1.392890]
26. Narne VK, Chatni S, Kalaiah MK, Chandan HS, Deepthi M, Barman A. Temporal processing and speech perception in quiet and noise across different degrees of ANSD. Hearing Balance Commun. 2015;13(3):100-10. [DOI:10.3109/21695717.2015.1021565]
27. Moore BC, Glasberg BR. Temporal modulation transfer functions obtained using sinusoidal carriers with normally hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. J Acoust Soc Am. 2001;110(2):1067-73. [DOI:10.1121/1.1385177]
28. Bacon SP, Grantham DW. Modulation masking: effects of modulation frequency, depth, and phase. J Acoust Soc Am. 1989;85(6):2575-80. [DOI:10.1121/1.397751]
29. Bacon SP, Viemeister NF. The temporal course of simultaneous tone-on-tone masking. J Acoust Soc Am. 1985;78(4):1231-5. [DOI:10.1121/1.392891]
30. Yuan Y, Lleo Y, Daniel R, White A, Oh Y. The Impact of Temporally Coherent Visual Cues on Speech Perception in Complex Auditory Environments. Front Neurosci. 2021;15:678029. [DOI:10.3389/fnins.2021.678029]
31. Babkoff H, Fostick L. Age-related changes in auditory processing and speech perception: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Eur J Ageing. 2017;14(3):269-81. [DOI:10.1007/s10433-017-0410-y]
32. Shetty HN. Temporal cues and the effect of their enhancement on speech perception in older adults - A scoping review. J Otol. 2016;11(3):95-101. [DOI:10.1016/j.joto.2016.08.001]
33. Roque L, Karawani H, Gordon-Salant S, Anderson S. Effects of Age, Cognition, and Neural Encoding on the Perception of Temporal Speech Cues. Front Neurosci. 2019;13:749. [DOI:10.3389/fnins.2019.00749]
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How to Cite
1.
Singh AN, Eranna PK, Bhat JS. The Early Aging Temporal Processing: Evidence from Temporal Modulation Transfer Function with Background Noise. Aud Vestib Res. 2025;.
