Research Article

Comparison between the auditory lateralization ability of normal hearing elderly and youth with filtered noise

Abstract

Background and Aim: Aging affects the auditory lateralization function that is achieved thr­ough processing binaural cues. One of the most important benefits of this process, along with getting informed of sound location, is increasing signal to noise ratio and improvement of speech comprehension in crowded environments, which is one of the most common hearing complaints in the elderly. This study aimed to compare the performance of the lateralization function under the headphone conditions between the elderly and the youth, with a filtered noise stimulus.
Methods: This study was performed between 22 elderly aged 60−80 and 22 young people aged 20−30. The auditory threshold was less than 25 dB HL in 250 to 4000 Hz frequencies in both groups. By applying a time delay of −880 to +880 microsecond and the intensity difference of −10 to +10 dB between the two ears, and with high-pass and low-pass noise stimulus, the lateralization function was examined. For description of the lateralization function, scatter diag­ram and in order to compare the results, paired t-test and independent t-test were used.
Results: Findings showed that the elderly's errors were increased in all tests compared to those of the youth group. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the two groups in lateralization by time clues with low-pass and high-pass noise.
Conclusion: Results confirm the impairment of the lateralization and processing of binaural cues in the elderly differently.

1. Feyzi V, Hasheminejad N, Jafari Roodbandi AS. [Relationship between visual, hearing and memory disabilities and hand grip strength and the systems usability available to the elderly living in nursing homes in Kerman, Iran]. Iranian Journal of Ageing. 2017;11(4):484-93. Persian. doi: 10.21859/sija-1104484
2. Bellis TJ, Jorgensen LE. Aging of the auditory system and defferential diagnosis of central auditory processing disorder in older listeners. In: Musiek FE, Chermak GD, editors. Handbook of central auditory processing disorder, vol. I. Auditory neuroscience and diagnosis. 2nd ed. San Diego: Plural Publishing; 2014. p. 499-532.
3. Freigang C, Schmiedchen K, Nitsche I, Rübsamen R. Free-field study on auditory localization and discrimi¬nation performance in older adults. Exp Brain Res. 2014;232(4):1157-72. doi: 10.1007/s00221-014-3825-0
4. Sams M, Hämäläinen M, Hari R, McEvoy L. Human auditory cortical mechanisms of sound lateralization: I. Interaural time differences within sound. Hear Res. 1993;67(1-2):89-97.
5. Lotfi Y, Moosavi A, Zamiri Abdollahi F, Bakhshi E, Sadjedi H. Effects of an auditory lateralization training in children suspected to central auditory processing disorder. J Audiol Otol. 2016;20(2):102-8. doi: 10.7874/jao.2016.20.2.102
6. Middlebrooks JC. Sound localization. Handb Clin Neurol. 2015;129:99-116. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-62630-1.00006-8
7. Small SA, Ishida IM, Stapells DR. Infant cortical auditory evoked potentials to lateralized noise shifts produced by changes in interaural time difference. Ear Hear. 2017;38(1):94-102. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000357
8. Edmonds BA, Krumbholz K. Are interaural time and level differences represented by independent or integrated codes in the human auditory cortex? J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2014;15(1):103-14. doi: 10.1007/s10162-013-0421-0
9. Tollin DJ. The lateral superior olive: a functional role in sound source localization. Neuroscientist. 2003;9(2):127-43. doi: 10.1177/1073858403252228
10. Wood KC, Bizley JK. Relative sound localisation abilities in human listeners. J Acoust Soc Am. 2015;138(2):674-86. doi: 10.1121/1.4923452
11. Koehnke J, Besing JM. The effects of aging on binaural and spatial hearing. Semin Hear. 2001;22(3):241-54. doi: 10.1055/s-2001-15629
12. Delphi M, Lotfi MY, Moossavi A, Bakhshi E, Banimostafa M. Reliability of interaural time difference-based localization training in elderly individuals with speech-in-noise perception disorder. Iran J Med Sci. 2017;42(5):437-42.
13. Moosavi A, Hosseini dastgerdi Z, Lotfi Y, Mehrkian S, Bakhshi E, Khavar Ghazalani B. Auditory lateralization ability in children with (central) auditory processing disorder. Iranian Rehabilitation Journal. 2014;12(1):31-7.
14. Strouse A, Ashmead DH, Ohde RN, Grantham DW. Temporal processing in the aging auditory system. J Acoust Soc Am. 1998;104(4):2385-99.
15. Li-Korotky HS. Age-related hearing loss: quality of care for quality of life. Gerontologist. 2012;52(2):265-71. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnr159
16. Babkoff H, Muchnik C, Ben-David N, Furst M, Even-Zohar S, Hildesheimer M. Mapping lateralization of click trains in younger and older populations. Hear Res. 2002;165(1-2):117-27. doi: 10.1016/S0378-5955(02)00292-7
17. Borod J, Obler L, Albert M, Stiefel S. Lateralization for pure tone perception as a function of age and sex. Cortex. 1983;19(2):281-5.
18. Furst M, Aharonson V, Levine RA, Fullerton BC, Tadmor R, Pratt H, et al. Sound lateralization and interaural discrimination. Effects of brainstem infarcts and multiple sclerosis lesions. Hear Res. 2000;143(1-2):29-42. doi: 10.1016/S0378-5955(00)00019-8
19. Foroughan M, Jafari Z, Shirin Bayan P, Ghaem Magham Farahani Z, Rahgozar M. [Validation of mini-mental state examination (MMSE) in the elderly population of Tehran]. Advances in Cognitive Science. 2008;10(2):29-37. Persian.
20. Lotfi Y, Hosseini Dastgerdi Z, Moossavi A, Mehrkian S, Bakhshi E. [Evaluation of auditory lateralization ability and its development in normal children with 8 to 11 years of age]. Audiol. 2014;23(4):60-8. Persian.
21. Green JS, Sanes DH. Early appearance of inhibitory input to the MNTB supports binaural processing during development. J Neurophysiol. 2005;94(6):3826-35. doi: 10.1152/jn.00601.2005
22. Lotfi Y, Ahmadi T, Moossavi A, Bakhshi E. Binaural sensitivity to temporal fine structure and lateralization ability in children with suspected (central) auditory processing disorder. Auris Nasus Larynx. 2018. pii: S0385-8146(18)30370-5. doi: 10.1016/j.anl.2018.06.005
23. Freigang C, Richter N, Rübsamen R, Ludwig AA. Age-related changes in sound localisation ability. Cell Tissue Res. 2015;361(1):371-86. doi: 10.1007/s00441-015-2230-8
24. Bernstein LR, Trahiotis C. Enhancing sensitivity to interaural delays at high frequencies by using "transposed stimuli". J Acoust Soc Am. 2002;112(3 Pt 1):1026-36.
25. Eddins AC, Ozmeral EJ, Eddins DA. How aging impacts the encoding of binaural cues and the perception of auditory space. Hear Res. 2018. pii:S0378-5955(17)30561-0. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.05.001
Files
IssueVol 28 No 1 (2019) QRcode
SectionResearch Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/avr.v28i1.416
Keywords
Elderly; lateralization; low-pass noise; high-pass noise
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Lotfi Y, Bastami M, Hosseini Dastgerdi Z, Bakhshi E. Comparison between the auditory lateralization ability of normal hearing elderly and youth with filtered noise. Aud Vestib Res. 2019;28(1):49-56.