Temporal Characteristics of Azimuthally Moving Sound Source Localization in Patients with Mild and Moderate Sensorineural Hearing Loss

• Published in: Journal of evolutionary biochemistry and physiology Vol. 57; no. 6; pp. 1499 - 1510
• Main Authors: Klishova, E. A., Gvozdeva, A. P., Golovanova, L. E., Andreeva, I. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.11.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Physiology; Auditory system; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Correlation analysis; Evolutionary Biology; Experimental Papers; Hearing loss; Life Sciences; Localization; Sensory neurons; Tinnitus; sensorineural hearing loss; spatial hearing; moving sound source localization; azimuthal motion; temporal characteristics of hearing
• ISSN: 0022-0930; 1608-3202
• DOI: 10.1134/S0022093021060260

The work is devoted to investigation of the auditory motion localization in patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Minimal time to determine direction of azimuthal motion (MTAM) was determined in 15 patients with mild SNHL and 16 patients with moderate SNHL. An illusion of the sound source motion in free field was created by counterdirectional change in the amplitude of sound burst sequences (0.2–8 kHz) at two loudspeakers placed to the left and to the right of the patient at angles of 30°. To determine MTAM, a one-up/one-down adaptive psychoacoustic procedure was implemented with the use of two-alternative forced choice. Individual MTAMs in both groups varied from 0.1 to 1.2 s. Median MTAMs were 0.3 s for mild SNHL and 0.4 s for moderate SNHL. The values were not significantly different from each other; however, they were 3–4 times higher than in normally hearing subjects, 0.1 s. Linear correlation analysis showed that in patients with mild SNHL, there was a direct relationship between MTAM increase and hearing loss. In patients with moderate SNHL, a direct linear relationship was found between MTAM and the duration of the disease, as well as hearing threshold asymmetry, which did not exceed 9 dB. A comparison of MTAMs in patients with and without tinnitus revealed that the symptom has a significant impact on MTAM in moderate, but not mild, SNHL. The obtained data indicate that the worsening of temporal characteristics of auditory motion localization in SNHL is associated not so much with hearing loss as with a decrease in the dynamic range of hearing at high frequencies and the involvement of central auditory system into the pathological process due to their insufficient afferent stimulation.