RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The effect of presentation level on spectrotemporal modulation detection
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 450957
DO 10.1101/450957
A1 Magits, Sara
A1 Moncada-Torres, Arturo
A1 Van Deun, Lieselot
A1 Wouters, Jan
A1 van Wieringen, Astrid
A1 Francart, Tom
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/10/24/450957.abstract
AB The understanding of speech in noise relies (at least partially) on spectrotemporal modulation sensitivity. This sensitivity can be measured by spectral ripple tests, which can be administered at different presentation levels. However, it is not known how presentation level affects spectrotemporal modulation thresholds. In this work, we present behavioral data for normal-hearing adults which show that at higher ripple densities (2 and 4 ripples/oct), increasing presentation level led to worse discrimination thresholds. Results of a computational model suggested that the higher thresholds could be explained by a worsening of the spectrotemporal representation in the auditory nerve due to broadening of cochlear filters and neural activity saturation. Our results demonstrate the importance of taking presentation level into account when administering spectrotemporal modulation detection tests.