Perception of the external world is based on the integration of inputs from different sensory modalities. Recent experimental findings suggest that this phenomenon is present in lower-level cortical areas at early processing stages. The mechanisms underlying these early processes and the organization of the underlying circuitries are still a matter of debate. Here, we investigate audiovisual in...

A dramatic shift in societal demographics will lead to rapid growth in the number of older people with hearing deficits. Poorer performance in suprathreshold speech understanding and temporal processing with age has been previously linked with progressing inner hair cell (IHC) synaptopathy that precedes age-dependent elevation of auditory thresholds. We compared central sound responsiveness aft...

The capability of processing rapid fluctuations in the temporal envelope of sound declines with age and this contributes to older adults' difficulties in understanding speech. Although, changes in central auditory processing during aging have been proposed as cause for communication deficits, an open question remains which stage of processing is mostly affected by age related changes. We invest...

OBJECTIVE Direct electrophysiological recordings in epilepsy patients offer an opportunity to study human auditory cortical processing with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. This review highlights recent intracranial studies of human auditory cortex and focuses on its basic response properties as well as modulation of cortical activity during the performance of active behavioral tasks. D...

the authors used high-resolution computed tomography (hrct) for studying 52 congenitally malformed ears in 45 children between five and 10 years of age. in six children the malformations were bilateral. the malformations clinically manifested as microtia, atresia of the external auditory canal and conductive deafness. analyzing anatomical details and pathological changes on hrct axial sections ...

We used positron emission tomography to examine the response of human auditory cortex to spectral and temporal variation. Volunteers listened to sequences derived from a standard stimulus, consisting of two pure tones separated by one octave alternating with a random duty cycle. In one series of five scans, spectral information (tone spacing) remained constant while speed of alternation was dou...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test is a measure to assess auditory temporal resolution, which is the ability to follow rapid changes in the envelope of a sound stimulus over time. We investigated whether unilateral tinnitus affects temporal resolution by the GIN performance. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Hearing tests including the GIN test were performed in 120 ears of 60 patients...

A method is proposed for synthesizing an optimal wavelet based on auditory perception criterion for dyadic filter bank implementation. The design method of this perceptually optimized wavelet is based on the critical band (CB) structure and the temporal resolution of human auditory system (HAS). The construction of this compactly supported wavelet is done by designing the corresponding optimal ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The prevalence of tympanic plate fractures, which are associated with an increased risk of external auditory canal stenosis following temporal bone trauma, is unknown. A review of posttraumatic high-resolution CT temporal bone examinations was performed to determine the prevalence of tympanic plate fractures and to identify any associated temporal bone injuries. MATERIA...

Most research on auditory localization has been done in either a non-reverberant environment or using virtual acoustic space presented under headphones. The Simulated Open Field Environment (SOFE) uses computer controlled loudspeakers in an anechoic chamber to create realistic auditory scenes with simulated sources and echoes. Each approach has didsadvantages; for example the anechoic environme...