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Loudness Context Effects in Normal-Hearing Listeners and Cochlear-Implant Users

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Abstract

Context effects in loudness have been observed in normal auditory perception and may reflect a general gain control of the auditory system. However, little is known about such effects in cochlear-implant (CI) users. Discovering whether and how CI users experience loudness context effects should help us better understand the underlying mechanisms. In the present study, we examined the effects of a long-duration (1-s) intense precursor on the loudness relations between shorter-duration (200-ms) target and comparison stimuli. The precursor and target were separated by a silent gap of 50 ms, and the target and comparison were separated by a silent gap of 2 s. For normal-hearing listeners, the stimuli were narrowband noises; for CI users, all stimuli were delivered as pulse trains directly to the implant. Significant changes in loudness were observed in normal-hearing listeners, in line with earlier studies. The CI users also experienced some loudness changes but, in contrast to the results from normal-hearing listeners, the effect did not increase with increasing level difference between precursor and target. A “dual-process” hypothesis, used to explain earlier data from normal-hearing listeners, may provide an account of the present data by assuming that one of the two mechanisms, involving “induced loudness reduction,” was absent or reduced in CI users.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by NIH grant R01 DC012262. Author NW was supported by Advanced Bionics and by a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, N218 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Rd., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Ningyuan Wang & Andrew J. Oxenham

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, University of Minnesota, Rm 8-323 Phillips Wangensteen Building, 420 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Heather A. Kreft & Andrew J. Oxenham

Authors
  1. Ningyuan Wang
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  2. Heather A. Kreft
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  3. Andrew J. Oxenham
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Correspondence to Ningyuan Wang.

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Wang, N., Kreft, H.A. & Oxenham, A.J. Loudness Context Effects in Normal-Hearing Listeners and Cochlear-Implant Users. JARO 16, 535–545 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-015-0523-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-015-0523-y

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