Forward masking with frequency-following response analyses

ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze forward masking in normally hearing young people, by using frequency-following responses. Methods: the synthetic syllable /da/ was used for the recordings of ten individuals, in the following conditions: /da/ with no masking, and /da/ after 4, 16, 32, and 64 milliseconds of masking. F-test (ANOVA) was applied for repeated measures with the Greenhouse-Geisser correction to compare testing conditions. For significant differences, multiple comparisons (between pairs of conditions) and Bonferroni correction were used. Data normality was verified by applying the Shapiro-Wilk test, and statistical significance was used at 5%. Results: wave latencies of all masking conditions were compared with those of no masking. A latency delay was observed in the transient region of the response (PV and A) in all masking conditions, except for 64 milliseconds. Latency delay also occurred for waves PW, PX, and PY, which corresponded to the sustained region of the response. Conclusion: forward masking was observed, by using frequency-following responses with /da/ syllable in four intervals (4, 16, 32, and 64 ms) of preceding masking. Forward masking was more evident in the transient region of the response than in the sustained one. This study highlights the importance of electrophysiological testing in temporal processing assessment.

Elaboration of an instrument to evaluate the recognition of Brazilian melodies in children / Criação de um instrumento para avaliar o reconhecimento de melodias brasileiras em crianças

Abstract Introduction: There is evidence pointing to the importance of the evaluation of musical perception through objective and subjective instruments. In Brazil, there is a shortage of instruments that evaluates musical perception. Objective: To develop an instrument to evaluate the recognition of traditional Brazilian melodies and investigate the performance of children with typical hearing. Methods: The study was carried out after approval of the research ethics committee (1.198.607). The instrument was developed in software format with website access, using the languages PHP 5.5.12, Javascript, Cascade style sheets and "HTML5"; database "MYSQL 5.6.17" on the "Apache 2.4.9" server. Fifteen melodies of Brazilian folk songs were recorded in piano synthesized timbre, with 12 seconds per melody reproduction and four second intervals between them. A total of 155 schooled children, aged eight to 11 years, of both sexes, with typical hearing participated in the study. The test was performed in a silent room with sound stimuli amplified by a sound box at 65 dBNA, positioned at 0 azimuth, and at one meter from the participant, the notebook was used for children to play with on the screen on the title and illustration of the melody they recognized they were listening to. The responses were recorded on their own database. Results: The instrument titled "Evaluation of recognition of traditional melodies in children" can be run on various devices (computers, notebooks, tablets, mobile phones) and operating systems (Windows, Macintosh, Android, Linux). Access: http://192.185.216.17/ivan/home/login.php by login and password. The most easily recognized melody was "Cai, cai balão" (89%) and the least recognized was "Capelinha de melão" (25.2%). The average time to perform the test was 3′15″. Conclusion: The development and application of the software proved effective for the studied population. This instrument may contribute to the improvement of protocols for the evaluation of musical perception in children with hearing aid and/or cochlear implants users.

Resumo Introdução: Há evidências que apontam para a importância da avaliação da percepção musical através de instrumentos objetivos e subjetivos. No Brasil, há escassez de instrumentos que avaliem a percepção musical. Objetivo: Desenvolver um instrumento para avaliar o reconhecimento de melodias tradicionais brasileiras e investigar o desempenho de crianças com audição típica. Método: O estudo foi desenvolvido após aprovação do comitê de ética em pesquisa (1.198.607). O instrumento foi desenvolvido em formato de software com acesso ao site, com as linguagens de programação PHP 5.5.12, Javascript, Cascade Style Sheets e HTML5; banco de dados MYSQL 5.6.17 no servidor Apache 2.4.9. Quinze melodias de canções folclóricas brasileiras foram gravadas com timbre sintetizado em piano, com 12 segundos de reprodução da melodia e quatro segundos de intervalo entre elas. Participaram do estudo 155 crianças, alfabetizadas, entre oito e 11 anos, de ambos os sexos, com audição típica. O teste foi feito em sala silenciosa com estímulo sonoro amplificado por uma caixa sonora a 65 dB NA, posicionada a 0 azimute e a um metro do participante e o notebook foi usado para que as crianças brincassem na tela com o título e a ilustração da melodia que eles reconheceram que ouviam. As respostas foram registradas em seu próprio banco de dados. Resultados: O instrumento intitulado "Avaliação do reconhecimento de melodias tradicionais em crianças" pode ser executado em vários dispositivos (computadores, notebooks, tablets, telefones celulares) e sistemas operacionais (Windows, Macintosh, Android, Linux). Acesse: http://192.185.216.17/ivan/home/login.php através de login e senha. A melodia mais facilmente reconhecida foi "Cai cai balão" (89%) e a menos reconhecida foi "Capelinha de melão" (25,2%). O tempo médio para fazer o teste foi de 3′15″. Conclusão: O desenvolvimento e a aplicação do software se mostraram eficazes para a população estudada. Esse instrumento pode contribuir para o aprimoramento de protocolos de avaliação da percepção musical em crianças usuárias de próteses auditivas e/ou usuárias de implante coclear.

Efectos de la variación de la intensidad de los tonos primarios sobre las amplitudes de Emisiones Otoacústicas Producto de Distorsión (EOApd) en sujetos con audición dentro de rangos de normalidad / Effects of varying the intensity of the primary tones on the amplitudes of Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEdp) in patients with normal hearing

Introducción: Las emisiones otoacústicas (EOA) son sonidos generados por las células ciliadas externas (CCE). Se ha visto que la generación y registro de las EOA evocadas depende de factores técnicos de evaluación como el nivel de intensidad de los tonos primarios, relación frecuencial entre los tonos, etc. Objetivos: Estudiar el efecto de la variación de la intensidad de los tonos primarios en la amplitud de la respuesta de las EOA producto de distorsión (pd) en individuos con audición normal. Material y método: Se evaluaron 35 individuos a los cuales se les midieron EOApd utilizando diferentes intensidades de tonos primarios: Intensidad baja (I1=50dBSPL e I2=50dBSPL), intensidad media (I1=55dBSPL e I2=65dBSPL) e intensidad alta (I1=70dBSPL e I2=70dBSPL). Resultados: Se observó que para tonos primarios a bajas intensidades (I1=50dBSPL e I2=50dBSPL) existe una disminución tanto en amplitud y presencia de las EOApd, mientras que para tonos primarios a intensidades mayores (I1=55dBSPL e I2=65dBSPL - I1=70dBSPL e I2=70dBSPL) se evidenció un aumento en amplitud y presencia de EOApd en los sujetos estudiados. Conclusión: Se evidencian diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la amplitud de las EOApd al variar la intensidad de los tonos primarios. Por lo cual se puede establecer que las intensidades medias-altas son las más adecuadas para la evaluación de EOApd en sujetos con audición normal.

Introduction: Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) are sounds produced by outer hair cells. The generation and recording of evoked OAE depends on technical factors such as level of intensity of primary tones, frequency relationship between the tones, etc. Aim: To study the effect of varying the intensity of primary tones in the amplitude of the response of Distortion Product OAE (DP) in individuals with normal hearing. Material and method: 35 individuals were measured using different intensities OAEdp primary tones: Low Intensity (I1= I2 =50dBSPL 50dBSPL e), Medium Intensity (11= I2 =65dBSPL 55dBSPL e) and High Intensity (I1 =70dBSPL and I2 =70dBSPL). Results: Using Low primary tones (I1 =I2 =50dBSPL 50dBSPL) there is a decrease in amplitude and presence of DPOAE, while for primary tones at higher intensities (I1 and I2 = = 55dBSPL 65dBSPL -11 =70dBSPL and I2 =70dBSPL) an increase in amplitude and presence of OAEdp in subjects with normal hearing was observed . Conclusion: There are statistically significant differences in OAEdp amplitude by varying the intensity of the primary tones. Therefore medium-high intensities are best suited for the evaluation of OAEdp in subjects with normal hearing.

Triagem da Afinação Vocal: comparação do desempenho de musicistas e não musicistas / Pitch-matching Scanning: comparison of musicians and non-musicians' performance

OBJETIVOS: Elaborar um procedimento simples e de rápida aplicação contendo tarefas de imitação vocal de sons musicais de diferentes tons e de ordenação temporal de três tons; verificar sua aplicabilidade, comparando o desempenho de musicistas e não musicistas. MÉTODOS: Participaram 32 indivíduos adultos, de ambos os gêneros, sem queixas vocais, auditivas e/ou de processamento auditivo, que foram divididos igualmente em dois grupos: grupo musicistas - GM e grupo não musicistas - GNM. Todos passaram pela Triagem da Afinação Vocal, que incluiu estímulos musicais compatíveis com a tessitura vocal de homens e mulheres, agrupados em dois tipos de tarefas: tons isolados e sequências de três tons. Os participantes foram instruídos a ouvir os tons apresentados e reproduzí-los vocalmente. As emissões vocais foram gravadas, analisadas acusticamente e os acertos e erros cometidos nos dois tipos de tarefas foram caracterizados. As variáveis referentes à comparação entre os grupos e os tipos de tarefas foram analisadas estatisticamente. RESULTADOS: Houve diferença na comparação entre os dois tipos de tarefas para o GNM, o que não ocorreu com o GM. Foram observadas diferenças na comparação entre os grupos, sendo que o GM apresentou um maior número de acertos nos dois tipos de tarefas. CONCLUSÃO: A Triagem da Afinação Vocal foi criada e mostrou-se sensível para avaliação e comparação do desempenho entre grupos, podendo ser utilizada como instrumento de rastreamento de afinação vocal. Musicistas apresentaram melhor desempenho que não musicistas na Triagem da Afinação Vocal.

PURPOSE: To develop a simple and quick-to-apply procedure for pitch-matching scanning that contains vocal imitation tasks of musical sounds of different tones and the temporal ordination of three different tones; to verify its applicability, by comparing the performance of musicians and non-musicians. METHODS: Participants were 32 adults of both genders without vocal, hearing and/or auditory processing complaints. They were equally divided into two groups: musicians group - MG and non-musicians group - NMG. All participants underwent the Pitch-matching Scanning that included musical stimuli compatible with men and women singing vocal range gathered into two types of tasks: isolate tones and three-tone sequences. Participants were instructed to listen to them and to reproduce them vocally. Voice samples were recorded, analyzed acoustically, and right and wrong matches for the two tasks were characterized. The variables regarding the comparison between groups and types of tasks were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: A difference was found between groups, and the MG presented greater number of right matches in both tasks. CONCLUSION: The Pitch-matching Scanning was developed and was sensitive to evaluate and compare the performance between groups. Thus, it can be used as a tool for pitch-matching tracking. Musicians presented better performance than non-musicians in the Pitch-matching Scanning.

Investigation of perception of intonation in primary school ages cochlear implant children and comparison with normal hearing children

Intonation perception mainly relies on fundamental frequency changes perception that is not available for individual with profound to severe hearing loss. The aim of the present study is to investigate the perception of intonation in cochlear implanted children and compare with normal hearing children. This study has been carried out on 25 cochlear implanted children and 50 children with normal hearing. An adult who her first language was Persian, expressed some questions and statement sentences. These sentences were playing for child and was asked him/her to determine whether it was in a question form or statement one. The results showed that perception of question and statement sentences intonation had significantly differences between two groups [P<0.05]. Perception of question and statement sentences intonation had significantly correlation with age at implantation and duration of implant use [P<0.05]. According to the findings of the current study and previous studies, cochlear implant has some deficits in facilitating the perception of intonation. However, this limitation has been compensated partly for early surgery. Thus, speech language pathologists should consider intervention of intonation in treatment program of cochlear implanted children

Vocal Analysis Related to Changes in Frequency of Pure Tone Auditory Feedback

PURPOSE: Many studies have shown that subjects show a change of vocal fundamental frequency (F0) when phonating subjects hear their vocal pitch feedback shifted upward or downward. This study was performed to demonstrate whether vocal parameters [F0, intensity, jitter, shimmer, and noise to harmonic ratio (NHR)] in normal males respond to changes in frequency of pure tone masking. MATERIALS and METHODS: Twenty healthy male subjects participated in this study. Subjects vocalized /a/ vowel sounds while listening to a pitch- shift pure tone through headphones (upward pitch-shift in succession: 1kHz to 2kHz and 1kHz to 4kHz at 50dB or 80dB, respectively, downward pitch-shift in succession: 1kHz to 250Hz and 1kH to 500Hz at 50dB or 80dB, respectively). RESULTS: Vocal intensity, F0, was increased, whereas jitter was decreased as the pitch of pure tone was shifted upward. However, there was no correlation between shimmer and NHR with pitch-shift feedback for pure tones. Unlike vocal pitch- shift feedback in other studies, upward pitch-shift feedback of pure tones caused the vocal F0 and intensity to change in the same direction as pitch-shift. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that auditory kinesthetic feedback is affected by pitch-shift in pure tone.