Two Experiments on Subtle Mid-Frequency Hearing Loss and Its Influence on Word Discrimination in Noise-Exposed Listeners

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Abstract
Experiment 1 was directed toward the detection of subtle mid-frequency cochlear dysfunction and the determination of word discrimination in noise for persons with noise-induced hearing loss. The presence of significantly elevated aural-overload thresholds, consistent with the presence of cochlear pathology in regions of normal pure-tone sensitivity, confirmed previous findings. A marked reduction in word discrimination was observed in the presence of a background of competing noise. For experiment 2, normal hearers listened to consonant-nucleus-consonant monosyllables filtered to match the mean audiometric configuration of the noise-exposed subjects in experiment 1. Normally hearing subjects performed significantly better with these filtered words than the noise-exposed group for unfiltered materials. Results of the 2nd experiment further support the presence of subtle auditory dysfunction in the mid-frequencies despite normal threshold sensitivity in this same frequency region.

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