Digital Commons Network^™

Musical Training Influences Auditory Temporal Processing, Saravanan Elangovan, Nicole Payne, Jacek Smurzynski, Marc A. Fagelson

Saravanan Elangovan

Background: A link between musical expertise and auditory temporal processing abilities was examined.

Material and methods: Trained musicians (n=13) and non-musicians (n=12) were tested on speech tasks (phonetic identification, speech recognition in noise) and non-speech tasks (temporal gap detection).

Results: Results indicated musicians had shorter between-channel gap detection thresholds and sharper phonetic identification functions, suggesting that perceptual reorganization following musical training assists basic temporal auditory processes.

Conclusions: In general, our results provide a conceptual advance in understanding how musical training influences speech processing, an ability which, when impaired, can affect speech and reading competency.

Hearing Loss In The Dental Office: The Effects Of High Speed Dental Drills On Dentists' Hearing, Krisztina Johnson, Jacek Smurzynski, Saravanan Elangovan, Marc Fagelson

Saravanan Elangovan

Hearing test results of 23 dentists obtained before and after working hours are compared to determine if dentists experience any temporary hearing loss. The aim of the project is to determine whether dental drills cause hearing loss and to document the consequences of the loss. Hearing evaluations include pure-tone audiometry, middle-ear testing, and measurements of otoacoustic emissions. The results are expected to convince dentists of the danger of noise exposure and the need for hearing protection

Auditory Temporal Resolution In Normal-Hearing Preschool Children Revealed By Word Recognition In Continuous And Interrupted Noise, Andrew Stuart, Gregg D. Givens, Letitia J. Walker, Saravanan Elangovan

Saravanan Elangovan

The purpose of this study was to examine temporal resolution in normal-hearing preschool children. Word recognition was evaluated in quiet and in spectrally identical continuous and interrupted noise at signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns) of 10, 0, and −10dB−10dB−10dB. Sixteen children 4to5years4to5years4to5yearsof age and eight adults participated. Performance decreased with decreasing S/N. At poorer S/Ns, participants demonstrated superior performance or a release from masking in the interrupted noise. Adults performed better than children, yet the release from masking was equivalent. Collectively these findings are consistent with the notion that preschool children suffer from poorer processing efficiency rather than temporal resolution per se.