Yawen Jiang

Date of Graduation

Fall 2010

Degree

Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Letitia White

Abstract

Binaural interaction (BI) and binaural enhancement (BE) are auditory processes that are associated with the ability to hear in the presence of background noise. The aim of this study was to measure BI and BE at the cortical level in quiet and noise. Twelve young adults with normal hearing were recruited. Electrophysiological recordings (P300) were obtained in quiet and noise by stimulating each ear individually (monaural) and both ears simultaneously (binaural). Speech stimuli were presented through insert earphones and speech noise was presented in the sound field. Participants were instructed to press a button when they heard target sounds. Results indicated that BI existed in both quiet and noise. BE was not present in quiet, but was present in noise in some conditions. In conclusion, binaural responses were enhanced by noise, compared to monaural responses in noise, which indicates a binaural advantage in noise. Monaural responses were similar to binaural responses in quiet, but not in noise, which indicates a lack of inhibition in binaural noise responses at the cortical level. The present investigation may be used as a precursor study for evaluating people with auditory processing difficulty or elderly who have difficulty hearing in noise.

Keywords

P300, binaural interaction, binaural enhancement, hearing in noise ability, monaural and binaural hearing

Subject Categories

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Copyright

© Yawen Jiang

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