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Auditory Sensitivity I
Auditory Sensitivity I
AUDITORY
SENSITIVITY I
THRESHOLD
BELOW THRESHOLD
CAN’T HEAR
THRESHOLD
7 7
75 dB
50 dB
MAP
25 dB
MAF
0 dB
100 dB
SPL
75 dB
50 dB
MAP
25 dB
MAF
0 dB
External and middle ear transfer functions play a role in shaping the
audibility curve.
From Pickles (1988)
Behavioral vs Neural Threshold
40 dB SPL
or
15 dB HL
25
25 dB
50
75
100
dB
SPL
Pain & Discomfort Thresholds
PAIN
125 dB
DISCOMFORT
100 dB
75 dB
50 dB
MAP
25 dB
MAF
0 dB
Time-intensity trade:
10 fold change in
duration trade for 10 dB
change in threshold
50 y
40 y
30 y y
n y y y
y n y n
20
n n n n n
n
n n
10 n
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Example
Signal Level (dB SPL)
50
40 y y y y
30 n y y n n y y
20 n n y y n n
10 n n n n
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Trial
100
80
Percent “yes”
60
40
20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 dB SPL
10 October 2010 H.Dai 25
~Summary ~
Thresholds
• MAF vs MAP
• Shape of threshold curve
• Behavioral vs neural threshold
• dB HL
• Upper limit of hearing and dynamic range
• Duration effect (temporal integration)
2 ears ~ 3 dB
improvement
100 dB
75 dB
50 dB
25 dB
0 dB