Effects of Stimulus Type on 16-kHz Detection Thresholds.
Emily Buss, Stacey G Kane, Kathryn S Young and 7 others
PMID 38178308WHAT IT FOUND
At 16 kHz, FM tones and broader noise gave lower thresholds than steady or pulsed tones in children and adults alike.
At 8 kHz, stimulus type made little difference. Do not compare thresholds measured with different stimuli.
Key findings
01In children and adults, 16-kHz FM-tone thresholds were lower than steady-tone thresholds, while steady and pulsed thresholds were similar.
02At 16 kHz, mean forced-choice thresholds were 55.4 dB SPL for pulsed tones, 46.3 dB SPL for FM tones, and 42.9 dB SPL for 1/3-oct noise.
03At 16 kHz, FM thresholds matched steady thresholds within 5 dB in 60% of cases, and 17% of FM thresholds were more than 10 dB below the paired steady threshold.
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How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The participants had normal hearing in the standard audiometric range, and 44 of 47 participants in Experiment 1 and 15 of 16 participants in Experiment 2 had 16-kHz steady-tone thresholds within 20 dB HL, so the results do not show how stimulus choice behaves in people with elevated extended high-frequency thresholds. Experiment 1 tested only 5- to 28-year-olds, and Experiment 2 excluded children, so the findings do not cover older adults or very young children. Experiment 2 had 16 adults, only 7 provided full Bekesy data, and 2 participants were missing audiometric FM and 1/3-oct noise data, so the slope and prediction results rest on small samples. The clinical audiometers could not present levels below -20 dB HL, and several participants reached that limit, so the reported 16-kHz thresholds may not allow accurate threshold estimation for the most sensitive listeners. The study measured tone and noise detection thresholds, not speech recognition in noise, so it does not show that these stimulus effects change everyday communication. The explanation that listeners detected lower-frequency energy in FM or noise stimuli is supported by threshold patterns and model fits, but it is not directly measured in the study.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists NIH extramural research support, but no author conflict-of-interest declaration is included.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that FM tones or 1/3-oct noise measure 16-kHz hearing better because they give lower thresholds. The paper found lower thresholds with these stimuli were related to stimulus spectrum and steep sensitivity curve near 16 kHz, not to a more accurate estimate of 16-kHz sensitivity. Comparing a threshold measured with one stimulus to a threshold measured with another could falsely suggest a change in hearing.