On the Pitch Strength of Bandpass Noise in Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners.
Maria Horbach, Jesko L Verhey, Jan Hots
PMID 30009682WHAT IT FOUND
Narrow bandpass noise sounded more tonal than broad noise.
Hearing-impaired listeners heard less difference between narrow and broad noise, and weaker pitch at 135 Hz. This lab study did not test therapy.
Key findings
01In normal-hearing listeners, relative pitch strength decreased as bandwidth increased, and bandwidth, center frequency, sound pressure level, and filtering type all had significant effects.
02Hearing-impaired listeners showed a smaller range of pitch-strength ratings, about 60%, compared with about 80% in normal-hearing listeners.
03At 135 Hz bandwidth, hearing-impaired listeners had significantly weaker relative pitch strength than normal-hearing listeners, with means of 49.36% and 71.20%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study measured relative pitch strength against a pure tone, not absolute pitch strength, so it cannot show whether hearing-impaired listeners had weaker or stronger pitch overall. The hearing-impaired sample was fifteen participants, and one was excluded after the experiment, so group results rest on a small group. The hearing-impaired participants showed large individual differences, with some having a steep drop in pitch strength and others showing almost no change across bandwidths. The normal-hearing participants were young and had normal hearing thresholds, so the results may not apply to older adults or people with other types of hearing loss. The study used laboratory bandpass noises and a slider task, not speech, hearing aids, or clinical communication outcomes.
Declared interests
No conflict-of-interest or funding declaration appears in the paper. Participants were paid for taking part.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these pitch-strength differences as a clinical test for hearing loss. The study measured only relative pitch strength, not absolute pitch, and several bandwidth differences did not meet the stricter significance criterion.