Objective measures of auditory temporal resolution with ABR

Abstract

Objective: To develop a reliable objective method to measure temporal resolution thresholds using Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) with statistical response detection methods.

Design: The ABR paradigms "Two Clicks (2C)" and "Temporal Notched Noise with Click (TNNC)" were evaluated for measuring objective temporal resolution thresholds. Statistical methods were used for ABR detection. Test-retest reliability of both ABR paradigms was also assessed. For comparison, a Gaps in Noise test and psychometric TNNC paradigm measured behavioural thresholds from the same subjects.

Study sample: 23 normal-hearing participants in the main study, and an additional 10 in the test-retest experiment, aged 20-35 years.

Results: Objective temporal resolution thresholds averaged 4.04 ms for the 2C paradigm and 3.21 ms for the TNNC paradigm. Group-level data showed reduced ABR amplitude and detection as gap durations approached threshold, whilst individual ABR amplitudes fluctuated across gap durations. Behavioural thresholds averaged 1.49 and 2.22 ms. In the test-retest experiment, TNNC showed moderate repeatability, while 2C had slight, non-significant repeatability (measured by Cohen's Kappa).

Conclusions: While these objective approaches show promise for measuring temporal resolution at a group level, their application in individuals remains challenging due to high variability across subjects. The TNNC paradigm demonstrated better performance in terms of ABR repeatability.

Keywords: Temporal resolution; auditory brainstem response; forward and backward masking; paired clicks; suprathreshold hearing; two clicks.