SS07: PSYCHOACOUSTICS, SPEECH PERCEPTION AND AUDITORY SIGNAL PROCESSING

SUPRATHRESHOLD PROCESSING DEFICITS IN HEARING-IMPAIRED LISTENERS AS REVEALED IN THE “AUDITORY PROFILE”

Dreschler WA (1), Van Esch T (1), Larsby B (2), Hällgren M (2), Lutman M (3), Lyzenga J (4), Vorman M (5), Kollmeier B (5).

(1) Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, (2) Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, (3) Institute for Sound and Vibration Research, Southampton, United Kingdom(4) VU University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherland, (5)HörTech GmbH, Oldenburg, Germany.

In the structured session Hearing and Communication, the development and application of the Auditory Profile with the EU project HEARCOM (Hearing in the Communication Society) was described. This auditory profile is designed to become a diagnostic tool that can be assessed for each individual listener, using a standardised battery of audiological tests, in addition to the pure-tone audiogram.

In this presentation we will focus on the outcomes of two multi-center studies, in which the Auditory Profile has been measured in about 150 subjects with a sensorineural hearing loss and in 50 normal hearing subjects that served as controls. The results will be analysed with respect to the frequency of occurrence of supra-threshold deficits, the underlying associations between different auditory functions, and the role that supra-threshold processing deficits play in speech perception and in auditory functioning in daily life.