Electrophysiologic and Behavioral Masking Level Differences in Young and Older Listeners.
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| Title: | Electrophysiologic and Behavioral Masking Level Differences in Young and Older Listeners. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Yi-Chi Lo1, Fowler, Cynthia G.2 cynthia.fowler.now@outlook.com |
| Source: | Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Jan2026, Vol. 69 Issue 1, p307-319. 13p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Aging, *Comparative studies, *Auditory perception, Masking (Psychology), Two-way analysis of variance, Age distribution, Descriptive statistics, Presbycusis, Acoustic stimulation, Hearing levels, Electrophysiology, Auditory evoked response |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Many older adults have hearing loss and poor speech understanding. Poor synchrony in auditory nerves may be a factor. The behavioral masking level difference (vMLD) has been used to evaluate temporal processing, but study results vary. Behavioral tests are limited in studies of neural function. We used both the vMLD and the electrophysiologic masking level difference (eMLD) to investigate age-related hearing loss (ARHL), particularly by evaluating its peripheral and central components. Method: The masking level difference (MLD) is a binaural test measured as the difference in dB between the thresholds of SoNo (tones in phase between ears) and SpNo (tones out of phase between ears) in background noise. The dB difference between the two thresholds is the MLD. This study evaluated the effects of age and ARHL on the vMLD elicited from behavioral responses and the eMLD elicited from the electrophysiologic auditory late latency response potential P2. The four participant groups included 11 young adults tested with normal hearing, 11 young adults with simulated ARHL, 11 older adults with near-normal hearing, and 11 older adults with natural ARHL. Tests focused on the effects of age, hearing ability, and test method on the MLDs. Results and Conclusions: All participants had MLDs for all test conditions. Younger groups had larger MLDs compared with older groups. The interaction of age and test method showed that the smallest MLDs were for the older groups. The effect of age showed that the two older groups had significantly smaller eMLDs compared with the younger groups. The effects of test method were not significantly different for the younger groups. ARHL contributed minor effects (~2 dB to the size of both eMLDs and vMLDs). These results suggest that the ability to process out-of-phase signals declined with age. The eMLD is more sensitive to temporal processing deficits compared with the traditional vMLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 190839098 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Electrophysiologic and Behavioral Masking Level Differences in Young and Older Listeners. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yi-Chi+Lo%22">Yi-Chi Lo</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fowler%2C+Cynthia+G%2E%22">Fowler, Cynthia G.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><i> cynthia.fowler.now@outlook.com</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. Jan2026, Vol. 69 Issue 1, p307-319. 13p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Aging%22">Aging</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditory+perception%22">Auditory perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Masking+%28Psychology%29%22">Masking (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Two-way+analysis+of+variance%22">Two-way analysis of variance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Age+distribution%22">Age distribution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Presbycusis%22">Presbycusis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Acoustic+stimulation%22">Acoustic stimulation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hearing+levels%22">Hearing levels</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electrophysiology%22">Electrophysiology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditory+evoked+response%22">Auditory evoked response</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Purpose: Many older adults have hearing loss and poor speech understanding. Poor synchrony in auditory nerves may be a factor. The behavioral masking level difference (vMLD) has been used to evaluate temporal processing, but study results vary. Behavioral tests are limited in studies of neural function. We used both the vMLD and the electrophysiologic masking level difference (eMLD) to investigate age-related hearing loss (ARHL), particularly by evaluating its peripheral and central components. Method: The masking level difference (MLD) is a binaural test measured as the difference in dB between the thresholds of SoNo (tones in phase between ears) and SpNo (tones out of phase between ears) in background noise. The dB difference between the two thresholds is the MLD. This study evaluated the effects of age and ARHL on the vMLD elicited from behavioral responses and the eMLD elicited from the electrophysiologic auditory late latency response potential P2. The four participant groups included 11 young adults tested with normal hearing, 11 young adults with simulated ARHL, 11 older adults with near-normal hearing, and 11 older adults with natural ARHL. Tests focused on the effects of age, hearing ability, and test method on the MLDs. Results and Conclusions: All participants had MLDs for all test conditions. Younger groups had larger MLDs compared with older groups. The interaction of age and test method showed that the smallest MLDs were for the older groups. The effect of age showed that the two older groups had significantly smaller eMLDs compared with the younger groups. The effects of test method were not significantly different for the younger groups. ARHL contributed minor effects (~2 dB to the size of both eMLDs and vMLDs). These results suggest that the ability to process out-of-phase signals declined with age. The eMLD is more sensitive to temporal processing deficits compared with the traditional vMLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-20-00009 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 13 StartPage: 307 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Aging Type: general – SubjectFull: Comparative studies Type: general – SubjectFull: Auditory perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Masking (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Two-way analysis of variance Type: general – SubjectFull: Age distribution Type: general – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Presbycusis Type: general – SubjectFull: Acoustic stimulation Type: general – SubjectFull: Hearing levels Type: general – SubjectFull: Electrophysiology Type: general – SubjectFull: Auditory evoked response Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Electrophysiologic and Behavioral Masking Level Differences in Young and Older Listeners. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Yi-Chi Lo – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Fowler, Cynthia G. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Text: Jan2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10924388 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 69 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
