Spectral and binaural loudness summation in bilateral hearing aid fitting

Authors

  • Maarten van Beurden Academic Medical Center, Department of Clinical & Experimental Audiology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Libra Rehabilitation & Audiology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • Monique Boymans Academic Medical Center, Department of Clinical & Experimental Audiology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Libra Rehabilitation & Audiology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • Mirjam van Geleuken Academic Medical Center, Department of Clinical & Experimental Audiology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Dirk Oetting HörTech gGmbH and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Oldenburg, Germany
  • Wouter A. Dreschler Academic Medical Center, Department of Clinical & Experimental Audiology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Keywords:

Hearing loss, Hearing aids, loudness perception

Abstract

Aversiveness of loud sounds is a frequent complaint by hearing-aid users, especially when fitted bilaterally. This study investigates whether loudness summation can be held responsible for this finding. Two aspects of loudness summation should be taken into account: spectral loudness summation for broadband signals and binaural loudness summation for signals that are presented binaurally. In this study different aspects were investigated: (1) the effect of different symmetrical hearing losses according to the classification of Bisgaard et al. (2010): N2, N3, N4, S2, and S3, and (2) the effect of spectral shape of broadband signals, by using high frequency noise and low frequency noise. For the measurements we used a well-standardized technique “Adaptive Categorical Loudness Scaling” (ACALOS). Also loudness matching was applied as a potentially clinical technique to get information about the individual loudness perception. Results show large individual differences in binaural loudness perception especially for broadband stimuli.

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Adaptive processes in hearing

Additional Files

Published

2017-12-18

How to Cite

van Beurden, M., Boymans, M., van Geleuken, M., Oetting, D., & Dreschler, W. A. (2017). Spectral and binaural loudness summation in bilateral hearing aid fitting. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 6, 183–190. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2017-22

Issue

Vol. 6 (2017): Adaptive Processes in Hearing

Section

2017/4. Assessment of specific auditory functions and hearing ability

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