Dead Regions

Researcher(s): B. Warnaar, E.E.
Supervisor(s): prof. W.A. Dreschler, PhD.

Background:
A dead region can be defined as a place on the basilar membrane, where the inner and/or outer haircells are absent or damaged in such a way that a tone of a frequency, associated to the place, is heared by off-place (e.g. off-frequency) listening. Sound tones falling inside a dead region is heared distorted, or not at all. Dead regions are relevant for the quality of hearing and any possible adaptation of hearing aids. Besides, a comparison between ‘alive’ regions and dead regions can contribute to our knowledge of sound perception.

Aim:
Increase the knowledge about the cochlea and the perception of sound, by means of a greater understanding of dead regions.

Method:
A first step will be to acquire test battery data (including the ‘golden standard’ PTCs, and the clinical test method ‘TEN test’) from a group of persons with a persumably dead region. Different tests will be validated and the data will be used to improve a model on sound perception.

Results:
Currently, the test battery is being prepared. A model on sound perception is under construction.


Home Onderwijs Wetenschap Research (EN)
General Otology Prevention of hearing loss Auditory profile Sensorineural hearing loss and loudness perception Predicting the speech intelligibility under fluctuating background conditions Auditory filter measurements Auditory profile: spectral and temporal resolution (HEARCOM, WP2) Consonant confusions for filtered and consonant deteriorated nonsense VCV syllables (HEARCOM, WP2) Auditory localisation (HEARCOM, WP2) Dead Regions The perception of amplitude modulated signals Rehabilitation Hearing at work Publications Presentations	Dead Regions Researcher(s): B. Warnaar, E.E. Supervisor(s): prof. W.A. Dreschler, PhD. Background: A dead region can be defined as a place on the basilar membrane, where the inner and/or outer haircells are absent or damaged in such a way that a tone of a frequency, associated to the place, is heared by off-place (e.g. off-frequency) listening. Sound tones falling inside a dead region is heared distorted, or not at all. Dead regions are relevant for the quality of hearing and any possible adaptation of hearing aids. Besides, a comparison between ‘alive’ regions and dead regions can contribute to our knowledge of sound perception. Aim: Increase the knowledge about the cochlea and the perception of sound, by means of a greater understanding of dead regions. Method: A first step will be to acquire test battery data (including the ‘golden standard’ PTCs, and the clinical test method ‘TEN test’) from a group of persons with a persumably dead region. Different tests will be validated and the data will be used to improve a model on sound perception. Results: Currently, the test battery is being prepared. A model on sound perception is under construction.