Temporal modulation transfer functions measured from auditory-nerve responses following sensorineural hearing loss

The ability of auditory-nerve (AN) fibers to encode modulation frequencies, as characterized by temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs), generally shows a low-pass shape with a cut-off frequency that increases with fiber characteristic frequency (CF). Because AN-fiber bandwidth increases with CF, this result has been interpreted to suggest that peripheral filtering has a significant effect on limiting the encoding of higher modulation frequencies. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), which is typically associated with broadened tuning, is thus predicted to increase the range of modulation frequencies encoded; however, perceptual studies have generally not supported this prediction. The present study sought to determine whether the range of modulation frequencies encoded by AN fibers is affected by SNHL, and whether the effects of SNHL on envelope coding are similar at all modulation frequencies within the TMTF passband. Modulation response gain for sinusoidally amplitude modulated (SAM) tones was measured as a function of modulation frequency, with the carrier frequency placed at fiber CF. TMTFs were compared between normal-hearing chinchillas and chinchillas with a noise-induced hearing loss for which AN fibers had significantly broadened tuning. Synchrony and phase responses for individual SAM tone components were quantified to explore a variety of factors that can influence modulation coding. Modulation gain was found to be higher than normal in noise-exposed fibers across the entire range of modulation frequencies encoded by AN fibers. The range of modulation frequencies encoded by noise-exposed AN fibers was not affected by SNHL, as quantified by TMTF 3- and 10-dB cut-off frequencies. These results suggest that physiological factors other than peripheral filtering may have a significant role in determining the range of modulation frequencies encoded in AN fibers. Furthermore, these neural data may help to explain the lack of a consistent association between perceptual measures of temporal resolution and degraded frequency selectivity.