Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2025

A Low Cost Setup for Behavioral Audiometry in Rodents
Published on: October 16, 2012
The relationship and interdependence of auditory thresholds, proposed behavioural measures of hidden hearing loss,
Aryn M Kamerer1, Sara E Harris2, Chris S Wichman3
1Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA.
Objectives:
Standard diagnostic measures focus on threshold elevation but hearing concerns may occur independently of threshold elevation - referred to as "hidden hearing loss" (HHL). A deeper understanding of HHL requires measurements that locate dysfunction along the auditory pathway. This study aimed to describe the relationship and interdependence between certain behavioural and physiological measures of auditory function that are thought to be indicative of HHL.
Design:
Data were collected on a battery of behavioural and physiological measures of hearing. Threshold-dependent variance was removed from each measure prior to generating a multiple regression model of the behavioural measures using the physiological measures.
Study Sample:
224 adults in the United States with audiometric thresholds ≤65 dB HL.
Results:
Thresholds accounted for between 21 and 60% of the variance in our behavioural measures and 5-51% in our physiological measures of hearing. There was no evidence that the behavioural measures of hearing could be predicted by the selected physiological measures.
Conclusions:
Several proposed behavioural measures for HHL: thresholds-in-noise, frequency-modulation detection, and speech recognition in difficult listening conditions, are influenced by hearing sensitivity and are not predicted by outer hair cell or auditory nerve physiology. Therefore, these measures may not be able to assess threshold-independent hearing disorders.
More Related Videos
14:05Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
00:06Simple Surgical Induction of Conductive Hearing Loss with Verification Using Otoscope Visualization and Behavioral Clap Startle Response in Rat
Published on: October 26, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
Hearing
Sound Intensity Level
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and...
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...
Anatomy of the Ear
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...