Human evoked cortical activity to signal-to-noise ratio and absolute signal level

Curtis J. Billings; Kelly L. Tremblay; G. Christopher Stecker; Wendy M. Tolin

doi:10.1016/j.heares.2009.04.002

Human evoked cortical activity to signal-to-noise ratio and absolute signal level

Curtis J. Billings, Kelly L. Tremblay, G. Christopher Stecker, Wendy M. Tolin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

113 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of signal level and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the latency and amplitude of evoked cortical activity to further our understanding of how the human central auditory system encodes signals in noise. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were recorded from 15 young normal-hearing adults in response to a 1000 Hz tone presented at two tone levels in quiet and while continuous background noise levels were varied in five equivalent SNR steps. These 12 conditions were used to determine the effects of signal level and SNR level on CAEP components P1, N1, P2, and N2. Based on prior signal-in-noise experiments conducted in animals, we hypothesized that SNR, would be a key contributor to human CAEP characteristics. As hypothesized, amplitude increased and latency decreased with increasing SNR; in addition, there was no main effect of tone level across the two signal levels tested (60 and 75 dB SPL). Morphology of the P1-N1-P2 complex was driven primarily by SNR, highlighting the importance of noise when recording CAEPs. Results are discussed in terms of the current interest in recording CAEPs in hearing aid users.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	15-24
Number of pages	10
Journal	Hearing Research
Volume	254
Issue number	1-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2009.04.002
State	Published - Aug 11 2009
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Auditory cortex
Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs)
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
Hearing aids
N1
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
Signals in noise

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sensory Systems

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10.1016/j.heares.2009.04.002

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@article{a8dc809386bd45c290200aba99a1f10d,

title = "Human evoked cortical activity to signal-to-noise ratio and absolute signal level",

abstract = "The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of signal level and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the latency and amplitude of evoked cortical activity to further our understanding of how the human central auditory system encodes signals in noise. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were recorded from 15 young normal-hearing adults in response to a 1000 Hz tone presented at two tone levels in quiet and while continuous background noise levels were varied in five equivalent SNR steps. These 12 conditions were used to determine the effects of signal level and SNR level on CAEP components P1, N1, P2, and N2. Based on prior signal-in-noise experiments conducted in animals, we hypothesized that SNR, would be a key contributor to human CAEP characteristics. As hypothesized, amplitude increased and latency decreased with increasing SNR; in addition, there was no main effect of tone level across the two signal levels tested (60 and 75 dB SPL). Morphology of the P1-N1-P2 complex was driven primarily by SNR, highlighting the importance of noise when recording CAEPs. Results are discussed in terms of the current interest in recording CAEPs in hearing aid users.",

keywords = "Auditory cortex, Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs), Event-related potentials (ERPs), Hearing aids, N1, Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), Signals in noise",

author = "Billings, {Curtis J.} and Tremblay, {Kelly L.} and Stecker, {G. Christopher} and Tolin, {Wendy M.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Richard Folsom and Pamela Souza who contributed to this work through many helpful discussions and as dissertation committee members of the first author. The authors are also grateful to the reviewers for their helpful comments. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (F31-DC007296, C.J.B.; R01-DC007705, K.L.T.; P30-DC004661).",

year = "2009",

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doi = "10.1016/j.heares.2009.04.002",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Human evoked cortical activity to signal-to-noise ratio and absolute signal level

AU - Billings, Curtis J.

AU - Tremblay, Kelly L.

AU - Stecker, G. Christopher

AU - Tolin, Wendy M.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank Richard Folsom and Pamela Souza who contributed to this work through many helpful discussions and as dissertation committee members of the first author. The authors are also grateful to the reviewers for their helpful comments. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (F31-DC007296, C.J.B.; R01-DC007705, K.L.T.; P30-DC004661).

PY - 2009/8/11

Y1 - 2009/8/11

N2 - The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of signal level and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the latency and amplitude of evoked cortical activity to further our understanding of how the human central auditory system encodes signals in noise. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were recorded from 15 young normal-hearing adults in response to a 1000 Hz tone presented at two tone levels in quiet and while continuous background noise levels were varied in five equivalent SNR steps. These 12 conditions were used to determine the effects of signal level and SNR level on CAEP components P1, N1, P2, and N2. Based on prior signal-in-noise experiments conducted in animals, we hypothesized that SNR, would be a key contributor to human CAEP characteristics. As hypothesized, amplitude increased and latency decreased with increasing SNR; in addition, there was no main effect of tone level across the two signal levels tested (60 and 75 dB SPL). Morphology of the P1-N1-P2 complex was driven primarily by SNR, highlighting the importance of noise when recording CAEPs. Results are discussed in terms of the current interest in recording CAEPs in hearing aid users.

AB - The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of signal level and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the latency and amplitude of evoked cortical activity to further our understanding of how the human central auditory system encodes signals in noise. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) were recorded from 15 young normal-hearing adults in response to a 1000 Hz tone presented at two tone levels in quiet and while continuous background noise levels were varied in five equivalent SNR steps. These 12 conditions were used to determine the effects of signal level and SNR level on CAEP components P1, N1, P2, and N2. Based on prior signal-in-noise experiments conducted in animals, we hypothesized that SNR, would be a key contributor to human CAEP characteristics. As hypothesized, amplitude increased and latency decreased with increasing SNR; in addition, there was no main effect of tone level across the two signal levels tested (60 and 75 dB SPL). Morphology of the P1-N1-P2 complex was driven primarily by SNR, highlighting the importance of noise when recording CAEPs. Results are discussed in terms of the current interest in recording CAEPs in hearing aid users.

KW - Auditory cortex

KW - Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs)

KW - Event-related potentials (ERPs)

KW - Hearing aids

KW - N1

KW - Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)

KW - Signals in noise

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JO - Hearing Research

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ER -

Human evoked cortical activity to signal-to-noise ratio and absolute signal level

Abstract

Keywords

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