Füllgrabe Christian
Am J Audiol. 2013 Dec;22(2):313-5. doi: 10.1044/1059-0889(2013/12-0070).
In this study, the author sought to investigate if and when the ability to process temporal-fine-structure (TFS) cues deteriorates with age in adults with audiometrically normal hearing sensitivity.
Using a cross-sectional design, the author assessed TFS sensitivity in 102 normal-hearing adults sampled from across the entire range of adulthood (ages 18-90 years), using 2 psychophysical tests for the assessment of within- and across-ear TFS processing.
Both types of TFS sensitivity (monaural and binaural) declined gradually starting in young adulthood, with the earliest significant deficit already apparent in early midlife (i.e., between ages 40 and 49 years). TFS sensitivity was not correlated with absolute sensitivity at the test frequency.
Some suprathreshold auditory processing abilities decline throughout adulthood, even when an individual's peripheral hearing is clinically normal. These deficits are not captured by a conventional, audiometric hearing assessment but may contribute to the increasing difficulties with age to identify speech in noisy environments. From a methodological point of view, the existence of such age effects warrants the use of age-matched participant groups when comparing normal and impaired peripheral hearing.
在本研究中，作者试图调查听力敏感度在听力测定上正常的成年人中，处理时间精细结构（TFS）线索的能力是否以及何时会随着年龄增长而下降。
采用横断面设计，作者使用两种心理物理学测试来评估耳内和双耳间的TFS处理能力，对从整个成年期（18 - 90岁）抽取的102名听力正常的成年人的TFS敏感度进行了评估。
两种类型的TFS敏感度（单耳和双耳）从成年早期开始逐渐下降，最早在中年早期（即40至49岁之间）就已出现明显的缺陷。TFS敏感度与测试频率下的绝对敏感度无关。
即使个体的外周听力在临床上是正常的，一些阈上听觉处理能力在整个成年期都会下降。这些缺陷无法通过传统的听力测定评估检测到，但可能导致随着年龄增长在嘈杂环境中识别语音的困难增加。从方法学的角度来看，在比较正常和受损外周听力时，这种年龄效应的存在使得使用年龄匹配的参与者组成为必要。
