University Hospital for Hearing, Speech & Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria; ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria.
University Hospital for Hearing, Speech & Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria.
Neuroimage. 2024 Oct 1;299:120796. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120796. Epub 2024 Aug 15.
In this study, the objectification of the subjective perception of loudness was investigated using electroencephalography (EEG). In particular, the emergence of objective markers in the domain of the acoustic discomfort threshold was examined.
A cohort of 27 adults with normal hearing, aged between 18 and 30, participated in the study. The participants were presented with 500 ms long noise stimuli via in-ear headphones. The acoustic signals were presented with sound levels of [55, 65, 75, 85, 95 dB]. After each stimulus, the subjects provided their subjective assessment of the perceived loudness using a colored scale on a touchscreen. EEG signals were recorded, and afterward, event-related potentials (ERPs) locked to sound onset were analyzed.
Our findings reveal a linear dependency between the N100 component and both the sound level and the subjective loudness categorization of the sound. Additionally, the data demonstrated a nonlinear relationship between the P300 potential and the sound level as well as for the subjective loudness rating. The P300 potential was elicited exclusively when the stimuli had been subjectively rated as "very loud" or "too loud".
The findings of the present study suggest the possibility of the identification of the subjective uncomfortable loudness level by objective neural parameters.
本研究采用脑电图（EEG）探索对响度的主观感知的客观化。特别地，检查了在听觉不适阈领域中出现的客观标记。
本研究纳入了 27 名年龄在 18 至 30 岁之间的听力正常的成年人。参与者通过入耳式耳机接受 500 毫秒长的噪声刺激。声学信号的声级分别为[55、65、75、85、95 dB]。在每次刺激后，受试者通过触摸屏上的彩色刻度对感知到的响度进行主观评估。记录脑电图信号，然后分析与声音起始相关的事件相关电位（ERP）。
我们的发现揭示了 N100 成分与声音水平以及声音的主观响度分类之间存在线性关系。此外，数据表明 P300 电位与声音水平以及主观响度评定之间存在非线性关系。只有当刺激被主观评定为“非常响亮”或“太响亮”时，才会引发 P300 电位。
本研究的结果表明，通过客观神经参数识别主观不适响度水平是可能的。
