Download PDF
Semin Hear 2001; 22(3): 241-254
DOI: 10.1055/s-2001-15629
Copyright © 2001 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

The Effects of Aging on Binaural and Spatial Hearing

Janet Koehnke, Joan M. Besing
  • Department of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
31 December 2001 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

As the size of the older adult population continues to grow, so too does the need to better understand the complex effects of aging on everyday listening tasks involving binaural and spatial hearing. It is well known that older individuals with and without hearing loss often complain of difficulty hearing and understanding speech. In this article the results of recent studies evaluating the effects of aging on various binaural and spatial tasks are summarized and discussed, and an attempt is made to identify the difficulties encountered in daily living by older adults because of problems processing binaural and spatial information. The results of most of the studies reviewed here indicate that the ability of older listeners to localize sound sources, to obtain a gain in speech intelligibility in noise when speech and noise sources are separated, to improve the detection of signals in noise by using binaural cues (as measured with a masking level difference task), and to discriminate interaural differences in time and intensity decline with increasing age. These decreases in performance on binaural and spatial tasks are generally observed even when the effects of hearing loss are taken into account.

KEYWORD

Aging - localization - speech intelligibility gain - binaural - spatial

REFERENCES

  • 1 Administration on Aging. Profile of older Americans: 2000. Report available at: http://www.aoa. dhhs.gov/aoa/stats/profile/default.htm
  • 2 Abel S M, Giguere C, Consoli A, Papsin B C. The effect of aging on horizontal plane sound localization.  J Acoust Soc Am . 2000;  108 743-752
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 3 Koehnke J, Besing J. effects of aging on sound localization and speech understanding in realistic listening situations.  Acta Acoust . 1999;  85 S225
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 4 Gelfand S A, Ross L, Miller S. Sentence reception in noise from one versus two sources: effects of aging and hearing loss.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1988;  83 248-256
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Shaw E AG. Acoustical features of the human external ear. In: Gilkey R, Anderson T, eds. Binaural and Spatial Hearing in Real and Virtual Environments Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum 1997: 25-49
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 6 Durlach N I, Thompson C L, Colburn H S. Binaural interaction in impaired listeners-A review of past research.  Audiology . 1981;  20 181-211
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 7 Cranford J, Andres M, Piatz K, Reissig K. Influences of age and hearing loss on the precedence effect in sound localization.  J Speech Hear Res . 1993;  36 437-441
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 8 Helfer K. Aging and the binaural advantage in reverberation and noise.  J Speech Hear Res . 1992;  35 1394-1401
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 9 Roush J. Aging and binaural auditory processing.  Semin Hear . 1985;  6 135-145
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 10 Koehnke J, Colburn H S, Hawley M, Cullota C. Effects of reference interaural time and intensity differences on binaural performance in listeners with normal and impaired hearing.  Ear Hear . 1995;  16 331-353
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 11 Gabriel K, Koehnke J, Colburn H S. Frequency dependence of binaural performance in listeners with impaired binaural hearing.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1992;  91 336-347
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 12 Hausler R, Colburn H S, Marr E. Sound localization in subjects with impaired hearing.  Spatial-discrimination and interaural-discrimination tests. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl . 1983;  400
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 13 Strouse A, Ashmead D H, Ohde R N, Grantham D W. Temporal processing in the aging auditory system.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1998;  104 2385-2399
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 14 Kelly-Ballweber D, Dobie R A. Binaural interaction measured behaviorally and electrophysiologically in young and old adults.  Audiology . 1984;  23 181-194
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 15 Lister J, Koehnke J, Besing J. Effects of age on temporal processing and speech intelligibility in virtual listening environments.  Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts . 2000;  540 155
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 16 Grose J H, Poth E A, Peters R W. Masking-level differences for tones and speech in elderly listeners with relatively normal audiograms.  J Speech Hear Res . 1994;  37 422-428
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 17 Herman G E, Warren L R, Wagener J W. Auditory lateralization: age differences in sensitivity to dichotic time and amplitude cues.  J Gerontol . 1977;  32 187-191
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 18 Pichora-Fuller M, Schneider B. Masking-level differences in the elderly: a comparison of antiphasic and time-delay dichotic conditions.  J Speech Hear Res . 1991;  34 1410-1422
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 19 Jerger J, Brown D, Smith S. Effect of peripheral hearing loss in the masking level difference.  Arch Otolaryngol . 1984;  110 290-296
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 20 Novak R, Anderson C. Differentiation of types of presbyacusis using the masking level difference.  J Speech Hear Res . 1982;  25 504-508
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 21 Divenyi P L, Haupt K M. Audiological correlates of speech understanding deficits in elderly listeners with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. I. Age and lateral asymmetry effects.  Ear Hear . 1997;  18 42-61
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 22 Schneider B A, Pichora-Fuller M K, Kowalchuk D, Lamb M. Gap detection and the precedence effect in young and old adults.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1994;  95 980-991
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 23 Cranford J L, Romereim B. Precedence effect and speech understanding in elderly listeners.  J Am Acad Audiol . 1992;  3 405-409
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 24 Cranford J L, Boose M, Moore C A. Effects of aging on the precedence effect in sound localization.  J Speech Hear Res . 1990;  33 654-659
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 25 Martin D R, Cranford J L. Age-related changes in binaural processing: II. Behavioral findings.  Am J Otol . 1991;  12 365-369
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 26 Cranford J L, Martin D R. Age-related changes in binaural processing: I. Evoked potential findings.  Am J Otol . 1991;  12 357-364
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 27 Colburn H S. Binaural interaction and localization with various hearing impairments. In: Pedersen OT, Poulsen T, eds. Binaural Effects in Normal and Impaired Hearing Scand Audiol Suppl 1982 : 27-45
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 28 Olsen W, Noffsinger D, Carhart R. Masking level differences encountered in clinical populations.  Audiology . 1976;  15 287-301
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 29 Quaranta A, Cassano P, Cervella G. Clinical value of the tonal masking level difference.  Audiology . 1978;  17 232-238
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 30 Tillman T W, Carhart R, Nicholls S. Release from multiple maskers in elderly persons.  J Speech Hear Res . 1973;  16 152-160
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 31 Warren L R, Wagener J W, Herman G E. Binaural analysis in the aging auditory system.  J Gerontol . 1978;  33 731-736
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 32 Chandler D, Grantham D W. Effects of age on auditory spatial resolution in the horizontal plane.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1999;  89 1994
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 33 Besing J, Koehnke J. A test of virtual auditory localization.  Ear Hear . 1995;  16 220-229
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 34 Abouchacra K S, Besing J, Koehnke J, Letowski T. Contemporary approaches to audiological assessment. In: Communication & Its Disorders: A science in progress Proceedings of the 24th Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, vol. II. 1999: 833-838
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 35 Roberts R, Koehnke J, Besing J, Lister J. Effects of noise on localization in listeners with normal hearing and impaired hearing.  Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts . 1997;  209 53
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 36 Koehnke J, Besing J. A procedure for testing speech intelligibility in a virtual listening environment.  Ear Hear . 1996;  17 211-217
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 37 Bronkhorst A W, Plomp R. A clinical test for the assessment of binaural speech perception in noise.  Audiology . 1990;  29 275-285
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 38 Dirks D D, Wilson R A. The effects of spatially separating sound sources on speech intelligibility.  J Speech Hear Res . 1969;  12 5-38
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 39 Bronkhorst A W, Plomp R. The effect of head-induced interaural time and level differences on speech intelligibility in noise.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1988;  83 1508-1516
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 40 Nabelek A K, Robinette L. Reverberation as a parameter in clinical testing.  Audiology . 1978;  17 239-259
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 41 Nabelek A K, Pickett J M. Monaural and binaural speech perception through hearing aids under noise and reverberation with normal and hearing-impaired listeners.  J Speech Hear Res . 1974;  17 724-739
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 42 Nabelek A K, Mason D. Effect of noise and reverberation on binaural and monaural word identification by subjects with various audiograms.  J Speech Hear Res . 1981;  24 375-383
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 43 Kalikow D N, Stevens K N, Elliott L L. Development of a test of speech intelligibility in noise using sentence materials with controlled word predictability.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1977;  61 1337-1351
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 44 Helfer K, Huntley R. Aging and consonant errors in reverberation and noise.  J Acoust Soc Am . 1991;  90 1786-1796
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 45 Helfer K S, Wilber L A. Hearing loss, aging, and speech perception in reverberation and noise.  J Speech Hear Res . 1990;  33 149-155
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar