Simulated hearing loss as a baseline for the assessment of auditory function in cochlearly impaired listeners

An overview is presented of results obtained in listeners with real and simulated impairments. Spectral processing is assessed by psychoacoustical tuning curves and growth-of-masking functions; temporal processing is assessed by temporal integration and gap detection thresholds. When comparisons are made to normal listeners tested in the quiet, impaired listeners generally show deficits on all these tasks. When the comparisons are made to simulated impairments, some impaired listeners show no deficits, whereas others still show deficits. These results indicate that abnormal intensity perception is responsible for some, but not all, of impaired listeners´ apparent deficits in spectral and temporal processing. In many cases, however, it appears that spectral and temporal processing, per se, are altered in the impaired auditory system