Differentiation of perceived sound levels by electroencephalographic data : A novelty detection approach using habituation correlates

Unsolved problem of cochlear implant as well as hearing aid fitting, i.e., to determine the threshold of most comfortable loudness level motivated our study. In the present study, we apply a single-sweep processing method which employs a hybrid approach of adaptive frame decomposition and the kernel based novelty detection machine for the detection of auditory habituation in late auditory evoked potentials (LAEPs) to differentiate the sweeps at 60 dB sound pressure level (SPL), 70 dB SPL, 80 dB SPL, and 90 dB SPL stimulation level. A significance difference among the habituation correlates in LAEPs of these stimulation levels was observed. It is concluded that the new approach provides a reliable method in the detection of habituation as well as differentiation of stimulation levels. It can be further used in more clinically oriented studies related to an objective fitting of hearing aids or cochlear implants.