Issue |
Acta Acust.
Volume 5, 2021
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 4 | |
Number of page(s) | 10 | |
Section | Hearing, Audiology and Psychoacoustics | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2020029 | |
Published online | 23 December 2020 |
Scientific Article
Is infrasound perceived by the auditory system through distortions?
1
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany
2
Department of Experimental Audiology, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany
* Corresponding author: holger.joost@ptb.de
Received:
18
May
2020
Accepted:
1
December
2020
Several studies showed that the human auditory system is sensitive to infrasound. The present study investigated if non-linear processes within the ear generate distortion products, which may explain the auditory sensitivity to infrasound. Pure-tone infrasound stimuli were presented to the ears of 16 listeners with a low-distortion sound reproduction system via an ear insert. Simultaneously, the sound in the ear canal was recorded with a high-sensitivity probe microphone. In addition, detection thresholds in quiet for these stimuli were determined in all listeners. All of the listeners showed distortion products, which were detected by analyzing the sound recorded in their ear canals during infrasound stimulation, for at least one of the signal frequencies. The sound pressure levels of the distortion products were well below the reference thresholds at the corresponding frequencies. For each signal frequency, the listeners’ detection thresholds in cases with ear-generated distortion products did not differ significantly from those in cases without. Thus, the present data do not support the hypothesis that distortion products play a major role in the auditory perception of infrasound.
Key words: Infrasound perception / Auditory distortion products / Low-distortion reproduction system
© H. Joost et al., Published by EDP Sciences, 2020
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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