Frequency modulation detection as a measure of temporal processing: age-related monaural and binaural effects

The detection of low-rate frequency modulation (FM) carried by a low-frequency tone has been employed as a means of assessing the fidelity of temporal fine structure coding. Detection of low-rate FM can be made more acute, relative to the monaural case, by the addition of a pure tone to the contralateral ear. This study examined whether FM detection in the 500-Hz region could be further improved by using a binaural stimulation mode where the modulator was antiphasic across the two ears. The study also sought to determine whether these dichotic FM conditions were beneficial in identifying the emergence of a temporal fine structure processing deficiency relatively early in the aging process. Young, mid-aged, and older listeners (n = 12 per group) were tested. The results demonstrated better FM acuity in the dichotic task irrespective of listener age. Dichotic FM detection also differentiated between age groups more definitively than diotic detection, especially in terms of distinguishing mid-aged from older listeners. In the group of older listeners, dichotic FM detection was weakly associated with absolute sensitivity to the carrier. In addition, this group failed to show a dichotic benefit in the presence of a marked asymmetry in sensation level across ears. The overall pattern of results suggests that dichotic FM measurements have advantages over monaural measurements for the purposes of assessing age-related temporal processing effects, although a marked asymmetry in absolute thresholds across ears could undermine these advantages.