A case study to examine differences in pitch shift with and without hearing aids

摘要

Pitch, an auditory sensation mostly associated withmusic and speech, has been studied and debated ex-tensively over the years. At the same time, there isstill very much that we do not understand regardinghow the brain and the ears decode pitch. One areaof research to help in understanding the basic mech-anisms of pitch perception is to look at how cochlearhearing loss affects this qualitative auditory sensa-tion.In the current study, we are looking at a partic-ular phenomenon of pitch caused by hearing loss,where the perception of pitch has been shifted. Inthis paper, we use the term pitch shift to dene thesensation where a change in pitch is perceived com-pared to one's previous knowledge of the particularpitch. In terms of western musical keys, this meansthat the listener's perception of a particular note ora range of notes has shifted, for example, a B fol-lowed by a C may start sounding like a B at, or twonotes an octave apart do not sound the same whenplayed consecutively. To those who have never ex-perienced this sensation that affects the musicallytrained, it may be an absurd idea that your percep-tion of pitch can change. However, such sensationof familiar pitches becoming 'out-of-tune' has beenrecorded through anecdotes by musicians with hear-ing loss on online forums [1], as well as memoirs ofmusicians, such as the pianist Sviatoslav Richter [2].In the memoir, he talks of his experience of hear-ing notes sounding one or two semitones sharper oratter, describing this sensation as his own auditorysystem needing tuning. As a result, both his careerand mental health were affected greatly.