DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7m0cfxq5d
title: Data from: Cochlear tuning in early aging estimated with three methods

description: Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) currently affects over 20 million adults
 in the U.S., and its prevalence is expected to increase as the population
 ages. However, little is known about the earliest manifestations of ARHL,
 including its influence on auditory function beyond the threshold of
 sensation. This work explores the effects of early aging on frequency
 selectivity (i.e., ‘tuning’), a critical feature of normal hearing
 function. Tuning is estimated using both behavioral and physiological
 measures – fast psychophysical tuning curves (fPTC), distortion product
 otoacoustic emission level ratio functions (DPOAE LRFs), and
 stimulus-frequency OAE (SFOAE) phase gradient delay. All three measures
 were selected because they have high potential for clinical translation
 but have not been compared directly in the same sample of ears. Results
 indicate that there may be subtle changes in tuning during early aging,
 even in ears with clinically normal audiometric thresholds. Additionally,
 there are notable differences in tuning estimates derived from the three
 measures. Psychophysical tuning estimates are highly variable and
 statistically significantly different from OAE-derived tuning estimates,
 suggesting that behavioral tuning is uniquely influenced by factors not
 affecting OAE-based tuning. Across all measures, there is considerable
 individual variability that warrants future investigation. Collectively,
 this work suggests that age-related auditory decline begins in relatively
 young ears (&lt; 60 years) and in the absence of traditionally defined
 “hearing loss.” These findings suggest the potential benefit of
 characterizing ARHL beyond threshold and establishing a gold standard for
 measuring frequency selectivity in humans.
description: These data were collected as part of CCG's dissertation
 experiments at Northwestern University. They have subsequently been used
 to prepare a manuscript for publication. Associated code for plotting/data
 analysis for this manuscript can be found on GitHub: https://github.com/cobycoburn/Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods
description: # Data from: Cochlear tuning in early aging estimated with three methods
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7m0cfxq5d](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7m0cfxq5d) ## Description of the data and file structure Files include: 1\) allData25-Jun-2024.csv: fPTC data for each participant, including derived Qerb estimates 2\) audioData_2024-05-13.csv: Audiometric thresholds from participants 3\) indvLRFQ2024-06-28.csv: DPOAE LRF data for each participant, including derived Qerb estimates 4\) participantTestEar.csv: Test ear of each participant 5\) sfPhase.csv: SFOAE phase data from each participant, including derived Qerb estimates. Note that Qerb*_*S is the column used for data analysis in this manuscript 6\) Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods-main.zip: R Code used to analyze data and plot manuscript figures. This code is also available in a GitHub Repo (Public Archive).  Note that some of the.csv files contain data from participants who were not included in the final data set (e.g., a participant did not qualify for study but had audiometric thresholds tested). These participants are filtered out from the dataframes in the associated R code used for data plotting/analysis found here: [https://github.com/cobycoburn/Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods](https://github.com/cobycoburn/Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods) This repo is also linked to below. ### Files and variables #### File: audioData_2024-05-13.csv **Description:** Audiometric threshold data ##### Variables * ID: Participant ID * Group: Participant age group * Frequency: Test frequency (Hz) * Left: Left ear audiometric threshold (dB HL) * Right: Right ear audiometric threshold (dB HL) #### File: allData25-Jun-2024.csv **Description:** fPTC data ##### Variables * id: Participant ID * testEar: Participant test ear * group: Participant age group * probeFreq: Probe frequency (Hz) * noiseFreq: Noise frequency (Hz) * noiseLevel: Noise level (dB FPL) * probeLevel: Probe level (dB FPL) * L: Smoothed noise level (dB FPL; LOESS smoothed, 25% span) * ftip: Tuning curve tip frequency (Hz) * Ltip: Tuning curve tip level (dB SPL) * BWerb: Equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB) * Q10: Tuning factor (Q10) * Qerb: Tuning factor (Qerb) * sl_ltip: Tuning curve slope (low frequency side, tip) * sl_ltail: Tuning curve slope (low frequency side, tail) * sl_lfull: Tuning curve slope (low frequency side, full) * sl_hfull: Tuning curve slope (high frequency side, full) #### File: participantTestEar.csv **Description:** Test ear of participants ##### Variables * ID: Participant ID * testEar: Participant test ear #### File: indvLRFQ2024-06-28.csv **Description:** DPOAE LRF data ##### Variables * f1: f1 frequency (Hz) * f2: f2 frequency (Hz) * findx: Variable for indexing; not used in analysis * r: f2/f1 ratio * LRF: DPOAE level (SPL) * NF: Noise floor level (SPL) * type: DPOAE type (0 = unmirrored; 1 = mirrored) * id: Participant ID * Qerb: Tuning factor (Qerb) * group: Participant age group * highRatiom: Slope of high ratio side of curve * highRatiob: Intercept of high ratio side of curve (not used) * peak: Peak level of DPOAE LRF (dB SPL) * f1indx: Variable for indexing; not used in analysis #### File: sfPhase.csv **Description:** SFOAE Phase Gradient Delay data ##### Variables * f: Probe frequency (Hz) * sf: SFOAE level (dB SPL) * nf: Noise floor level (dB SPL) * phi: SFOAE phase (cycles) * snr: Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of SFOAE vs. Noise floor level * id: Participant ID * cf: Center frequency, averaged around 1/4 octave bands * group: Participant age group * Qerb_S: Tuning factor (Qerb) estimated using "Shera Method" (see Wilson et al. 2021). This is the tuning factor analyzed in the manuscript * Qerb_M: Tuning factor (Qerb) estimated using "Moleti Method" (see Wilson et al. 2021). This is not used in the manuscript ## Code/software Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods-main.zip contains all code used to analyze and plot data. * TuningManuscriptMain.R: Primary analysis script. * audiogramTuningManuscript.R: Loads and plots audiogram data. * LRFplot_TuningManuscript.R: Loads and plots DPOAE Level Ratio Function data. * sfoaePhasePlot_TuningManuscript.R: Loads and plots SFOAE phase data. * fptcPlot_TuningManuscript.R: Loads and plots fPTC data. These same scripts are also available via GitHub: [https://github.com/cobycoburn/Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods](https://github.com/cobycoburn/Cochlear-Tuning-in-Early-Aging-Estimated-with-Three-Methods)