Hearing characteristics and frequency discrimination ability in musicians and nonmusicians

Objective: Difference limen for frequency (DLF) is the smallest detectable change in frequency. The perception ability of this difference changes from person to person depending on the level of musical education. It is mainly mentioned on the studies about DLF that musical education has an improving effect on the perception of frequency discrimination. Thus the aim of this study was to determine the effect of formal music education on the performance of frequency discrimination and hearing sensitivities. Materials and Methods: In this study a total of 32 individuals aged between 19 and 28 years were tested in two groups. The first group was made up of musically untrained participants and the second group consisted of musically trained individuals. Primarily data from DLF test and the pure tone thresholds were compared among groups. The performance of frequency discrimination changing from sensation level and frequency was also studied by using FMDL procedure. Results: The results indicated that the musically trained participants performed better than untrained participants in frequency discrimination tasks. It was found that the frequency discrimination ability increases in the 500-4000 Hz frequency range and with a higher sensation level for all participants. Conclusions: Studies using these techniques can provide information regarding music education influences auditory perception. Musical training might increase the spontaneous attention to the sound heard and the ability to discriminate. Music becomes a useful tool with which to motivate and enliven the sessions. Copyright 2005 © The Mediterranean Society of Otology and Audiology