Plasticity is a pitch discrimination game — that is, a game which tests and improves your ability to distinguish between similar sounds based on their frequency (pitch). You hear two sounds, which may have the same or different frequency (with 50-50 probability) and your job is to say whether they have the same frequency or different frequencies. At first, the differences are fairly obvious, but as you level up, they become smaller and smaller, which makes your job harder.
Plasticity can be a fun game to play (at least, if you believe some of my friends). In addition, it might be helpful if you want to improve your pitch discrimination skills – for example, if you’re a musician.
Plasticity is based on the Firefox Audio API and, as such, requires Firefox 4 or higher.
I wrote Plasticity to treat my tinnitus (a phantom sound in my head). The idea was to re-wire the auditory cortex in my brain through repeated training in order to change my perception of the tinnitus sound. The name “Plasticity” refers to cortical plasticity – the ability of the cortex to reorganize in response to stimuli. Did Plasticity help my tinnitus? Well, I no longer have a tinnitus problem, though I am not sure to what extent Plasticity contributed to the improvement. If you have tinnitus (especially pure-tone tinnitus), you might as well give it a try. Here are some tips on how to use Plasticity for tinnitus.
Feedback request
If you’re using Plasticity for your tinnitus, don’t forget to post a comment below. I want to know how it went!
Why is there such a low upper limit on the frequency range? 10548 or something? Thanks.
Human hearing has a large dropoff in sensitivity above 10,000 Hz. Tones above that frequency sound very quiet and there’s not much you can do about it, even if you try to equalize perceived volume. This makes it difficult to tell the difference between sounds at those frequencies. If frequencies above 10,000 Hz were allowed, user performance would be very uneven. On an easy level, it would look like this: lots of easy questions interspersed with really hard ones (those above 10,000 Hz). I tested this and it doesn’t make for a very enjoyable experience.
In fact, unless you target a particular frequency, the limit is even lower: about 7900 Hz.
Is the 10,000 Hz limit a problem for you?
I just began with this. I can’t say much after two days, but it feels like there is a chance it can help my tinnitus.
Does this improve your hearing too, or to say how clear you intercept sounds?
It improves your ability to tell similar tones apart, so in a sense it improves your hearing. I haven’t noticed much difference in everyday life, but if you do music, you might.
Before I start, I was thinking about if the results can be shown more advances. Like summing up in what frequencies one scored the right/wrong answer.
I’m also having problem determining my frequency I don’t really understand how to do it. I run Firefox although nothing happens when I’m on the online tone generator, I tried the Java page, but what should I do? Play the piano and resemble my T with the Piano tone, to get my frequency?
Maybe it’s just the best to leave it as it is to have a variation as T might change from day to day.
Short background story, I have had T since 2000 from a noise trauma, standing near a very very loud nightclub speaker.
The T I developed in my right ear, only right ear, even possible that we all have infections when we are children and I always found my right ear as some how less good than my normal left, but nothing serious, but tended to be more fragile and because of the noise I got T.
The T was very low, never bothered me, I could only hear in at sleep if I concentrated hard.
Since 2000 I have been going to all sort of clubs, listening to loud headphone music etc etc and never got any problem,
Two months ago I put on the headphones and played music for 1-2 hours. This time I really played the music high, I later measured it to 98-103 dB.
After this I developed high pitch T. A tinnitus that I can could hear all the time even in medi noisy areas, as in the car/bus/train/school/work…
Now my troubles started and I started to be very careful and look for solutions to get rid of it.
I still am.
On October 23 I got this tinnitus. Two weeks later I started to use a ultra sound device, results? Well hard to say if it did anything, I’m still evaluating if it did, although I stopped using it after one month.
23 November I started with an homoeopathic medicine, that has helped me allot.
5 Dec I started putting eardrops in my ear using Noni extracts, evaluating.
15 Dec I started with Plasticity.
I’m living a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy, making sure I get all the natural vitamins, and believe Vit C is important.
So many things add up when working with tinnitus trying to get better, and also the background story is important, what kind of tinnitus one has, if it was from a noise trauma or health issues… how long have you had it before starting to battle it etc…
What I can say now after two months I feel much better, my tinnitus pitch has changed, it’s no longer strong, it’s no longer full of energy, sending out strong noises and most important what I felt after two months was that the first to second month testing listening the music through headphones or speakers the T raised in power and bother the music. Now when I listen to music I only hear to music even in the lowest settings.
To say something about Plasticity is I believe that just after five days that it helps allot.
After a session my T can dissapear sometimes more or less, for a minute. And can stay much lower up to 15 minuts…
I think it does something, it’s a helpfull tool, just like my other treatments, and I believe much patients have to be taken, and I’m going to play it for atleast one month, to see if it further betters my tinnitus.
My tinnitus today is far from what I want it to be, but also far from what it was two months ago, then I could hardly enjoy life, it was taking over my life and ruining it.
I will follow up after further progress.
Thanks for this and make sure to report back with more results. Good luck.
I’ve had T since the age of 12 (i’m 38 now) and can say that I got completely used to it for years and it never bothered me after a few months. Last year a friend developed T and in reassuring her I started to listen to my own T again, and sure enough it seemed to get louder. I’m now having to learn to live with it again which is proving stressful (but haven’t lost all hope!).
One thing I should mention is that my hearing has been described as excellent (back then and very recently), but I do have neck and jaw pain and was diagnosed with TMJ a couple of years ago. the problem is the medics I speak to still say there is nothing they can do, in contrast to the information I have found in that there is plenty that can be done and T has been known to subside after successful treatment for TMJ. I’m in the process of hunting down someone in my area who may be able to do something.
If any of you have T and no hearing loss I would approach someone trained in TMJ disorders and get them to do something to help you. Otherwise, just know it does become ‘your silence’ after a while. Hearing therapy also helped me alot when it got ‘louder’ last year.
Did you use any antibiotics? Antibiotics are ototoxic and can permanently worsen tinnitus or cause it for them that don’t have it, as many medicines break down the structure of the ear.
I am just starting with Plasticity and will let you know how it goes. I have T in both ears, multiple tones, so I don’t expect it will be as helpful as for those with one tone only.
Nicoli, is your T now in both ears, or still just one?
My T was always in one ear. I finished with the Plasticity after one month. It did not lower my T, but I can’t say for sure, it might have lowered it a bit. Yet I have the feeling I perceive it less now, I don’t think about it that much.
I might give it another try soon.
What really helped me was a homoeopathic medicine named “Ear Ringing Formula” from Newton Labs.