Comparison of Reading Literacy in Hearing Impaired and Normal Hearing Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Ali Asghar Kakojoibari

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: listening, speaking, reading and writing are considered the lingual skills. These skills are in direct relation with each other. Listening is the first skill learnt by the individual through development. If damaged by hearing impairment, listening can cause serious defect to lingual skills. The goal of our research was to study the effect of hearing loss on reading literacy in hearing impairment students in comparison with normal hearing students.Methods: Study was performed using the examination booklets of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2001. 119 hearing impairment students of 4th grade primary school, last year guidance school, and last year high school levels in schools providing exceptional student education were included. These individuals were compared to 46 normal hearing students of 4th grade primary school of ordinary schools. Comparative statistical analysis was performed using t-test.Results: Reading literacy and literal contents understanding was shown to have a significant difference between normal hearing and whole hearing impaired student (p<0.05, except the ones in high school level with moderate hearing loss. There was also seen a significant difference between normal hearing and hearing impairment students in understanding of information contents (p=0.03.Conclusion: Hearing loss has a negative effect on reading literacy. Consequently, curriculum change and evolution of educational programs in exceptional centers is needed, in order to promote reading literacy and to enhance rest hearing

Predicting social functioning in children with a cochlear implant and in normal-hearing children: the role of emotion regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiefferink, Carin H; Rieffe, Carolien; Ketelaar, Lizet; Frijns, Johan H M

2012-06-01

The purpose of the present study was to compare children with a cochlear implant and normal hearing children on aspects of emotion regulation (emotion expression and coping strategies) and social functioning (social competence and externalizing behaviors) and the relation between emotion regulation and social functioning. Participants were 69 children with cochlear implants (CI children) and 67 normal hearing children (NH children) aged 1.5-5 years. Parents answered questionnaires about their children's language skills, social functioning, and emotion regulation. Children also completed simple tasks to measure their emotion regulation abilities. Cochlear implant children had fewer adequate emotion regulation strategies and were less socially competent than normal hearing children. The parents of cochlear implant children did not report fewer externalizing behaviors than those of normal hearing children. While social competence in normal hearing children was strongly related to emotion regulation, cochlear implant children regulated their emotions in ways that were unrelated with social competence. On the other hand, emotion regulation explained externalizing behaviors better in cochlear implant children than in normal hearing children. While better language skills were related to higher social competence in both groups, they were related to fewer externalizing behaviors only in cochlear implant children. Our results indicate that cochlear implant children have less adequate emotion-regulation strategies and less social competence than normal hearing children. Since they received their implants relatively recently, they might eventually catch up with their hearing peers. Longitudinal studies should further explore the development of emotion regulation and social functioning in cochlear implant children. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (preadolescents compared to normal hearing controls.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anouk P Netten

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the level of empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (preadolescents compared to normal hearing controls and to define the influence of language and various hearing loss characteristics on the development of empathy.The study group (mean age 11.9 years consisted of 122 deaf and hard of hearing children (52 children with cochlear implants and 70 children with conventional hearing aids and 162 normal hearing children. The two groups were compared using self-reports, a parent-report and observation tasks to rate the children's level of empathy, their attendance to others' emotions, emotion recognition, and supportive behavior.Deaf and hard of hearing children reported lower levels of cognitive empathy and prosocial motivation than normal hearing children, regardless of their type of hearing device. The level of emotion recognition was equal in both groups. During observations, deaf and hard of hearing children showed more attention to the emotion evoking events but less supportive behavior compared to their normal hearing peers. Deaf and hard of hearing children attending mainstream education or using oral language show higher levels of cognitive empathy and prosocial motivation than deaf and hard of hearing children who use sign (supported language or attend special education. However, they are still outperformed by normal hearing children.Deaf and hard of hearing children, especially those in special education, show lower levels of empathy than normal hearing children, which can have consequences for initiating and maintaining relationships.

The Danish hearing in noise test

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jens Bo; Dau, Torsten

2010-01-01

Objective : A Danish version of the hearing in noise test (HINT) has been developed and evaluated in normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners. The speech material originated from Nielsen & Dau (2009) where a sentence-based intelligibility equalization method was presented. Design...

Low empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (pre)adolescents compared to normal hearing controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Netten, Anouk P; Rieffe, Carolien; Theunissen, Stephanie C P M; Soede, Wim; Dirks, Evelien; Briaire, Jeroen J; Frijns, Johan H M

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (pre)adolescents compared to normal hearing controls and to define the influence of language and various hearing loss characteristics on the development of empathy. The study group (mean age 11.9 years) consisted of 122 deaf and hard of hearing children (52 children with cochlear implants and 70 children with conventional hearing aids) and 162 normal hearing children. The two groups were compared using self-reports, a parent-report and observation tasks to rate the children's level of empathy, their attendance to others' emotions, emotion recognition, and supportive behavior. Deaf and hard of hearing children reported lower levels of cognitive empathy and prosocial motivation than normal hearing children, regardless of their type of hearing device. The level of emotion recognition was equal in both groups. During observations, deaf and hard of hearing children showed more attention to the emotion evoking events but less supportive behavior compared to their normal hearing peers. Deaf and hard of hearing children attending mainstream education or using oral language show higher levels of cognitive empathy and prosocial motivation than deaf and hard of hearing children who use sign (supported) language or attend special education. However, they are still outperformed by normal hearing children. Deaf and hard of hearing children, especially those in special education, show lower levels of empathy than normal hearing children, which can have consequences for initiating and maintaining relationships.

Low Empathy in Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Pre)Adolescents Compared to Normal Hearing Controls

Science.gov (United States)

Netten, Anouk P.; Rieffe, Carolien; Theunissen, Stephanie C. P. M.; Soede, Wim; Dirks, Evelien; Briaire, Jeroen J.; Frijns, Johan H. M.

2015-01-01

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the level of empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (pre)adolescents compared to normal hearing controls and to define the influence of language and various hearing loss characteristics on the development of empathy. Methods The study group (mean age 11.9 years) consisted of 122 deaf and hard of hearing children (52 children with cochlear implants and 70 children with conventional hearing aids) and 162 normal hearing children. The two groups were compared using self-reports, a parent-report and observation tasks to rate the children’s level of empathy, their attendance to others’ emotions, emotion recognition, and supportive behavior. Results Deaf and hard of hearing children reported lower levels of cognitive empathy and prosocial motivation than normal hearing children, regardless of their type of hearing device. The level of emotion recognition was equal in both groups. During observations, deaf and hard of hearing children showed more attention to the emotion evoking events but less supportive behavior compared to their normal hearing peers. Deaf and hard of hearing children attending mainstream education or using oral language show higher levels of cognitive empathy and prosocial motivation than deaf and hard of hearing children who use sign (supported) language or attend special education. However, they are still outperformed by normal hearing children. Conclusions Deaf and hard of hearing children, especially those in special education, show lower levels of empathy than normal hearing children, which can have consequences for initiating and maintaining relationships. PMID:25906365

Postural control assessment in students with normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Melo, Renato de Souza; Lemos, Andrea; Macky, Carla Fabiana da Silva Toscano; Raposo, Maria Cristina Falcão; Ferraz, Karla Mônica

2015-01-01

Children with sensorineural hearing loss can present with instabilities in postural control, possibly as a consequence of hypoactivity of their vestibular system due to internal ear injury. To assess postural control stability in students with normal hearing (i.e., listeners) and with sensorineural hearing loss, and to compare data between groups, considering gender and age. This cross-sectional study evaluated the postural control of 96 students, 48 listeners and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss, aged between 7 and 18 years, of both genders, through the Balance Error Scoring Systems scale. This tool assesses postural control in two sensory conditions: stable surface and unstable surface. For statistical data analysis between groups, the Wilcoxon test for paired samples was used. Students with hearing loss showed more instability in postural control than those with normal hearing, with significant differences between groups (stable surface, unstable surface) (ppostural control compared to normal hearing students of the same gender and age. Copyright © 2014 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Early Radiosurgery Improves Hearing Preservation in Vestibular Schwannoma Patients With Normal Hearing at the Time of Diagnosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akpinar, Berkcan [University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States); Mousavi, Seyed H., E-mail: mousavish@upmc.edu [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States); McDowell, Michael M.; Niranjan, Ajay; Faraji, Amir H. [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States); Flickinger, John C. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States); Lunsford, L. Dade [Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States)

2016-06-01

Purpose: Vestibular schwannomas (VS) are increasingly diagnosed in patients with normal hearing because of advances in magnetic resonance imaging. We sought to evaluate whether stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) performed earlier after diagnosis improved long-term hearing preservation in this population. Methods and Materials: We queried our quality assessment registry and found the records of 1134 acoustic neuroma patients who underwent SRS during a 15-year period (1997-2011). We identified 88 patients who had VS but normal hearing with no subjective hearing loss at the time of diagnosis. All patients were Gardner-Robertson (GR) class I at the time of SRS. Fifty-seven patients underwent early (≤2 years from diagnosis) SRS and 31 patients underwent late (>2 years after diagnosis) SRS. At a median follow-up time of 75 months, we evaluated patient outcomes. Results: Tumor control rates (decreased or stable in size) were similar in the early (95%) and late (90%) treatment groups (P=.73). Patients in the early treatment group retained serviceable (GR class I/II) hearing and normal (GR class I) hearing longer than did patients in the late treatment group (serviceable hearing, P=.006; normal hearing, P<.0001, respectively). At 5 years after SRS, an estimated 88% of the early treatment group retained serviceable hearing and 77% retained normal hearing, compared with 55% with serviceable hearing and 33% with normal hearing in the late treatment group. Conclusions: SRS within 2 years after diagnosis of VS in normal hearing patients resulted in improved retention of all hearing measures compared with later SRS.

Early Radiosurgery Improves Hearing Preservation in Vestibular Schwannoma Patients With Normal Hearing at the Time of Diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akpinar, Berkcan; Mousavi, Seyed H.; McDowell, Michael M.; Niranjan, Ajay; Faraji, Amir H.; Flickinger, John C.; Lunsford, L. Dade

2016-01-01

Purpose: Vestibular schwannomas (VS) are increasingly diagnosed in patients with normal hearing because of advances in magnetic resonance imaging. We sought to evaluate whether stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) performed earlier after diagnosis improved long-term hearing preservation in this population. Methods and Materials: We queried our quality assessment registry and found the records of 1134 acoustic neuroma patients who underwent SRS during a 15-year period (1997-2011). We identified 88 patients who had VS but normal hearing with no subjective hearing loss at the time of diagnosis. All patients were Gardner-Robertson (GR) class I at the time of SRS. Fifty-seven patients underwent early (≤2 years from diagnosis) SRS and 31 patients underwent late (>2 years after diagnosis) SRS. At a median follow-up time of 75 months, we evaluated patient outcomes. Results: Tumor control rates (decreased or stable in size) were similar in the early (95%) and late (90%) treatment groups (P=.73). Patients in the early treatment group retained serviceable (GR class I/II) hearing and normal (GR class I) hearing longer than did patients in the late treatment group (serviceable hearing, P=.006; normal hearing, P<.0001, respectively). At 5 years after SRS, an estimated 88% of the early treatment group retained serviceable hearing and 77% retained normal hearing, compared with 55% with serviceable hearing and 33% with normal hearing in the late treatment group. Conclusions: SRS within 2 years after diagnosis of VS in normal hearing patients resulted in improved retention of all hearing measures compared with later SRS.

Selective attention in normal and impaired hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G; Best, Virginia

2008-12-01

A common complaint among listeners with hearing loss (HL) is that they have difficulty communicating in common social settings. This article reviews how normal-hearing listeners cope in such settings, especially how they focus attention on a source of interest. Results of experiments with normal-hearing listeners suggest that the ability to selectively attend depends on the ability to analyze the acoustic scene and to form perceptual auditory objects properly. Unfortunately, sound features important for auditory object formation may not be robustly encoded in the auditory periphery of HL listeners. In turn, impaired auditory object formation may interfere with the ability to filter out competing sound sources. Peripheral degradations are also likely to reduce the salience of higher-order auditory cues such as location, pitch, and timbre, which enable normal-hearing listeners to select a desired sound source out of a sound mixture. Degraded peripheral processing is also likely to increase the time required to form auditory objects and focus selective attention so that listeners with HL lose the ability to switch attention rapidly (a skill that is particularly important when trying to participate in a lively conversation). Finally, peripheral deficits may interfere with strategies that normal-hearing listeners employ in complex acoustic settings, including the use of memory to fill in bits of the conversation that are missed. Thus, peripheral hearing deficits are likely to cause a number of interrelated problems that challenge the ability of HL listeners to communicate in social settings requiring selective attention.

Objective Scaling of Sound Quality for Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Lars Bramsløw

) Subjective sound quality ratings of clean and distorted speech and music signals, by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, to provide reference data, 2) An auditory model of the ear, including the effects of hearing loss, based on existing psychoacoustic knowledge, coupled to 3) An artificial neural......A new method for the objective estimation of sound quality for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners has been presented: OSSQAR (Objective Scaling of Sound Quality and Reproduction). OSSQAR is based on three main parts, which have been carried out and documented separately: 1...... network, which was trained to predict the sound quality ratings. OSSQAR predicts the perceived sound quality on two independent perceptual rating scales: Clearness and Sharpness. These two scales were shown to be the most relevant for assessment of sound quality, and they were interpreted the same way...

Motivation to Address Self-Reported Hearing Problems in Adults with Normal Hearing Thresholds

Science.gov (United States)

Alicea, Carly C. M.; Doherty, Karen A.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the motivation to change in relation to hearing problems in adults with normal hearing thresholds but who report hearing problems and that of adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Factors related to their motivation were also assessed. Method: The motivation to change in…

Comparison of reading comprehension and working memory in hearing-impaired and normal-hearing children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Rezaei

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Reading is the most important human need for learning. In normal-hearing people working memory is a predictor of reading comprehension. In this study the relationship between working memory and reading comprehension skills was studied in hearing-impaired children, and then compared with the normal-hearing group.Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. The working memory and reading comprehension skills of 18 (8 male, 10 female sever hearing-impaired children in year five of exceptional schools were compared by means of a reading test with 18 hearing children as control group. The subjects in the control group were of the same gender and educational level of the sample group.Results: The children with hearing loss performed similarly to the normal-hearing children in tasks related to auditory-verbal memory of sounds (reverse, visual-verbal memory of letters, and visual-verbal memory of pictures. However, they showed lower levels of performance in reading comprehension (p<0.001. Moreover, no significant relationship was observed between working memory and reading comprehension skills.Conclusion: Findings indicated that children with hearing loss have a significant impairment in the reading comprehension skill. Impairment in language knowledge and vocabulary may be the main cause of poor reading comprehension in these children. In hearing-impaired children working memory is not a strong predictor of reading comprehension.

Preliminary findings on associations between moral emotions and social behavior in young children with normal hearing and with cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Ketelaar, Lizet; Wiefferink, Carin H; Frijns, Johan H M; Broekhof, Evelien; Rieffe, Carolien

2015-11-01

Moral emotions such as shame, guilt and pride are the result of an evaluation of the own behavior as (morally) right or wrong. The capacity to experience moral emotions is thought to be an important driving force behind socially appropriate behavior. The relationship between moral emotions and social behavior in young children has not been studied extensively in normally hearing (NH) children, let alone in those with a hearing impairment. This study compared young children with hearing impairments who have a cochlear implant (CI) to NH peers regarding the extent to which they display moral emotions, and how this relates to their social functioning and language skills. Responses of 184 NH children and 60 children with CI (14-61 months old) to shame-/guilt- and pride-inducing events were observed. Parents reported on their children's social competence and externalizing behavior, and experimenters observed children's cooperative behavior. To examine the role of communication in the development of moral emotions and social behavior, children's language skills were assessed. Results show that children with CI displayed moral emotions to a lesser degree than NH children. An association between moral emotions and social functioning was found in the NH group, but not in the CI group. General language skills were unrelated to moral emotions in the CI group, yet emotion vocabulary was related to social functioning in both groups of children. We conclude that facilitating emotion language skills has the potential to promote children's social functioning, and could contribute to a decrease in behavioral problems in children with CI specifically. Future studies should examine in greater detail which factors are associated with the development of moral emotions, particularly in children with CI. Some possible directions for future research are discussed.

Relationship between spectrotemporal modulation detection and music perception in normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and cochlear implant listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Ji Eun; Won, Jong Ho; Kim, Cheol Hee; Cho, Yang-Sun; Hong, Sung Hwa; Moon, Il Joon

2018-01-15

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between spectrotemporal modulation (STM) sensitivity and the ability to perceive music. Ten normal-nearing (NH) listeners, ten hearing aid (HA) users with moderate hearing loss, and ten cochlear Implant (CI) users participated in this study. Three different types of psychoacoustic tests including spectral modulation detection (SMD), temporal modulation detection (TMD), and STM were administered. Performances on these psychoacoustic tests were compared to music perception abilities. In addition, psychoacoustic mechanisms involved in the improvement of music perception through HA were evaluated. Music perception abilities in unaided and aided conditions were measured for HA users. After that, HA benefit for music perception was correlated with aided psychoacoustic performance. STM detection study showed that a combination of spectral and temporal modulation cues were more strongly correlated with music perception abilities than spectral or temporal modulation cues measured separately. No correlation was found between music perception performance and SMD threshold or TMD threshold in each group. Also, HA benefits for melody and timbre identification were significantly correlated with a combination of spectral and temporal envelope cues though HA.

How Children with Normal Hearing and Children with a Cochlear Implant Use Mentalizing Vocabulary and Other Evaluative Expressions in Their Narratives

Science.gov (United States)

Huttunen, Kerttu; Ryder, Nuala

2012-01-01

This study explored the use of mental state and emotion terms and other evaluative expressions in the story generation of 65 children (aged 2-8 years) with normal hearing (NH) and 11 children (aged 3-7 years) using a cochlear implant (CI). Children generated stories on the basis of sets of sequential pictures. The stories of the children with CI…

Comparison of Different Levels of Reading Comprehension between Hearing-Impaired Loss and Normal-Hearing Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azam Sharifi

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Reading skill is one of the most important necessities of students' learning in everyday life. This skill is referred to the ability of comprehension, comment and conclusion from texts and receiving the meaning of the massage which is composed. Educational development in any student has a direct relation with the ability of the comprehension. This study is designed to investigate the effects of hearing loss on reading comprehension in hearing-impaired students compared to normal-hearing ones.Methods: Seventeen hearing-impaired students in 4th year of primary exceptional schools in Karaj, Robatkarim and Shahriyar, Iran, were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Seventeen normal-hearing students were randomly selected from ordinary schools next to exceptional ones as control group. They were compared for different levels of reading comprehension using the international standard booklet (PIRLS 2001. Results: There was a significant difference in performance between hearing-impaired and normal- hearing students in different levels of reading comprehension (p<0.05.Conclusion: Hearing loss has negative effects on different levels of reading comprehension, so in exceptional centers, reconsideration in educational planning in order to direct education from memorizing to comprehension and deeper layers of learning seems necessary.

Narrative competence among hearing-impaired and normal-hearing children: analytical cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Dezani Soares

Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Oral narrative is a means of language development assessment. However, standardized data for deaf patients are scarce. The aim here was to compare the use of narrative competence between hearing-impaired and normal-hearing children. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analytical cross-sectional study at the Department of Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo. METHODS: Twenty-one moderately to profoundly bilaterally hearing-impaired children (cases and 21 normal-hearing children without language abnormalities (controls, matched according to sex, age, schooling level and school type, were studied. A board showing pictures in a temporally logical sequence was presented to each child, to elicit a narrative, and the child's performance relating to narrative structure and cohesion was measured. The frequencies of variables, their associations (Mann-Whitney test and their 95% confidence intervals was analyzed. RESULTS: The deaf subjects showed poorer performance regarding narrative structure, use of connectives, cohesion measurements and general punctuation (P < 0.05. There were no differences in the number of propositions elaborated or in referent specification between the two groups. The deaf children produced a higher proportion of orientation-related propositions (P = 0.001 and lower proportions of propositions relating to complicating actions (P = 0.015 and character reactions (P = 0.005. CONCLUSION: Hearing-impaired children have abnormalities in different aspects of language, involving form, content and use, in relation to their normal-hearing peers. Narrative competence was also associated with the children's ages and the school type.

Chinese Writing of Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Students and Normal-Hearing Peers from Complex Network Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Huiyuan; Liu, Haitao

2016-01-01

Deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals usually face a greater challenge to learn to write than their normal-hearing counterparts. Due to the limitations of traditional research methods focusing on microscopic linguistic features, a holistic characterization of the writing linguistic features of these language users is lacking. This study attempts to fill this gap by adopting the methodology of linguistic complex networks. Two syntactic dependency networks are built in order to compare the macroscopic linguistic features of deaf or hard-of-hearing students and those of their normal-hearing peers. One is transformed from a treebank of writing produced by Chinese deaf or hard-of-hearing students, and the other from a treebank of writing produced by their Chinese normal-hearing counterparts. Two major findings are obtained through comparison of the statistical features of the two networks. On the one hand, both linguistic networks display small-world and scale-free network structures, but the network of the normal-hearing students' exhibits a more power-law-like degree distribution. Relevant network measures show significant differences between the two linguistic networks. On the other hand, deaf or hard-of-hearing students tend to have a lower language proficiency level in both syntactic and lexical aspects. The rigid use of function words and a lower vocabulary richness of the deaf or hard-of-hearing students may partially account for the observed differences.

Predicting consonant recognition and confusions in normal-hearing listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zaar, Johannes; Dau, Torsten

2017-01-01

, Kollmeier, and Kohlrausch [(1997). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 2892–2905]. The model was evaluated based on the extensive consonant perception data set provided by Zaar and Dau [(2015). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 138, 1253–1267], which was obtained with normal-hearing listeners using 15 consonant-vowel combinations...... confusion groups. The large predictive power of the proposed model suggests that adaptive processes in the auditory preprocessing in combination with a cross-correlation based template-matching back end can account for some of the processes underlying consonant perception in normal-hearing listeners....... The proposed model may provide a valuable framework, e.g., for investigating the effects of hearing impairment and hearing-aid signal processing on phoneme recognition....

Chinese Writing of Deaf or Hard-of-hearing Students and Normal-hearing Peers from Complex Network Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huiyuan Jin

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals usually face a greater challenge to learn to write than their normal-hearing counterparts, because sign language is the primary communicative skills for many deaf people. The current body of research only covers the detailed linguistic features of deaf or hard-of-hearing students. Due to the limitations of traditional research methods focusing on microscopic linguistic features, a holistic characterization of the writing linguistic features of these language users is lacking. This study attempts to fill this gap by adopting the methodology of linguistic complex networks. Two syntactic dependency networks in order to compare the macroscopic linguistic features of deaf or hard-of-hearing students and those of their normal-hearing peers. One is transformed from a treebank of writing produced by Chinese deaf or hard-of-hearing students, and the other from a treebank of writing produced by their Chinese normal-hearing counterparts. Two major findings are obtained through comparison of the statistical features of the two networks. On the one hand, both linguistic networks display small-world and scale-free network structures, but the network of the normal-hearing students’ exhibits a more power-law-like degree distribution. Relevant network measures show significant differences between the two linguistic networks. On the other hand, deaf or hard-of-hearing students tend to have a lower language proficiency level in both syntactic and lexical aspects. The rigid use of function words and a lower vocabulary richness of the deaf or hard-of-hearing students may partially account for the observed differences.

The use of auditory and visual context in speech perception by listeners with normal hearing and listeners with cochlear implants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew eWinn

2013-11-01

Full Text Available There is a wide range of acoustic and visual variability across different talkers and different speaking contexts. Listeners with normal hearing accommodate that variability in ways that facilitate efficient perception, but it is not known whether listeners with cochlear implants can do the same. In this study, listeners with normal hearing (NH and listeners with cochlear implants (CIs were tested for accommodation to auditory and visual phonetic contexts created by gender-driven speech differences as well as vowel coarticulation and lip rounding in both consonants and vowels. Accommodation was measured as the shifting of perceptual boundaries between /s/ and /ʃ/ sounds in various contexts, as modeled by mixed-effects logistic regression. Owing to the spectral contrasts thought to underlie these context effects, CI listeners were predicted to perform poorly, but showed considerable success. Listeners with cochlear implants not only showed sensitivity to auditory cues to gender, they were also able to use visual cues to gender (i.e. faces as a supplement or proxy for information in the acoustic domain, in a pattern that was not observed for listeners with normal hearing. Spectrally-degraded stimuli heard by listeners with normal hearing generally did not elicit strong context effects, underscoring the limitations of noise vocoders and/or the importance of experience with electric hearing. Visual cues for consonant lip rounding and vowel lip rounding were perceived in a manner consistent with coarticulation and were generally used more heavily by listeners with CIs. Results suggest that listeners with cochlear implants are able to accommodate various sources of acoustic variability either by attending to appropriate acoustic cues or by inferring them via the visual signal.

Discrimination task reveals differences in neural bases of tinnitus and hearing impairment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatima T Husain

Full Text Available We investigated auditory perception and cognitive processing in individuals with chronic tinnitus or hearing loss using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. Our participants belonged to one of three groups: bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus (TIN, bilateral hearing loss without tinnitus (HL, and normal hearing without tinnitus (NH. We employed pure tones and frequency-modulated sweeps as stimuli in two tasks: passive listening and active discrimination. All subjects had normal hearing through 2 kHz and all stimuli were low-pass filtered at 2 kHz so that all participants could hear them equally well. Performance was similar among all three groups for the discrimination task. In all participants, a distributed set of brain regions including the primary and non-primary auditory cortices showed greater response for both tasks compared to rest. Comparing the groups directly, we found decreased activation in the parietal and frontal lobes in the participants with tinnitus compared to the HL group and decreased response in the frontal lobes relative to the NH group. Additionally, the HL subjects exhibited increased response in the anterior cingulate relative to the NH group. Our results suggest that a differential engagement of a putative auditory attention and short-term memory network, comprising regions in the frontal, parietal and temporal cortices and the anterior cingulate, may represent a key difference in the neural bases of chronic tinnitus accompanied by hearing loss relative to hearing loss alone.

Low empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (pre)adolescents compared to normal hearing controls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Netten, A.P.; Rieffe, C.; Theunissen, S.C.P.M.; Soede, W.; Dirks, E.; Briaire, J.J.; Frijns, J.H.M.

2015-01-01

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the level of empathy in deaf and hard of hearing (pre)adolescents compared to normal hearing controls and to define the influence of language and various hearing loss characteristics on the development of empathy. Methods The study group (mean age

The Emotional Communication in Hearing Questionnaire (EMO-CHeQ): Development and Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Gurjit; Liskovoi, Lisa; Launer, Stefan; Russo, Frank

2018-06-11

The objectives of this research were to develop and evaluate a self-report questionnaire (the Emotional Communication in Hearing Questionnaire or EMO-CHeQ) designed to assess experiences of hearing and handicap when listening to signals that contain vocal emotion information. Study 1 involved internet-based administration of a 42-item version of the EMO-CHeQ to 586 adult participants (243 with self-reported normal hearing [NH], 193 with self-reported hearing impairment but no reported use of hearing aids [HI], and 150 with self-reported hearing impairment and use of hearing aids [HA]). To better understand the factor structure of the EMO-CHeQ and eliminate redundant items, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Study 2 involved laboratory-based administration of a 16-item version of the EMO-CHeQ to 32 adult participants (12 normal hearing/near normal hearing (NH/nNH), 10 HI, and 10 HA). In addition, participants completed an emotion-identification task under audio and audiovisual conditions. In study 1, the exploratory factor analysis yielded an interpretable solution with four factors emerging that explained a total of 66.3% of the variance in performance the EMO-CHeQ. Item deletion resulted in construction of the 16-item EMO-CHeQ. In study 1, both the HI and HA group reported greater vocal emotion communication handicap on the EMO-CHeQ than on the NH group, but differences in handicap were not observed between the HI and HA group. In study 2, the same pattern of reported handicap was observed in individuals with audiometrically verified hearing as was found in study 1. On the emotion-identification task, no group differences in performance were observed in the audiovisual condition, but group differences were observed in the audio alone condition. Although the HI and HA group exhibited similar emotion-identification performance, both groups performed worse than the NH/nNH group, thus suggesting the presence of behavioral deficits that parallel self

Communication between hearing impaired and normal hearing students: a facilitative proposal of learning in higher education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krysne Kelly de França Oliveira

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: There has been an increase in the number of hearing impaired people with access to higher education. Most of them are young people from a different culture who present difficulties in communication, inter-relationship, and learning in a culture of normal hearing people, because they use a different language, the Brazilian Sign Language - LIBRAS. Objective: The present study aimed to identify the forms of communication used between hearing impaired and normal hearing students, verifying how they can interfere with the learning process of the first. Methods: A qualitative study that used the space of a private university in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará state, Brazil, from February to April 2009. We carried out semi-structured interviews with three hearing impaired students, three teachers, three interpreters, and three normal hearing students. The content of the speeches was categorized and organized by the method of thematic analysis. Results: We verified that the forms of communication used ranged from mime and gestures to writing and drawing, but the most accepted by the hearing impaired students was LIBRAS. As a method of communication, it supports the learning of hearing impaired students, and with the mediation of interpreters, it gives them conditions to settle in their zones of development, according to the precepts of Vygotsky. Conclusion: Thus, we recognize the importance of LIBRAS as predominant language, essential to the full academic achievement of hearing impaired students; however, their efforts and dedication, as well as the interest of institutions and teachers on the deaf culture, are also important for preparing future professionals.

Sensorineural hearing loss degrades behavioral and physiological measures of human spatial selective auditory attention

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Lengshi; Best, Virginia; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G.

2018-01-01

Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss often have trouble understanding speech amid other voices. While poor spatial hearing is often implicated, direct evidence is weak; moreover, studies suggest that reduced audibility and degraded spectrotemporal coding may explain such problems. We hypothesized that poor spatial acuity leads to difficulty deploying selective attention, which normally filters out distracting sounds. In listeners with normal hearing, selective attention causes changes in the neural responses evoked by competing sounds, which can be used to quantify the effectiveness of attentional control. Here, we used behavior and electroencephalography to explore whether control of selective auditory attention is degraded in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners. Normal-hearing (NH) and HI listeners identified a simple melody presented simultaneously with two competing melodies, each simulated from different lateral angles. We quantified performance and attentional modulation of cortical responses evoked by these competing streams. Compared with NH listeners, HI listeners had poorer sensitivity to spatial cues, performed more poorly on the selective attention task, and showed less robust attentional modulation of cortical responses. Moreover, across NH and HI individuals, these measures were correlated. While both groups showed cortical suppression of distracting streams, this modulation was weaker in HI listeners, especially when attending to a target at midline, surrounded by competing streams. These findings suggest that hearing loss interferes with the ability to filter out sound sources based on location, contributing to communication difficulties in social situations. These findings also have implications for technologies aiming to use neural signals to guide hearing aid processing. PMID:29555752

Effects of Hearing Loss and Fast-Acting Compression on Amplitude Modulation Perception and Speech Intelligibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiinberg, Alan; Jepsen, Morten Løve; Epp, Bastian

2018-01-01

Objective: The purpose was to investigate the effects of hearing-loss and fast-acting compression on speech intelligibility and two measures of temporal modulation sensitivity. Design: Twelve adults with normal hearing (NH) and 16 adults with mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss......, the MDD thresholds were higher for the group with hearing loss than for the group with NH. Fast-acting compression increased the modulation detection thresholds, while no effect of compression on the MDD thresholds was observed. The speech reception thresholds obtained in stationary noise were slightly...... of the modulation detection thresholds, compression does not seem to provide a benefit for speech intelligibility. Furthermore, fast-acting compression may not be able to restore MDD thresholds to the values observed for listeners with NH, suggesting that the two measures of amplitude modulation sensitivity...

Modeling Speech Intelligibility in Hearing Impaired Listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scheidiger, Christoph; Jørgensen, Søren; Dau, Torsten

2014-01-01

speech, e.g. phase jitter or spectral subtraction. Recent studies predict SI for normal-hearing (NH) listeners based on a signal-to-noise ratio measure in the envelope domain (SNRenv), in the framework of the speech-based envelope power spectrum model (sEPSM, [20, 21]). These models have shown good...... agreement with measured data under a broad range of conditions, including stationary and modulated interferers, reverberation, and spectral subtraction. Despite the advances in modeling intelligibility in NH listeners, a broadly applicable model that can predict SI in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners...... is not yet available. As a firrst step towards such a model, this study investigates to what extent eects of hearing impairment on SI can be modeled in the sEPSM framework. Preliminary results show that, by only modeling the loss of audibility, the model cannot account for the higher speech reception...

Complex-Tone Pitch Discrimination in Listeners With Sensorineural Hearing Loss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Zaar, Johannes

2016-01-01

estimated in the same listeners. The estimated reduction of cochlear compression was significantly correlated with the increase in the F0DL ratio, while no correlation was found with filter bandwidth. The effects of degraded frequency selectivity and loss of compression were considered in a simplified......-discrimination performance in listeners with SNHL. Pitch-discrimination thresholds were obtained for 14 normal-hearing (NH) and 10 hearing-impaired (HI) listeners for sine-phase (SP) and random-phase (RP) complex tones. When all harmonics were unresolved, the HI listeners performed, on average, worse than NH listeners...... in the RP condition but similarly to NH listeners in the SP condition. The increase in pitch-discrimination performance for the SP relative to the RP condition (F0DL ratio) was significantly larger in the HI as compared with the NH listeners. Cochlear compression and auditory-filter bandwidths were...

Speak on time! Effects of a musical rhythmic training on children with hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Hidalgo, Céline; Falk, Simone; Schön, Daniele

2017-08-01

This study investigates temporal adaptation in speech interaction in children with normal hearing and in children with cochlear implants (CIs) and/or hearing aids (HAs). We also address the question of whether musical rhythmic training can improve these skills in children with hearing loss (HL). Children named pictures presented on the screen in alternation with a virtual partner. Alternation rate (fast or slow) and the temporal predictability (match vs mismatch of stress occurrences) were manipulated. One group of children with normal hearing (NH) and one with HL were tested. The latter group was tested twice: once after 30 min of speech therapy and once after 30 min of musical rhythmic training. Both groups of children (NH and with HL) can adjust their speech production to the rate of alternation of the virtual partner. Moreover, while children with normal hearing benefit from the temporal regularity of stress occurrences, children with HL become sensitive to this manipulation only after rhythmic training. Rhythmic training may help children with HL to structure the temporal flow of their verbal interactions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Masker phase effects in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners: evidence for peripheral compression at low signal frequencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oxenham, Andrew J.; Dau, Torsten

2004-01-01

curvature. Results from 12 listeners with sensorineural hearing loss showed reduced masker phase effects, when compared with data from normal-hearing listeners, at both 250- and 1000-Hz signal frequencies. The effects of hearing impairment on phase-related masking differences were not well simulated...... are affected by a common underlying mechanism, presumably related to cochlear outer hair cell function. The results also suggest that normal peripheral compression remains strong even at 250 Hz....

Performance, fatigue and stress in open-plan offices: The effects of noise and restoration on hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Jahncke

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Hearing impaired and normal hearing individuals were compared in two within-participant office noise conditions (high noise: 60 L Aeq and low noise: 30 L Aeq . Performance, subjective fatigue, and physiological stress were tested during working on a simulated open-plan office. We also tested two between-participants restoration conditions following the work period with high noise (nature movie or continued office noise. Participants with a hearing impairment (N = 20 were matched with normal hearing participants (N = 18 and undertook one practice session and two counterbalanced experimental sessions. In each experimental session they worked for two hours with basic memory and attention tasks. We also measured physiological stress indicators (cortisol and catecholamines and self-reports of mood and fatigue. The hearing impaired participants were more affected by high noise than the normal hearing participants, as shown by impaired performance for tasks that involve recall of semantic information. The hearing impaired participants were also more fatigued by high noise exposure than participants with normal hearing, and they tended to have higher stress hormone levels during the high noise compared to the low noise condition. Restoration with a movie increased performance and motivation for the normal hearing participants, while rest with continued noise did not. For the hearing impaired participants, continued noise during rest increased motivation and performance, while the movie did not. In summary, the impact of noise and restorative conditions varied with the hearing characteristics of the participants. The small sample size does however encourage caution when interpreting the results.

Lexical tone recognition in noise in normal-hearing children and prelingually deafened children with cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Yitao; Xu, Li

2017-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate Mandarin tone recognition in background noise in children with cochlear implants (CIs), and to examine the potential factors contributing to their performance. Tone recognition was tested using a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm in various signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions (i.e. quiet, +12, +6, 0, and -6 dB). Linear correlation analysis was performed to examine possible relationships between the tone-recognition performance of the CI children and the demographic factors. Sixty-six prelingually deafened children with CIs and 52 normal-hearing (NH) children as controls participated in the study. Children with CIs showed an overall poorer tone-recognition performance and were more susceptible to noise than their NH peers. Tone confusions between Mandarin tone 2 and tone 3 were most prominent in both CI and NH children except for in the poorest SNR conditions. Age at implantation was significantly correlated with tone-recognition performance of the CI children in noise. There is a marked deficit in tone recognition in prelingually deafened children with CIs, particularly in noise listening conditions. While factors that contribute to the large individual differences are still elusive, early implantation could be beneficial to tone development in pediatric CI users.

Association between vestibular function and motor performance in hearing-impaired children.

Science.gov (United States)

Maes, Leen; De Kegel, Alexandra; Van Waelvelde, Hilde; Dhooge, Ingeborg

2014-12-01

The clinical balance performance of normal-hearing (NH) children was compared with the balance performance of hearing-impaired (HI) children with and without vestibular dysfunction to identify an association between vestibular function and motor performance. Prospective study. Tertiary referral center. Thirty-six children (mean age, 7 yr 5 mo; range, 3 yr 8 mo-12 yr 11 mo) divided into three groups: NH children with normal vestibular responses, HI children with normal vestibular responses, and HI children with abnormal vestibular function. A vestibular test protocol (rotatory and collic vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing) in combination with three clinical balance tests (balance beam walking, one-leg hopping, one-leg stance). Clinical balance performance. HI children with abnormal vestibular test results obtained the lowest quotients of motor performance, which were significantly lower compared with the NH group (p beam walking and one-leg stance; p = 0.003 for one-leg hopping). The balance performance of the HI group with normal vestibular responses was better in comparison with the vestibular impaired group but still significantly lower compared with the NH group (p = 0.020 for balance beam walking; p = 0.001 for one-leg stance; not significant for one-leg hopping). These results indicate an association between vestibular function and motor performance in HI children, with a more distinct motor deterioration if a vestibular impairment is superimposed to the auditory dysfunction.

Reflectance Measures from Infant Ears With Normal Hearing and Transient Conductive Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Voss, Susan E; Herrmann, Barbara S; Horton, Nicholas J; Amadei, Elizabeth A; Kujawa, Sharon G

2016-01-01

The objective is to develop methods to utilize newborn reflectance measures for the identification of middle-ear transient conditions (e.g., middle-ear fluid) during the newborn period and ultimately during the first few months of life. Transient middle-ear conditions are a suspected source of failure to pass a newborn hearing screening. The ability to identify a conductive loss during the screening procedure could enable the referred ear to be either (1) cleared of a middle-ear condition and recommended for more extensive hearing assessment as soon as possible, or (2) suspected of a transient middle-ear condition, and if desired, be rescreened before more extensive hearing assessment. Reflectance measurements are reported from full-term, healthy, newborn babies in which one ear referred and one ear passed an initial auditory brainstem response newborn hearing screening and a subsequent distortion product otoacoustic emission screening on the same day. These same subjects returned for a detailed follow-up evaluation at age 1 month (range 14 to 35 days). In total, measurements were made on 30 subjects who had a unilateral refer near birth (during their first 2 days of life) and bilateral normal hearing at follow-up (about 1 month old). Three specific comparisons were made: (1) Association of ear's state with power reflectance near birth (referred versus passed ear), (2) Changes in power reflectance of normal ears between newborn and 1 month old (maturation effects), and (3) Association of ear's newborn state (referred versus passed) with ear's power reflectance at 1 month. In addition to these measurements, a set of preliminary data selection criteria were developed to ensure that analyzed data were not corrupted by acoustic leaks and other measurement problems. Within 2 days of birth, the power reflectance measured in newborn ears with transient middle-ear conditions (referred newborn hearing screening and passed hearing assessment at age 1 month) was significantly

Relation between temporal envelope coding, pitch discrimination, and compression estimates in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bianchi, Federica; Santurette, Sébastien; Fereczkowski, Michal

2015-01-01

Recent physiological studies in animals showed that noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) increased the amplitude of envelope coding in single auditory-nerve fibers. The present study investigated whether SNHL in human listeners was associated with enhanced temporal envelope coding...... resolvability. For the unresolved conditions, all five HI listeners performed as good as or better than NH listeners with matching musical experience. Two HI listeners showed lower amplitude-modulation detection thresholds than NH listeners for low modulation rates, and one of these listeners also showed a loss......, whether this enhancement affected pitch discrimination performance, and whether loss of compression following SNHL was a potential factor in envelope coding enhancement. Envelope processing was assessed in normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners in a behavioral amplitude...

Gait performance of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Melo, Renato de Souza

2017-09-01

Several studies have demonstrated that children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) may exhibit balance disorders, which can compromise the gait performance of this population. Compare the gait performance of normal hearing (NH) children and those with SNHL, considering the sex and age range of the sample, and analyze gait performance according to degrees of hearing loss and etiological factors in the latter group. This is a cross-sectional study that assessed 96 students, 48 NH and 48 with SNHL, aged between 7 and 18 years. The Brazilian version of the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) was used to analyze gait and the Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis. The group with SNHL obtained lower average gait performance compared to NH subjects (p=0.000). This was also observed when the children were grouped by sex female and male (p=0.000). The same difference occurred when the children were stratified by age group: 7-18 years (p=0.000). The group with severe and profound hearing loss exhibited worse gait performance than those with mild and moderate loss (p=0.048) and children with prematurity as an etiological factor demonstrated the worst gait performance. The children with SNHL showed worse gait performance compared to NH of the same sex and age group. Those with severe and profound hearing loss and prematurity as an etiological factor demonstrated the worst gait performances. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sentence Writing and Perception of Written Sentences in Hearing-Impaired and Normal-Hearing Primary School Students in Hamadan, Western Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afsaneh Yaghobi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Learning language is acquired in early childhood and gradually developed by new words and new structures. Hearing sense is the most important acquisition for learning this skill. Hearing disorders are barriers for natural language learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between writing sentences and perception of written sentences in hearing-impaired and normal-hearing students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among thirty hearing-impaired students with hearing loss of 70-90 dB and thirty normal hearing students. They were selected from 3rd grade primary school students in Hamadan, a large city in Western Iran. The language skills and non language information was assessed by questionnaire, Action Picture Test, and Sentence Perception Test.Results: Results showed that there was a significant relation between writing sentences and perception of written sentences in hearing impaired students (p<0.001, (r=0.8. This significant relation was seen in normal-hearing students as well (p<0.001, (r=0.7.Conclusion: Disability of hearing-impaired students in verbal communication is not only related to articulation and voice disorders but also is related to their disability to explore and use of language rules. They suffer lack of perception of written sentences, and they are not skilled to convey their feelings and thoughts in order to presenting themselves by using language structures.

Speech Rate Normalization and Phonemic Boundary Perception in Cochlear-Implant Users

Science.gov (United States)

Jaekel, Brittany N.; Newman, Rochelle S.; Goupell, Matthew J.

2017-01-01

Purpose: Normal-hearing (NH) listeners rate normalize, temporarily remapping phonemic category boundaries to account for a talker's speech rate. It is unknown if adults who use auditory prostheses called cochlear implants (CI) can rate normalize, as CIs transmit degraded speech signals to the auditory nerve. Ineffective adjustment to rate…

Recognition and Comprehension of "Narrow Focus" by Young Adults With Prelingual Hearing Loss Using Hearing Aids or Cochlear Implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Segal, Osnat; Kishon-Rabin, Liat

2017-12-20

The stressed word in a sentence (narrow focus [NF]) conveys information about the intent of the speaker and is therefore important for processing spoken language and in social interactions. The ability of participants with severe-to-profound prelingual hearing loss to comprehend NF has rarely been investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess the recognition and comprehension of NF by young adults with prelingual hearing loss compared with those of participants with normal hearing (NH). The participants included young adults with hearing aids (HA; n = 10), cochlear implants (CI; n = 12), and NH (n = 18). The test material included the Hebrew Narrow Focus Test (Segal, Kaplan, Patael, & Kishon-Rabin, in press), with 3 subtests, which was used to assess the recognition and comprehension of NF in different contexts. The following results were obtained: (a) CI and HA users successfully recognized the stressed word, with the worst performance for CI; (b) HA and CI comprehended NF less well than NH; and (c) the comprehension of NF was associated with verbal working memory and expressive vocabulary in CI users. Most CI and HA users were able to recognize the stressed word in a sentence but had considerable difficulty understanding it. Different factors may contribute to this difficulty, including the memory load during the task itself and linguistic and pragmatic abilities. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5572792.

Lexical and age effects on word recognition in noise in normal-hearing children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Cuncun; Liu, Sha; Liu, Haihong; Kong, Ying; Liu, Xin; Li, Shujing

2015-12-01

The purposes of the present study were (1) to examine the lexical and age effects on word recognition of normal-hearing (NH) children in noise, and (2) to compare the word-recognition performance in noise to that in quiet listening conditions. Participants were 213 NH children (age ranged between 3 and 6 years old). Eighty-nine and 124 of the participants were tested in noise and quiet listening conditions, respectively. The Standard-Chinese Lexical Neighborhood Test, which contains lists of words in four lexical categories (i.e., dissyllablic easy (DE), dissyllablic hard (DH), monosyllable easy (ME), and monosyllable hard (MH)) was used to evaluate the Mandarin Chinese word recognition in speech spectrum-shaped noise (SSN) with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 0dB. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to examine the lexical effects with syllable length and difficulty level as the main factors on word recognition in the quiet and noise listening conditions. The effects of age on word-recognition performance were examined using a regression model. The word-recognition performance in noise was significantly poorer than that in quiet and the individual variations in performance in noise were much greater than those in quiet. Word recognition scores showed that the lexical effects were significant in the SSN. Children scored higher with dissyllabic words than with monosyllabic words; "easy" words scored higher than "hard" words in the noise condition. The scores of the NH children in the SSN (SNR=0dB) for the DE, DH, ME, and MH words were 85.4, 65.9, 71.7, and 46.2% correct, respectively. The word-recognition performance also increased with age in each lexical category for the NH children tested in noise. Both age and lexical characteristics of words had significant influences on the performance of Mandarin-Chinese word recognition in noise. The lexical effects were more obvious under noise listening conditions than in quiet. The word

Parental Support for Language Development during Joint Book Reading for Young Children with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

DesJardin, Jean L.; Doll, Emily R.; Stika, Carren J.; Eisenberg, Laurie S.; Johnson, Karen J.; Ganguly, Dianne Hammes; Colson, Bethany G.; Henning, Shirley C.

2014-01-01

Parent and child joint book reading (JBR) characteristics and parent facilitative language techniques (FLTs) were investigated in two groups of parents and their young children; children with normal hearing (NH; "n" = 60) and children with hearing loss (HL; "n" = 45). Parent-child dyads were videotaped during JBR interactions,…

Diffusion tensor imaging in children with unilateral hearing loss: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tara eRachakonda

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: Language acquisition was assumed to proceed normally in children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL since they have one functioning ear. However, children with UHL score poorly on speech-language tests and have higher rates of educational problems compared to normal hearing (NH peers. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI is an imaging modality used to measure microstructural integrity of brain white matter. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate differences in fractional anisotropy (FA and mean diffusivity (MD in hearing- and non-hearing-related structures in the brain between children with UHL and their NH siblings. Study Design: Prospective observational cohortSetting: Academic medical center.Subjects and Methods: 61 children were recruited, tested and imaged. 29 children with severe-to-profound UHL were compared to 20 siblings with NH using IQ and oral language testing, and MRI with DTI. 12 children had inadequate MRI data. Parents provided demographic data and indicated whether children had a need for an individualized educational program (IEP or speech therapy (ST. DTI parameters were measured in auditory and non-auditory regions of interest (ROIs. Between-group comparisons were evaluated with non-parametric tests. Results: Lower FA of left lateral lemniscus was observed for children with UHL compared to their NH siblings, as well as trends towards differences in other auditory and nonauditory regions. Correlation analyses showed associations between several DTI parameters and outcomes in children with UHL. Regression analyses revealed relationships between educational outcome variables and several DTI parameters, which may provide clinically useful information for guidance of speech therapy. Discussion/Conclusion: White matter microstructural patterns in several brain regions are preserved despite unilateral rather than bilateral auditory input which contrasts with findings in patients with bilateral hearing loss.

Predicting effects of hearing-instrument signal processing on consonant perception

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zaar, Johannes; Schmitt, Nicola; Derleth, Ralph-Peter

2017-01-01

–1064] that combines an auditory processing front end with a correlation-based template-matching back end. In terms of HA processing, effects of strong nonlinear frequency compression and impulse-noise suppression were measured in 10 NH listeners using consonant-vowel stimuli. Regarding CI processing, the consonant......This study investigated the influence of hearing-aid (HA) and cochlear-implant (CI) processing on consonant perception in normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Measured data were compared to predictions obtained with a speech perception model [Zaar and Dau (2017). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 141, 1051...... perception data from DiNino et al. [(2016). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 140, 4404-4418] were considered, which were obtained with noise-vocoded vowel-consonant-vowel stimuli in 12 NH listeners. The inputs to the model were the same stimuli as were used in the corresponding experiments. The model predictions obtained...

Rapid word-learning in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children: effects of age, receptive vocabulary, and high-frequency amplification.

Science.gov (United States)

Pittman, A L; Lewis, D E; Hoover, B M; Stelmachowicz, P G

2005-12-01

This study examined rapid word-learning in 5- to 14-year-old children with normal and impaired hearing. The effects of age and receptive vocabulary were examined as well as those of high-frequency amplification. Novel words were low-pass filtered at 4 kHz (typical of current amplification devices) and at 9 kHz. It was hypothesized that (1) the children with normal hearing would learn more words than the children with hearing loss, (2) word-learning would increase with age and receptive vocabulary for both groups, and (3) both groups would benefit from a broader frequency bandwidth. Sixty children with normal hearing and 37 children with moderate sensorineural hearing losses participated in this study. Each child viewed a 4-minute animated slideshow containing 8 nonsense words created using the 24 English consonant phonemes (3 consonants per word). Each word was repeated 3 times. Half of the 8 words were low-pass filtered at 4 kHz and half were filtered at 9 kHz. After viewing the story twice, each child was asked to identify the words from among pictures in the slide show. Before testing, a measure of current receptive vocabulary was obtained using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III). The PPVT-III scores of the hearing-impaired children were consistently poorer than those of the normal-hearing children across the age range tested. A similar pattern of results was observed for word-learning in that the performance of the hearing-impaired children was significantly poorer than that of the normal-hearing children. Further analysis of the PPVT and word-learning scores suggested that although word-learning was reduced in the hearing-impaired children, their performance was consistent with their receptive vocabularies. Additionally, no correlation was found between overall performance and the age of identification, age of amplification, or years of amplification in the children with hearing loss. Results also revealed a small increase in performance for both

Auditory Discrimination of Lexical Stress Patterns in Hearing-Impaired Infants with Cochlear Implants Compared with Normal Hearing: Influence of Acoustic Cues and Listening Experience to the Ambient Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Segal, Osnat; Houston, Derek; Kishon-Rabin, Liat

2016-01-01

To assess discrimination of lexical stress pattern in infants with cochlear implant (CI) compared with infants with normal hearing (NH). While criteria for cochlear implantation have expanded to infants as young as 6 months, little is known regarding infants' processing of suprasegmental-prosodic cues which are known to be important for the first stages of language acquisition. Lexical stress is an example of such a cue, which, in hearing infants, has been shown to assist in segmenting words from fluent speech and in distinguishing between words that differ only the stress pattern. To date, however, there are no data on the ability of infants with CIs to perceive lexical stress. Such information will provide insight to the speech characteristics that are available to these infants in their first steps of language acquisition. This is of particular interest given the known limitations that the CI device has in transmitting speech information that is mediated by changes in fundamental frequency. Two groups of infants participated in this study. The first group included 20 profoundly hearing-impaired infants with CI, 12 to 33 months old, implanted under the age of 2.5 years (median age of implantation = 14.5 months), with 1 to 6 months of CI use (mean = 2.7 months) and no known additional problems. The second group of infants included 48 NH infants, 11 to 14 months old with normal development and no known risk factors for developmental delays. Infants were tested on their ability to discriminate between nonsense words that differed on their stress pattern only (/dóti/ versus /dotí/ and /dotí/ versus /dóti/) using the visual habituation procedure. The measure for discrimination was the change in looking time between the last habituation trial (e.g., /dóti/) and the novel trial (e.g., /dotí/). (1) Infants with CI showed discrimination between lexical stress pattern with only limited auditory experience with their implant device, (2) discrimination of stress

Developmental Conductive Hearing Loss Reduces Modulation Masking Release.

Science.gov (United States)

Ihlefeld, Antje; Chen, Yi-Wen; Sanes, Dan H

2016-01-01

Hearing-impaired individuals experience difficulties in detecting or understanding speech, especially in background sounds within the same frequency range. However, normally hearing (NH) human listeners experience less difficulty detecting a target tone in background noise when the envelope of that noise is temporally gated (modulated) than when that envelope is flat across time (unmodulated). This perceptual benefit is called modulation masking release (MMR). When flanking masker energy is added well outside the frequency band of the target, and comodulated with the original modulated masker, detection thresholds improve further (MMR+). In contrast, if the flanking masker is antimodulated with the original masker, thresholds worsen (MMR-). These interactions across disparate frequency ranges are thought to require central nervous system (CNS) processing. Therefore, we explored the effect of developmental conductive hearing loss (CHL) in gerbils on MMR characteristics, as a test for putative CNS mechanisms. The detection thresholds of NH gerbils were lower in modulated noise, when compared with unmodulated noise. The addition of a comodulated flanker further improved performance, whereas an antimodulated flanker worsened performance. However, for CHL-reared gerbils, all three forms of masking release were reduced when compared with NH animals. These results suggest that developmental CHL impairs both within- and across-frequency processing and provide behavioral evidence that CNS mechanisms are affected by a peripheral hearing impairment.

Developmental Conductive Hearing Loss Reduces Modulation Masking Release

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antje Ihlefeld

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Hearing-impaired individuals experience difficulties in detecting or understanding speech, especially in background sounds within the same frequency range. However, normally hearing (NH human listeners experience less difficulty detecting a target tone in background noise when the envelope of that noise is temporally gated (modulated than when that envelope is flat across time (unmodulated. This perceptual benefit is called modulation masking release (MMR. When flanking masker energy is added well outside the frequency band of the target, and comodulated with the original modulated masker, detection thresholds improve further (MMR+. In contrast, if the flanking masker is antimodulated with the original masker, thresholds worsen (MMR−. These interactions across disparate frequency ranges are thought to require central nervous system (CNS processing. Therefore, we explored the effect of developmental conductive hearing loss (CHL in gerbils on MMR characteristics, as a test for putative CNS mechanisms. The detection thresholds of NH gerbils were lower in modulated noise, when compared with unmodulated noise. The addition of a comodulated flanker further improved performance, whereas an antimodulated flanker worsened performance. However, for CHL-reared gerbils, all three forms of masking release were reduced when compared with NH animals. These results suggest that developmental CHL impairs both within- and across-frequency processing and provide behavioral evidence that CNS mechanisms are affected by a peripheral hearing impairment.

Four cases of acoustic neuromas with normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, M; Peterein, J; Goebel, J; Neely, J G

1995-05-01

In 95 percent of the cases, patients with acoustic neuromas will have some magnitude of hearing loss in the affected ear. This paper reports on four patients who had acoustic neuromas and normal hearing. Results from the case history, audiometric evaluation, auditory brainstem response (ABR), electroneurography (ENOG), and vestibular evaluation are reported for each patient. For all patients, the presence of unilateral tinnitus was the most common complaint. Audiologically, elevated or absent acoustic reflex thresholds and abnormal ABR findings were the most powerful diagnostic tools.

Validating a Method to Assess Lipreading, Audiovisual Gain, and Integration During Speech Reception With Cochlear-Implanted and Normal-Hearing Subjects Using a Talking Head.

Science.gov (United States)

Schreitmüller, Stefan; Frenken, Miriam; Bentz, Lüder; Ortmann, Magdalene; Walger, Martin; Meister, Hartmut

Watching a talker's mouth is beneficial for speech reception (SR) in many communication settings, especially in noise and when hearing is impaired. Measures for audiovisual (AV) SR can be valuable in the framework of diagnosing or treating hearing disorders. This study addresses the lack of standardized methods in many languages for assessing lipreading, AV gain, and integration. A new method is validated that supplements a German speech audiometric test with visualizations of the synthetic articulation of an avatar that was used, for it is feasible to lip-sync auditory speech in a highly standardized way. Three hypotheses were formed according to the literature on AV SR that used live or filmed talkers. It was tested whether respective effects could be reproduced with synthetic articulation: (1) cochlear implant (CI) users have a higher visual-only SR than normal-hearing (NH) individuals, and younger individuals obtain higher lipreading scores than older persons. (2) Both CI and NH gain from presenting AV over unimodal (auditory or visual) sentences in noise. (3) Both CI and NH listeners efficiently integrate complementary auditory and visual speech features. In a controlled, cross-sectional study with 14 experienced CI users (mean age 47.4) and 14 NH individuals (mean age 46.3, similar broad age distribution), lipreading, AV gain, and integration of a German matrix sentence test were assessed. Visual speech stimuli were synthesized by the articulation of the Talking Head system "MASSY" (Modular Audiovisual Speech Synthesizer), which displayed standardized articulation with respect to the visibility of German phones. In line with the hypotheses and previous literature, CI users had a higher mean visual-only SR than NH individuals (CI, 38%; NH, 12%; p < 0.001). Age was correlated with lipreading such that within each group, younger individuals obtained higher visual-only scores than older persons (rCI = -0.54; p = 0.046; rNH = -0.78; p < 0.001). Both CI and NH

Spectral and binaural loudness summation for hearing-impaired listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Oetting, Dirk; Hohmann, Volker; Appell, Jens-E; Kollmeier, Birger; Ewert, Stephan D

2016-05-01

Sensorineural hearing loss typically results in a steepened loudness function and a reduced dynamic range from elevated thresholds to uncomfortably loud levels for narrowband and broadband signals. Restoring narrowband loudness perception for hearing-impaired (HI) listeners can lead to overly loud perception of broadband signals and it is unclear how binaural presentation affects loudness perception in this case. Here, loudness perception quantified by categorical loudness scaling for nine normal-hearing (NH) and ten HI listeners was compared for signals with different bandwidth and different spectral shape in monaural and in binaural conditions. For the HI listeners, frequency- and level-dependent amplification was used to match the narrowband monaural loudness functions of the NH listeners. The average loudness functions for NH and HI listeners showed good agreement for monaural broadband signals. However, HI listeners showed substantially greater loudness for binaural broadband signals than NH listeners: on average a 14.1 dB lower level was required to reach "very loud" (range 30.8 to -3.7 dB). Overall, with narrowband loudness compensation, a given binaural loudness for broadband signals above "medium loud" was reached at systematically lower levels for HI than for NH listeners. Such increased binaural loudness summation was not found for loudness categories below "medium loud" or for narrowband signals. Large individual variations in the increased loudness summation were observed and could not be explained by the audiogram or the narrowband loudness functions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving Mobile Phone Speech Recognition by Personalized Amplification: Application in People with Normal Hearing and Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Kam, Anna Chi Shan; Sung, John Ka Keung; Lee, Tan; Wong, Terence Ka Cheong; van Hasselt, Andrew

In this study, the authors evaluated the effect of personalized amplification on mobile phone speech recognition in people with and without hearing loss. This prospective study used double-blind, within-subjects, repeated measures, controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of applying personalized amplification based on the hearing level captured on the mobile device. The personalized amplification settings were created using modified one-third gain targets. The participants in this study included 100 adults of age between 20 and 78 years (60 with age-adjusted normal hearing and 40 with hearing loss). The performance of the participants with personalized amplification and standard settings was compared using both subjective and speech-perception measures. Speech recognition was measured in quiet and in noise using Cantonese disyllabic words. Subjective ratings on the quality, clarity, and comfortableness of the mobile signals were measured with an 11-point visual analog scale. Subjective preferences of the settings were also obtained by a paired-comparison procedure. The personalized amplification application provided better speech recognition via the mobile phone both in quiet and in noise for people with hearing impairment (improved 8 to 10%) and people with normal hearing (improved 1 to 4%). The improvement in speech recognition was significantly better for people with hearing impairment. When the average device output level was matched, more participants preferred to have the individualized gain than not to have it. The personalized amplification application has the potential to improve speech recognition for people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, as well as people with normal hearing, in particular when listening in noisy environments.

Impact of cognitive and linguistic ability on gaze behavior in children with hearing impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olof eSandgren

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In order to explore verbal-nonverbal integration, we investigated the influence of cognitive and linguistic ability on gaze behavior during spoken language conversation between children with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment (HI and normal-hearing (NH peers. Ten HI-NH and ten NH-NH dyads performed a referential communication task requiring description of faces. During task performance, eye movements and speech were tracked. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to model associations between performance on cognitive and linguistic tasks and the probability of gaze to the conversational partner’s face. Analyses compare the listeners in each dyad (HI: n = 10, mean age = 12;6 years, SD = 2;0, mean better ear pure-tone average 33.0 dB HL, SD = 7.8; NH: n = 10, mean age = 13;7 years, SD = 1;11. Group differences in gaze behavior – with HI gazing more to the conversational partner than NH – remained significant despite adjustment for ability on receptive grammar, expressive vocabulary, and complex working memory. Adjustment for phonological short term memory, as measured by nonword repetition, removed group differences, revealing an interaction between group membership and nonword repetition ability. Stratified analysis showed a twofold increase of the probability of gaze-to-partner for HI with low phonological short term memory capacity, and a decreased probability for HI with high capacity, as compared to NH peers. The results revealed differences in gaze behavior attributable to performance on a phonological short term memory task. Participants with hearing impairment and low phonological short term memory capacity showed a doubled probability of gaze to the conversational partner, indicative of a visual bias. The results stress the need to look beyond the hearing impairment in diagnostics and intervention. Acknowledgment of the finding requires clinical assessment of children with hearing impairment to be supported by tasks tapping

Differences in interregional brain connectivity in children with unilateral hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Matthew E; Colletta, Miranda; Coalson, Rebecca; Schlaggar, Bradley L; Lieu, Judith E C

2017-11-01

To identify functional network architecture differences in the brains of children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) using resting-state functional-connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fcMRI). Prospective observational study. Children (7 to 17 years of age) with severe to profound hearing loss in one ear, along with their normal hearing (NH) siblings, were recruited and imaged using rs-fcMRI. Eleven children had right UHL; nine had left UHL; and 13 had normal hearing. Forty-one brain regions of interest culled from established brain networks such as the default mode (DMN); cingulo-opercular (CON); and frontoparietal networks (FPN); as well as regions for language, phonological, and visual processing, were analyzed using regionwise correlations and conjunction analysis to determine differences in functional connectivity between the UHL and normal hearing children. When compared to the NH group, children with UHL showed increased connectivity patterns between multiple networks, such as between the CON and visual processing centers. However, there were decreased, as well as aberrant connectivity patterns with the coactivation of the DMN and FPN, a relationship that usually is negatively correlated. Children with UHL demonstrate multiple functional connectivity differences between brain networks involved with executive function, cognition, and language comprehension that may represent adaptive as well as maladaptive changes. These findings suggest that possible interventions or habilitation, beyond amplification, might be able to affect some children's requirement for additional help at school. 3b. Laryngoscope, 127:2636-2645, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Speech intelligibility for normal hearing and hearing-impaired listeners in simulated room acoustic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arweiler, Iris; Dau, Torsten; Poulsen, Torben

Speech intelligibility depends on many factors such as room acoustics, the acoustical properties and location of the signal and the interferers, and the ability of the (normal and impaired) auditory system to process monaural and binaural sounds. In the present study, the effect of reverberation...... on spatial release from masking was investigated in normal hearing and hearing impaired listeners using three types of interferers: speech shaped noise, an interfering female talker and speech-modulated noise. Speech reception thresholds (SRT) were obtained in three simulated environments: a listening room......, a classroom and a church. The data from the study provide constraints for existing models of speech intelligibility prediction (based on the speech intelligibility index, SII, or the speech transmission index, STI) which have shortcomings when reverberation and/or fluctuating noise affect speech...

Imaging of Conductive Hearing Loss With a Normal Tympanic Membrane.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtin, Hugh D

2016-01-01

This article presents an approach to imaging conductive hearing loss in patients with normal tympanic membranes and discusses entities that should be checked as the radiologist evaluates this potentially complicated issue. Conductive hearing loss in a patient with a normal tympanic membrane is a complicated condition that requires a careful imaging approach. Imaging should focus on otosclerosis, and possible mimics and potential surgical considerations should be evaluated. The radiologist should examine the ossicular chain and the round window and keep in mind that a defect in the superior semicircular canal can disturb the hydraulic integrity of the labyrinth.

Factors associated with hearing loss in a normal-hearing guinea pig model of Hybrid cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Chiemi; Nguyen-Huynh, Anh; Loera, Katherine; Stark, Gemaine; Reiss, Lina

2014-10-01

The Hybrid cochlear implant (CI), also known as Electro-Acoustic Stimulation (EAS), is a new type of CI that preserves residual acoustic hearing and enables combined cochlear implant and hearing aid use in the same ear. However, 30-55% of patients experience acoustic hearing loss within days to months after activation, suggesting that both surgical trauma and electrical stimulation may cause hearing loss. The goals of this study were to: 1) determine the contributions of both implantation surgery and EAS to hearing loss in a normal-hearing guinea pig model; 2) determine which cochlear structural changes are associated with hearing loss after surgery and EAS. Two groups of animals were implanted (n = 6 per group), with one group receiving chronic acoustic and electric stimulation for 10 weeks, and the other group receiving no direct acoustic or electric stimulation during this time frame. A third group (n = 6) was not implanted, but received chronic acoustic stimulation. Auditory brainstem response thresholds were followed over time at 1, 2, 6, and 16 kHz. At the end of the study, the following cochlear measures were quantified: hair cells, spiral ganglion neuron density, fibrous tissue density, and stria vascularis blood vessel density; the presence or absence of ossification around the electrode entry was also noted. After surgery, implanted animals experienced a range of 0-55 dB of threshold shifts in the vicinity of the electrode at 6 and 16 kHz. The degree of hearing loss was significantly correlated with reduced stria vascularis vessel density and with the presence of ossification, but not with hair cell counts, spiral ganglion neuron density, or fibrosis area. After 10 weeks of stimulation, 67% of implanted, stimulated animals had more than 10 dB of additional threshold shift at 1 kHz, compared to 17% of implanted, non-stimulated animals and 0% of non-implanted animals. This 1-kHz hearing loss was not associated with changes in any of the cochlear measures

The comparison of stress and marital satisfaction status of parents of hearing-impaired and normal children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karim Gharashi

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Stress is the source of many problems in human-kind lives and threatens people's life constantly. Having hearing-impaired child, not only causes stress in parents, but also affects their marital satisfaction. The purpose of this study was comparing the stress and marital satisfaction status between the normal and hearing-impaired children's parents.Methods: This was a causal-comparative study. Eighty parents of normal children and 80 parents of hearing-impaired children were chosen from rehabilitation centers and kindergartens in city of Tabriz, Iran by available and clustering sampling method. All parents were asked to complete the Friedrich's source of stress and Enrich marital satisfaction questionnaires.Results: Parents of hearing-impaired children endure more stress than the normal hearing ones (p<0.001. The marital satisfaction of hearing-impaired children's parents was lower than the parents of normal hearing children, too (p<0.001.Conclusion: Having a hearing-impaired child causes stress and threatens the levels of marital satisfaction. This requires much more attention and a distinct planning for parents of handicap children to reduce their stress.

Recognition of Speech of Normal-hearing Individuals with Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hennig, Tais Regina

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Tinnitus and hyperacusis are increasingly frequent audiological symptoms that may occur in the absence of the hearing involvement, but it does not offer a lower impact or bothering to the affected individuals. The Medial Olivocochlear System helps in the speech recognition in noise and may be connected to the presence of tinnitus and hyperacusis. Objective: To evaluate the speech recognition of normal-hearing individual with and without complaints of tinnitus and hyperacusis, and to compare their results. Method: Descriptive, prospective and cross-study in which 19 normal-hearing individuals were evaluated with complaint of tinnitus and hyperacusis of the Study Group (SG, and 23 normal-hearing individuals without audiological complaints of the Control Group (CG. The individuals of both groups were submitted to the test List of Sentences in Portuguese, prepared by Costa (1998 to determine the Sentences Recognition Threshold in Silence (LRSS and the signal to noise ratio (S/N. The SG also answered the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory for tinnitus analysis, and to characterize hyperacusis the discomfort thresholds were set. Results: The CG and SG presented with average LRSS and S/N ratio of 7.34 dB NA and -6.77 dB, and of 7.20 dB NA and -4.89 dB, respectively. Conclusion: The normal-hearing individuals with or without audiological complaints of tinnitus and hyperacusis had a similar performance in the speech recognition in silence, which was not the case when evaluated in the presence of competitive noise, since the SG had a lower performance in this communication scenario, with a statistically significant difference.

The effect of symmetrical and asymmetrical hearing impairment on music quality perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yuexin; Zhao, Fei; Chen, Yuebo; Liang, Maojin; Chen, Ling; Yang, Haidi; Xiong, Hao; Zhang, Xueyuan; Zheng, Yiqing

2016-09-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of symmetrical, asymmetrical and unilateral hearing impairment on music quality perception. Six validated music pieces in the categories of classical music, folk music and pop music were used to assess music quality in terms of its 'pleasantness', 'naturalness', 'fullness', 'roughness' and 'sharpness'. 58 participants with sensorineural hearing loss [20 with unilateral hearing loss (UHL), 20 with bilateral symmetrical hearing loss (BSHL) and 18 with bilateral asymmetrical hearing loss (BAHL)] and 29 normal hearing (NH) subjects participated in the present study. Hearing impaired (HI) participants had greater difficulty in overall music quality perception than NH participants. Participants with BSHL rated music pleasantness and naturalness to be higher than participants with BAHL. Moreover, the hearing thresholds of the better ears from BSHL and BAHL participants as well as the hearing thresholds of the worse ears from BSHL participants were negatively correlated to the pleasantness and naturalness perception. HI participants rated the familiar music pieces higher than unfamiliar music pieces in the three music categories. Music quality perception in participants with hearing impairment appeared to be affected by symmetry of hearing loss, degree of hearing loss and music familiarity when they were assessed using the music quality rating test (MQRT). This indicates that binaural symmetrical hearing is important to achieve a high level of music quality perception in HI listeners. This emphasizes the importance of provision of bilateral hearing assistive devices for people with asymmetrical hearing impairment.

Inter-trial coherence as a marker of cortical phase synchrony in children with sensorineural hearing loss and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder fitted with hearing aids and cochlear implants

Science.gov (United States)

Nash-Kille, Amy; Sharma, Anu

2014-01-01

Objective Although brainstem dys-synchrony is a hallmark of children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD), little is known about how the lack of neural synchrony manifests at more central levels. We used time-frequency single-trial EEG analyses (i.e., inter-trial coherence; ITC), to examine cortical phase synchrony in children with normal hearing (NH), sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and ANSD. Methods Single trial time-frequency analyses were performed on cortical auditory evoked responses from 41 NH children, 91 children with ANSD and 50 children with SNHL. The latter two groups included children who received intervention via hearing aids and cochlear implants. ITC measures were compared between groups as a function of hearing loss, intervention type, and cortical maturational status. Results In children with SNHL, ITC decreased as severity of hearing loss increased. Children with ANSD revealed lower levels of ITC relative to children with NH or SNHL, regardless of intervention. Children with ANSD who received cochlear implants showed significant improvements in ITC with increasing experience with their implants. Conclusions Cortical phase coherence is significantly reduced as a result of both severe-to-profound SNHL and ANSD. Significance ITC provides a window into the brain oscillations underlying the averaged cortical auditory evoked response. Our results provide a first description of deficits in cortical phase synchrony in children with SNHL and ANSD. PMID:24360131

Safety of the HyperSound® Audio System in subjects with normal hearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ritvik P. Mehta

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The objective of the study was to assess the safety of the HyperSound® Audio System (HSS, a novel audio system using ultrasound technology, in normal hearing subjects under normal use conditions; we considered preexposure and post-exposure test design. We investigated primary and secondary outcome measures: i temporary threshold shift (TTS, defined as >10 dB shift in pure tone air conduction thresholds and/or a decrement in distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs >10 dB at two or more frequencies; ii presence of new-onset otologic symptoms after exposure. Twenty adult subjects with normal hearing underwent a pre-exposure assessment (pure tone air conduction audiometry, tympanometry, DPOAEs and otologic symptoms questionnaire followed by exposure to a 2-h movie with sound delivered through the HSS emitter followed by a post-exposure assessment. No TTS or new-onset otological symptoms were identified. HSS demonstrates excellent safety in normal hearing subjects under normal use conditions.

Safety of the HyperSound® Audio System in Subjects with Normal Hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Ritvik P; Mattson, Sara L; Kappus, Brian A; Seitzman, Robin L

2015-06-11

The objective of the study was to assess the safety of the HyperSound® Audio System (HSS), a novel audio system using ultrasound technology, in normal hearing subjects under normal use conditions; we considered pre-exposure and post-exposure test design. We investigated primary and secondary outcome measures: i) temporary threshold shift (TTS), defined as >10 dB shift in pure tone air conduction thresholds and/or a decrement in distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) >10 dB at two or more frequencies; ii) presence of new-onset otologic symptoms after exposure. Twenty adult subjects with normal hearing underwent a pre-exposure assessment (pure tone air conduction audiometry, tympanometry, DPOAEs and otologic symptoms questionnaire) followed by exposure to a 2-h movie with sound delivered through the HSS emitter followed by a post-exposure assessment. No TTS or new-onset otological symptoms were identified. HSS demonstrates excellent safety in normal hearing subjects under normal use conditions.

Fitting and verification of frequency modulation systems on children with normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Schafer, Erin C; Bryant, Danielle; Sanders, Katie; Baldus, Nicole; Algier, Katherine; Lewis, Audrey; Traber, Jordan; Layden, Paige; Amin, Aneeqa

2014-06-01

Several recent investigations support the use of frequency modulation (FM) systems in children with normal hearing and auditory processing or listening disorders such as those diagnosed with auditory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Friedreich ataxia, and dyslexia. The American Academy of Audiology (AAA) published suggested procedures, but these guidelines do not cite research evidence to support the validity of the recommended procedures for fitting and verifying nonoccluding open-ear FM systems on children with normal hearing. Documenting the validity of these fitting procedures is critical to maximize the potential FM-system benefit in the above-mentioned populations of children with normal hearing and those with auditory-listening problems. The primary goal of this investigation was to determine the validity of the AAA real-ear approach to fitting FM systems on children with normal hearing. The secondary goal of this study was to examine speech-recognition performance in noise and loudness ratings without and with FM systems in children with normal hearing sensitivity. A two-group, cross-sectional design was used in the present study. Twenty-six typically functioning children, ages 5-12 yr, with normal hearing sensitivity participated in the study. Participants used a nonoccluding open-ear FM receiver during laboratory-based testing. Participants completed three laboratory tests: (1) real-ear measures, (2) speech recognition performance in noise, and (3) loudness ratings. Four real-ear measures were conducted to (1) verify that measured output met prescribed-gain targets across the 1000-4000 Hz frequency range for speech stimuli, (2) confirm that the FM-receiver volume did not exceed predicted uncomfortable loudness levels, and (3 and 4) measure changes to the real-ear unaided response when placing the FM receiver in the child's ear. After completion of the fitting, speech recognition in noise at a -5

Comparison of Reading Comprehension Skill of Students with Severe to Profound Hearing Impairment from Second up to Fifth Grade of Exceptional Schools with Normal Hearing Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Jalalipour

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Reading is known as one of the most important learning tools. Research results consistently have shown that even a mild hearing impairment could affect the reading skills. Due to the reported differences in reading comprehension skills between hearing impaired students and their normal hearing peers, this research was conducted to compare the differences between the two groups. The other aim was to find any changes in the reading ability of hearing impaired group during elementary school. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional (descriptive–analytic one in which reading comprehension ability of 91 students with severe and profound hearing impairment (33 girls and 58 boys from 2nd up to 5th grade of exceptional schools were compared with 50 2nd grade normal hearing students in Ahvaz, Iran. The first section of Diagnostic Reading Test (Shirazi – Nilipour, 2004 was used in this study. Then the mean reading scores of hearing impaired students in each grade was compared with control group using SPSS 13 with Mann Whitney test. Results: There was a significant difference between average scores of hearing impaired students (boys and girls in 2nd to 5th grade with normal hearing students of 2nd grade (P<0.001. Reading comprehension scores of students with hearing impairment in higher grades had improved slightly, but it was still lower than that of the normal hearing students in the 2nd grade. Conclusion: It appears that reading comprehension skill of students with significant hearing impairment near the end of elementary school years becomes weaker than normal hearing students in the second grade. Therefore, it is essential to find and resolve the underlying reasons of this condition by all professionals who work in the field of education and rehabilitation of these students.

An Estimation of the Whole-of-Life Noise Exposure of Adolescent and Young Adult Australians with Hearing Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Lyndal; Black, Deborah; Bundy, Anita; Williams, Warwick

2016-10-01

Since amplified music gained widespread popularity, there has been community concern that leisure-noise exposure may cause hearing loss in adolescents and young adults who would otherwise be free from hearing impairment. Repeated exposure to personal stereo players and music events (e.g., nightclubbing, rock concerts, and music festivals) are of particular concern. The same attention has not been paid to leisure-noise exposure risks for young people with hearing impairment (either present from birth or acquired before adulthood). This article reports on the analysis of a subset of data (leisure participation measures) collected during a large, two-phase study of the hearing health, attitudes, and behaviors of 11- to 35-yr-old Australians conducted by the National Acoustic Laboratories (n = 1,667 hearing threshold level datasets analyzed). The overall aim of the two-phase study was to determine whether a relationship between leisure-noise exposure and hearing loss exists. In the current study, the leisure activity profiles and accumulated ("whole-of-life") noise exposures of young people with (1) hearing impairment and (2) with normal hearing were compared. Cross-sectional cohort study. Hearing impaired (HI) group, n = 125; normal (nonimpaired) hearing (NH) group, n = 296, analyzed in two age-based subsets: adolescents (13- to 17-yr-olds) and young adults (18- to 24-yr-olds). Participant survey. The χ² test was used to identify systematic differences between the leisure profiles and exposure estimates of the HI and NH groups. Whole-of-life noise exposure was estimated by adapting techniques described in ISO 1999. For adolescents, leisure profiles were similar for the two groups and few individuals exceeded the stated risk criterion. For young adults, participation was significantly lower for the HI group for 7 out of 18 leisure activities surveyed. Activity diversity and whole-of-life exposure were also significantly lower for the HI group young adults. A

The risk ratio for development of hereditary sensorineural hearing loss in consanguineous marriage offspring.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanyelbhaa, Hossam; Kabel, Abdelmagied; Abo El-Naga, Heba Abd El-Rehem; Sanyelbhaa, Ahmed; Salem, Hatem

2017-10-01

This study aims to define the relative risk of development of hearing loss in offspring of consanguineous marriages. This is a retrospective case-control study conducted in a tertiary referral center in Jeddah, KSA. The study group included 1600 probands (848 males, 752 females), with age range 0.5-12 years (6.6 ± 3.6). The study group comprised of two equal, age and sex matched subgroups; Hearing Loss (HL) group and Normal Hearing (NH) group. The children included in the HL group should have idiopathic or non syndromic genetic sensorineural hearing loss. The HL Group comprised 800 children with variable degrees of sensorineural hearing loss. Profound and severe degrees of hearing loss were the most prevalent degrees (P marriage offspring in the NH group was 42.5%, while in the HL group it was 68.9% (P  0.05). The relative risk and 95% confidence interval (RR, 95% CI) for development of hearing loss in offspring of consanguineous marriage was 1.76 (95% CI 1.57-1.97, P marriage progeny to develop SNHL when compared to non consanguineous progeny. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Unilateral Hearing Loss Is Associated With Impaired Balance in Children: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolter, Nikolaus E; Cushing, Sharon L; Vilchez-Madrigal, Luis D; James, Adrian L; Campos, Jennifer; Papsin, Blake C; Gordon, Karen A

2016-12-01

To determine if children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (UHL) demonstrate impaired balance compared with their normal hearing (NH) peers. Prospective, case-control study. Balance was assessed in14 UHL and 14 NH children using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test-2 (BOT-2) and time to fall (TTF) in an immersive, virtual-reality laboratory. Postural control was quantified by center of pressure (COP) using force plates. The effect of vision on balance was assessed by comparing scores and COP characteristics on BOT-2 tasks performed with eyes open and closed. Balance ability as measured by the BOT-2 score was significantly worse in children with UHL compared with NH children (p = 0.004). TTF was shorter in children with UHL compared with NH children in the most difficult tasks when visual and somatosensory inputs were limited (p children with UHL when visual input was removed while performing moderately difficult tasks (i.e., standing on one foot) (p = 0.02). In this pilot study, children with UHL show poorer balance skills than NH children. Significant differences in TTF between the two groups were only seen in the most difficult tasks and therefore may be missed on routine clinical assessment. Children with UHL appear to rely more on vision for maintaining postural control than their NH peers. These findings may point to deficits not only in the hearing but also the vestibular portion of the inner ear.

Characteristics of the tinnitus and hyperacusis in normal hearing individuals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daila Urnau1,

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The tinnitus has become a common otological complaint. Another complaint is found in bearers of the tinnitus is the hyperacusis. Objective: Analyze the characteristics of tinnitus and hyperacusis in normal hearing individuals with associated complaints of tinnitus and hyperacusis. Method: 25 normal hearing individuals who complained of hyperacusis and tinnitus were surveyed in this form of cross-sectional study. They were questioned about the location and type of the tinnitus. The evaluation of the tinnitus was made using the Brazilian Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and acuphenometry. A questionnaire was made about the hyperacusis covering aspects such as: sounds considered uncomfortable, sensations in the presence of such sounds, and difficulty understanding speech in noise. Results: Of the 25 individuals, 64% were women and 36% men. Regarding tinnitus, 84% referred to bilateral location and 80% high pitch. The most common degree found was light (44%. The women presented tinnitus degree statistically superior to those of men. The strong intensity sounds and the reactions of irritation, anxiety and the need to move away from the sound were the most mentioned. From the analyzed individuals, 68% referred to difficulty understanding speech in noise and 12% reported using hearing protection. The most found frequencies at the acuphenometry were 6 and 8 KHz. Conclusion: Normal hearing individuals who complain of tinnitus and hyperacusis present mainly high pitch tinnitus, located bilaterally and light degree. The sounds considered uncomfortable were the high intensity ones and the most cited reaction to sound was irritation. The difficulty to understand speech in noise was reported by most of the individuals.

Self-Esteem in Hearing-Impaired Children: The Influence of Communication, Education, and Audiological Characteristics

OpenAIRE

Theunissen, Stephanie C. P. M.; Rieffe, Carolien; Netten, Anouk P.; Briaire, Jeroen J.; Soede, Wim; Kouwenberg, Maartje; Frijns, Johan H. M.

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Sufficient self-esteem is extremely important for psychosocial functioning. It is hypothesized that hearing-impaired (HI) children have lower levels of self-esteem, because, among other things, they frequently experience lower language and communication skills. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare HI children's self-esteem across different domains with those of normal hearing (NH) children and to investigate the influence of communication, type of education, and audiolog...

Cognitive skills and the effect of noise on perceived effort in employees with aided hearing impairment and normal hearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Håkan Hua

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the following study was to examine the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC, executive functions (EFs and perceived effort (PE after completing a work-related task in quiet and in noise in employees with aided hearing impairment (HI and normal hearing. The study sample consisted of 20 hearing-impaired and 20 normally hearing participants. Measures of hearing ability, WMC and EFs were tested prior to performing a work-related task in quiet and in simulated traffic noise. PE of the work-related task was also measured. Analysis of variance was used to analyze within- and between-group differences in cognitive skills, performance on the work-related task and PE. The presence of noise yielded a significantly higher PE for both groups. However, no significant group differences were observed in WMC, EFs, PE and performance in the work-related task. Interestingly, significant negative correlations were only found between PE in the noise condition and the ability to update information for both groups. In summary, noise generates a significantly higher PE and brings explicit processing capacity into play, irrespective of hearing. This suggest that increased PE involves other factors such as type of task that is to be performed, performance in the cognitive skill required solving the task at hand and whether noise is present. We therefore suggest that special consideration in hearing care should be made to the individual′s prerequisites on these factors in the labor market.

Speech intelligibility of normal listeners and persons with impaired hearing in traffic noise

Science.gov (United States)

Aniansson, G.; Peterson, Y.

1983-10-01

Speech intelligibility (PB words) in traffic-like noise was investigated in a laboratory situation simulating three common listening situations, indoors at 1 and 4 m and outdoors at 1 m. The maximum noise levels still permitting 75% intelligibility of PB words in these three listening situations were also defined. A total of 269 persons were examined. Forty-six had normal hearing, 90 a presbycusis-type hearing loss, 95 a noise-induced hearing loss and 38 a conductive hearing loss. In the indoor situation the majority of the groups with impaired hearing retained good speech intelligibility in 40 dB(A) masking noise. Lowering the noise level to less than 40 dB(A) resulted in a minor, usually insignificant, improvement in speech intelligibility. Listeners with normal hearing maintained good speech intelligibility in the outdoor listening situation at noise levels up to 60 dB(A), without lip-reading (i.e., using non-auditory information). For groups with impaired hearing due to age and/or noise, representing 8% of the population in Sweden, the noise level outdoors had to be lowered to less than 50 dB(A), in order to achieve good speech intelligibility at 1 m without lip-reading.

Vocabulary Facilitates Speech Perception in Children With Hearing Aids.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Kelsey E; Walker, Elizabeth A; Kirby, Benjamin; McCreery, Ryan W

2017-08-16

We examined the effects of vocabulary, lexical characteristics (age of acquisition and phonotactic probability), and auditory access (aided audibility and daily hearing aid [HA] use) on speech perception skills in children with HAs. Participants included 24 children with HAs and 25 children with normal hearing (NH), ages 5-12 years. Groups were matched on age, expressive and receptive vocabulary, articulation, and nonverbal working memory. Participants repeated monosyllabic words and nonwords in noise. Stimuli varied on age of acquisition, lexical frequency, and phonotactic probability. Performance in each condition was measured by the signal-to-noise ratio at which the child could accurately repeat 50% of the stimuli. Children from both groups with larger vocabularies showed better performance than children with smaller vocabularies on nonwords and late-acquired words but not early-acquired words. Overall, children with HAs showed poorer performance than children with NH. Auditory access was not associated with speech perception for the children with HAs. Children with HAs show deficits in sensitivity to phonological structure but appear to take advantage of vocabulary skills to support speech perception in the same way as children with NH. Further investigation is needed to understand the causes of the gap that exists between the overall speech perception abilities of children with HAs and children with NH.

Improving speech-in-noise recognition for children with hearing loss: potential effects of language abilities, binaural summation, and head shadow.

Science.gov (United States)

Nittrouer, Susan; Caldwell-Tarr, Amanda; Tarr, Eric; Lowenstein, Joanna H; Rice, Caitlin; Moberly, Aaron C

2013-08-01

This study examined speech recognition in noise for children with hearing loss, compared it to recognition for children with normal hearing, and examined mechanisms that might explain variance in children's abilities to recognize speech in noise. Word recognition was measured in two levels of noise, both when the speech and noise were co-located in front and when the noise came separately from one side. Four mechanisms were examined as factors possibly explaining variance: vocabulary knowledge, sensitivity to phonological structure, binaural summation, and head shadow. Participants were 113 eight-year-old children. Forty-eight had normal hearing (NH) and 65 had hearing loss: 18 with hearing aids (HAs), 19 with one cochlear implant (CI), and 28 with two CIs. Phonological sensitivity explained a significant amount of between-groups variance in speech-in-noise recognition. Little evidence of binaural summation was found. Head shadow was similar in magnitude for children with NH and with CIs, regardless of whether they wore one or two CIs. Children with HAs showed reduced head shadow effects. These outcomes suggest that in order to improve speech-in-noise recognition for children with hearing loss, intervention needs to be comprehensive, focusing on both language abilities and auditory mechanisms.

The Effect of Learning Modality and Auditory Feedback on Word Memory: Cochlear-Implanted versus Normal-Hearing Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Taitelbaum-Swead, Riki; Icht, Michal; Mama, Yaniv

2017-03-01

In recent years, the effect of cognitive abilities on the achievements of cochlear implant (CI) users has been evaluated. Some studies have suggested that gaps between CI users and normal-hearing (NH) peers in cognitive tasks are modality specific, and occur only in auditory tasks. The present study focused on the effect of learning modality (auditory, visual) and auditory feedback on word memory in young adults who were prelingually deafened and received CIs before the age of 5 yr, and their NH peers. A production effect (PE) paradigm was used, in which participants learned familiar study words by vocal production (saying aloud) or by no-production (silent reading or listening). Words were presented (1) in the visual modality (written) and (2) in the auditory modality (heard). CI users performed the visual condition twice-once with the implant ON and once with it OFF. All conditions were followed by free recall tests. Twelve young adults, long-term CI users, implanted between ages 1.7 and 4.5 yr, and who showed ≥50% in monosyllabic consonant-vowel-consonant open-set test with their implants were enrolled. A group of 14 age-matched NH young adults served as the comparison group. For each condition, we calculated the proportion of study words recalled. Mixed-measures analysis of variances were carried out with group (NH, CI) as a between-subjects variable, and learning condition (aloud or silent reading) as a within-subject variable. Following this, paired sample t tests were used to evaluate the PE size (differences between aloud and silent words) and overall recall ratios (aloud and silent words combined) in each of the learning conditions. With visual word presentation, young adults with CIs (regardless of implant status CI-ON or CI-OFF), showed comparable memory performance (and a similar PE) to NH peers. However, with auditory presentation, young adults with CIs showed poorer memory for nonproduced words (hence a larger PE) relative to their NH peers. The

Effects of Exposure to Inclusion and Socioeconomic Status on Parental Attitudes towards the Inclusion of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

Science.gov (United States)

Most, Tova; Ingber, Sara

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitudes of parents of normal hearing (NH) children towards the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in the educational setting of their child. In particular, it examined the effect of parental socio economic status (SES) and exposure to inclusion (whether their child was in a class…

Neural responses to silent lipreading in normal hearing male and female subjects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruytjens, Liesbet; Albers, Frans; van Dijk, Pim; Wit, Hero; Willemsen, Antoon

In the past, researchers investigated silent lipreading in normal hearing subjects with functional neuroimaging tools and showed how the brain processes visual stimuli that are normally accompanied by an auditory counterpart. Previously, we showed activation differences between males and females in

How age affects memory task performance in clinically normal hearing persons.

Science.gov (United States)

Vercammen, Charlotte; Goossens, Tine; Wouters, Jan; van Wieringen, Astrid

2017-05-01

The main objective of this study is to investigate memory task performance in different age groups, irrespective of hearing status. Data are collected on a short-term memory task (WAIS-III Digit Span forward) and two working memory tasks (WAIS-III Digit Span backward and the Reading Span Test). The tasks are administered to young (20-30 years, n = 56), middle-aged (50-60 years, n = 47), and older participants (70-80 years, n = 16) with normal hearing thresholds. All participants have passed a cognitive screening task (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)). Young participants perform significantly better than middle-aged participants, while middle-aged and older participants perform similarly on the three memory tasks. Our data show that older clinically normal hearing persons perform equally well on the memory tasks as middle-aged persons. However, even under optimal conditions of preserved sensory processing, changes in memory performance occur. Based on our data, these changes set in before middle age.

Operative findings of conductive hearing loss with intact tympanic membrane and normal temporal bone computed tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Se-Hyung; Cho, Yang-Sun; Kim, Hye Jeong; Kim, Hyung-Jin

2014-06-01

Despite recent technological advances in diagnostic methods including imaging technology, it is often difficult to establish a preoperative diagnosis of conductive hearing loss (CHL) in patients with an intact tympanic membrane (TM). Especially, in patients with a normal temporal bone computed tomography (TBCT), preoperative diagnosis is more difficult. We investigated middle ear disorders encountered in patients with CHL involving an intact TM and normal TBCT. We also analyzed the surgical results with special reference to the pathology. We reviewed the medical records of 365 patients with intact TM, who underwent exploratory tympanotomy for CHL. Fifty nine patients (67 ears, eight bilateral surgeries) had a normal preoperative TBCT findings reported by neuro-radiologists. Demographic data, otologic history, TM findings, preoperative imaging findings, intraoperative findings, and pre- and postoperative audiologic data were obtained and analyzed. Exploration was performed most frequently in the second and fifth decades. The most common postoperative diagnosis was stapedial fixation with non-progressive hearing loss. The most commonly performed hearing-restoring procedure was stapedotomy with piston wire prosthesis insertion. Various types of hearing-restoring procedures during exploration resulted in effective hearing improvement, especially with better outcome in the ossicular chain fixation group. In patients with CHL who have intact TM and normal TBCT, we should consider an exploratory tympanotomy for exact diagnosis and hearing improvement. Information of the common operative findings from this study may help in preoperative counseling.

Binaural Hearing Ability With Bilateral Bone Conduction Stimulation in Subjects With Normal Hearing: Implications for Bone Conduction Hearing Aids.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeitooni, Mehrnaz; Mäki-Torkko, Elina; Stenfelt, Stefan

The purpose of this study is to evaluate binaural hearing ability in adults with normal hearing when bone conduction (BC) stimulation is bilaterally applied at the bone conduction hearing aid (BCHA) implant position as well as at the audiometric position on the mastoid. The results with BC stimulation are compared with bilateral air conduction (AC) stimulation through earphones. Binaural hearing ability is investigated with tests of spatial release from masking and binaural intelligibility level difference using sentence material, binaural masking level difference with tonal chirp stimulation, and precedence effect using noise stimulus. In all tests, results with bilateral BC stimulation at the BCHA position illustrate an ability to extract binaural cues similar to BC stimulation at the mastoid position. The binaural benefit is overall greater with AC stimulation than BC stimulation at both positions. The binaural benefit for BC stimulation at the mastoid and BCHA position is approximately half in terms of decibels compared with AC stimulation in the speech based tests (spatial release from masking and binaural intelligibility level difference). For binaural masking level difference, the binaural benefit for the two BC positions with chirp signal phase inversion is approximately twice the benefit with inverted phase of the noise. The precedence effect results with BC stimulation at the mastoid and BCHA position are similar for low frequency noise stimulation but differ with high-frequency noise stimulation. The results confirm that binaural hearing processing with bilateral BC stimulation at the mastoid position is also present at the BCHA implant position. This indicates the ability for binaural hearing in patients with good cochlear function when using bilateral BCHAs.

Time course of auditory streaming: Do CI users differ from normal-hearing listeners?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin eBöckmann-Barthel

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In a complex acoustical environment with multiple sound sources the auditory system uses streaming as a tool to organize the incoming sounds in one or more streams depending on the stimulus parameters. Streaming is commonly studied by alternating sequences of signals. These are often tones with different frequencies. The present study investigates stream segregation in cochlear implant (CI users, where hearing is restored by electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. CI users listened to 30-s long sequences of alternating A and B harmonic complexes at four different fundamental frequency separations, ranging from 2 to 14 semitones. They had to indicate as promptly as possible after sequence onset, if they perceived one stream or two streams and, in addition, any changes of the percept throughout the rest of the sequence. The conventional view is that the initial percept is always that of a single stream which may after some time change to a percept of two streams. This general build-up hypothesis has recently been challenged on the basis of a new analysis of data of normal-hearing listeners which showed a build-up response only for an intermediate frequency separation. Using the same experimental paradigm and analysis, the present study found that the results of CI users agree with those of the normal-hearing listeners: (i the probability of the first decision to be a one-stream percept decreased and that of a two-stream percept increased as Δf increased, and (ii a build-up was only found for 6 semitones. Only the time elapsed before the listeners made their first decision of the percept was prolonged as compared to normal-hearing listeners. The similarity in the data of the CI user and the normal-hearing listeners indicates that the quality of stream formation is similar in these groups of listeners.

Some Neurocognitive Correlates of Noise-Vocoded Speech Perception in Children With Normal Hearing: A Replication and Extension of ).

Science.gov (United States)

Roman, Adrienne S; Pisoni, David B; Kronenberger, William G; Faulkner, Kathleen F

Noise-vocoded speech is a valuable research tool for testing experimental hypotheses about the effects of spectral degradation on speech recognition in adults with normal hearing (NH). However, very little research has utilized noise-vocoded speech with children with NH. Earlier studies with children with NH focused primarily on the amount of spectral information needed for speech recognition without assessing the contribution of neurocognitive processes to speech perception and spoken word recognition. In this study, we first replicated the seminal findings reported by ) who investigated effects of lexical density and word frequency on noise-vocoded speech perception in a small group of children with NH. We then extended the research to investigate relations between noise-vocoded speech recognition abilities and five neurocognitive measures: auditory attention (AA) and response set, talker discrimination, and verbal and nonverbal short-term working memory. Thirty-one children with NH between 5 and 13 years of age were assessed on their ability to perceive lexically controlled words in isolation and in sentences that were noise-vocoded to four spectral channels. Children were also administered vocabulary assessments (Peabody Picture Vocabulary test-4th Edition and Expressive Vocabulary test-2nd Edition) and measures of AA (NEPSY AA and response set and a talker discrimination task) and short-term memory (visual digit and symbol spans). Consistent with the findings reported in the original ) study, we found that children perceived noise-vocoded lexically easy words better than lexically hard words. Words in sentences were also recognized better than the same words presented in isolation. No significant correlations were observed between noise-vocoded speech recognition scores and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test-4th Edition using language quotients to control for age effects. However, children who scored higher on the Expressive Vocabulary test-2nd Edition

Examination of the neighborhood activation theory in normal and hearing-impaired listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Dirks, D D; Takayanagi, S; Moshfegh, A; Noffsinger, P D; Fausti, S A

2001-02-01

Experiments were conducted to examine the effects of lexical information on word recognition among normal hearing listeners and individuals with sensorineural hearing loss. The lexical factors of interest were incorporated in the Neighborhood Activation Model (NAM). Central to this model is the concept that words are recognized relationally in the context of other phonemically similar words. NAM suggests that words in the mental lexicon are organized into similarity neighborhoods and the listener is required to select the target word from competing lexical items. Two structural characteristics of similarity neighborhoods that influence word recognition have been identified; "neighborhood density" or the number of phonemically similar words (neighbors) for a particular target item and "neighborhood frequency" or the average frequency of occurrence of all the items within a neighborhood. A third lexical factor, "word frequency" or the frequency of occurrence of a target word in the language, is assumed to optimize the word recognition process by biasing the system toward choosing a high frequency over a low frequency word. Three experiments were performed. In the initial experiments, word recognition for consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) monosyllables was assessed in young normal hearing listeners by systematically partitioning the items into the eight possible lexical conditions that could be created by two levels of the three lexical factors, word frequency (high and low), neighborhood density (high and low), and average neighborhood frequency (high and low). Neighborhood structure and word frequency were estimated computationally using a large, on-line lexicon-based Webster's Pocket Dictionary. From this program 400 highly familiar, monosyllables were selected and partitioned into eight orthogonal lexical groups (50 words/group). The 400 words were presented randomly to normal hearing listeners in speech-shaped noise (Experiment 1) and "in quiet" (Experiment 2) as

[Relationship between the Mandarin acceptable noise level and the personality traits in normal hearing adults].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Dan; Chen, Jian-yong; Wang, Shuo; Zhang, Man-hua; Chen, Jing; Li, Yu-ling; Zhang, Hua

2013-03-01

To evaluate the relationship between the Mandarin acceptable noise level (ANL) and the personality trait for normal-hearing adults. Eighty-five Mandarin speakers, aged from 21 to 27, participated in this study. ANL materials and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) questionnaire were used to test the acceptable noise level and the personality trait for normal-hearing subjects. SPSS 17.0 was used to analyze the results. ANL were (7.8 ± 2.9) dB in normal hearing participants. The P and N scores in EPQ were significantly correlated with ANL (r = 0.284 and 0.318, P 0.05). Listeners with higher ANL were more likely to be eccentric, hostile, aggressive, and instabe, no ANL differences were found in listeners who were different in introvert-extravert or lying.

Comparison of Social Interaction between Cochlear-Implanted Children with Normal Intelligence Undergoing Auditory Verbal Therapy and Normal-Hearing Children: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Monshizadeh, Leila; Vameghi, Roshanak; Sajedi, Firoozeh; Yadegari, Fariba; Hashemi, Seyed Basir; Kirchem, Petra; Kasbi, Fatemeh

2018-04-01

A cochlear implant is a device that helps hearing-impaired children by transmitting sound signals to the brain and helping them improve their speech, language, and social interaction. Although various studies have investigated the different aspects of speech perception and language acquisition in cochlear-implanted children, little is known about their social skills, particularly Persian-speaking cochlear-implanted children. Considering the growing number of cochlear implants being performed in Iran and the increasing importance of developing near-normal social skills as one of the ultimate goals of cochlear implantation, this study was performed to compare the social interaction between Iranian cochlear-implanted children who have undergone rehabilitation (auditory verbal therapy) after surgery and normal-hearing children. This descriptive-analytical study compared the social interaction level of 30 children with normal hearing and 30 with cochlear implants who were conveniently selected. The Raven test was administered to the both groups to ensure normal intelligence quotient. The social interaction status of both groups was evaluated using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, and statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. After controlling age as a covariate variable, no significant difference was observed between the social interaction scores of both the groups (p > 0.05). In addition, social interaction had no correlation with sex in either group. Cochlear implantation followed by auditory verbal rehabilitation helps children with sensorineural hearing loss to have normal social interactions, regardless of their sex.

The Effects of Musical and Linguistic Components in Recognition of Real-World Musical Excerpts by Cochlear Implant Recipients and Normal-Hearing Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Gfeller, Kate; Jiang, Dingfeng; Oleson, Jacob; Driscoll, Virginia; Olszewski, Carol; Knutson, John F.; Turner, Christopher; Gantz, Bruce

2011-01-01

Background Cochlear implants (CI) are effective in transmitting salient features of speech, especially in quiet, but current CI technology is not well suited in transmission of key musical structures (e.g., melody, timbre). It is possible, however, that sung lyrics, which are commonly heard in real-world music may provide acoustical cues that support better music perception. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately adults who use CIs (n=87) and those with normal hearing (NH) (n=17) are able to recognize real-world music excerpts based upon musical and linguistic (lyrics) cues. Results CI recipients were significantly less accurate than NH listeners on recognition of real-world music with or, in particular, without lyrics; however, CI recipients whose devices transmitted acoustic plus electric stimulation were more accurate than CI recipients reliant upon electric stimulation alone (particularly items without linguistic cues). Recognition by CI recipients improved as a function of linguistic cues. Methods Participants were tested on melody recognition of complex melodies (pop, country, classical styles). Results were analyzed as a function of: hearing status and history, device type (electric only or acoustic plus electric stimulation), musical style, linguistic and musical cues, speech perception scores, cognitive processing, music background, age, and in relation to self-report on listening acuity and enjoyment. Age at time of testing was negatively correlated with recognition performance. Conclusions These results have practical implications regarding successful participation of CI users in music-based activities that include recognition and accurate perception of real-world songs (e.g., reminiscence, lyric analysis, listening for enjoyment). PMID:22803258

The effects of musical and linguistic components in recognition of real-world musical excerpts by cochlear implant recipients and normal-hearing adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gfeller, Kate; Jiang, Dingfeng; Oleson, Jacob J; Driscoll, Virginia; Olszewski, Carol; Knutson, John F; Turner, Christopher; Gantz, Bruce

2012-01-01

Cochlear implants (CI) are effective in transmitting salient features of speech, especially in quiet, but current CI technology is not well suited in transmission of key musical structures (e.g., melody, timbre). It is possible, however, that sung lyrics, which are commonly heard in real-world music may provide acoustical cues that support better music perception. The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately adults who use CIs (n = 87) and those with normal hearing (NH) (n = 17) are able to recognize real-world music excerpts based upon musical and linguistic (lyrics) cues. CI recipients were significantly less accurate than NH listeners on recognition of real-world music with or, in particular, without lyrics; however, CI recipients whose devices transmitted acoustic plus electric stimulation were more accurate than CI recipients reliant upon electric stimulation alone (particularly items without linguistic cues). Recognition by CI recipients improved as a function of linguistic cues. Participants were tested on melody recognition of complex melodies (pop, country, & classical styles). Results were analyzed as a function of: hearing status and history, device type (electric only or acoustic plus electric stimulation), musical style, linguistic and musical cues, speech perception scores, cognitive processing, music background, age, and in relation to self-report on listening acuity and enjoyment. Age at time of testing was negatively correlated with recognition performance. These results have practical implications regarding successful participation of CI users in music-based activities that include recognition and accurate perception of real-world songs (e.g., reminiscence, lyric analysis, & listening for enjoyment).

The Phonemic Awareness Skills of Cochlear Implant Children and Children with Normal Hearing in Primary School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aliakbar Dashtelei

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Phonemic awareness skills have a significant impact on children speech and language. The purpose of this study was investigating the phonemic awareness skills of children with cochlear implant and normal hearing peers in primary school. Methods: phonemic awareness subscales of phonological awareness test were administered to 30 children with cochlear implantation at the first to sixth grades of primary school and 30 children with normal hearing who were matched in age with cochlear implant group. All of children were between 6 to 11 years old. Children with cochlear implant had at least 1 to 2 years of implant experience and they were over 5 years when they receive implantation. Children with cochlear implant were selected from Special education centers in Tehran and children with normal hearing were recruited from primary schools in Tehran. The phonemic awareness skills were assessed in both groups. Results: The results showed that the Mean scores of phonemic awareness skills in cochlear implant children were significantly lower than children with normal hearing (P<.0001. Discussion: children with cochlear implant, despite Cochlear implantation prosthesis, had lower performance in phonemic awareness when compared with normal hearing children. Therefore, due to importance of phonemic awareness skills in learning of literacy skills, and defects of these skills in children with cochlear implant, these skills should be assessed carefully in children with cochlear implant and rehabilitative interventions should be considered.

Talker Differences in Clear and Conversational Speech: Perceived Sentence Clarity for Young Adults with Normal Hearing and Older Adults with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Sarah Hargus; Morgan, Shae D.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine talker differences for subjectively rated speech clarity in clear versus conversational speech, to determine whether ratings differ for young adults with normal hearing (YNH listeners) and older adults with hearing impairment (OHI listeners), and to explore effects of certain talker characteristics…

Seeing the Talker's Face Improves Free Recall of Speech for Young Adults with Normal Hearing but Not Older Adults with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Rudner, Mary; Mishra, Sushmit; Stenfelt, Stefan; Lunner, Thomas; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-01-01

Purpose: Seeing the talker's face improves speech understanding in noise, possibly releasing resources for cognitive processing. We investigated whether it improves free recall of spoken two-digit numbers. Method: Twenty younger adults with normal hearing and 24 older adults with hearing loss listened to and subsequently recalled lists of 13…

Spectral Ripple Discrimination in Normal Hearing Infants

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, David L.; Won, Jong Ho; Rubinstein, Jay T.; Werner, Lynne A.

2016-01-01

Objectives Spectral resolution is a correlate of open-set speech understanding in post-lingually deaf adults as well as pre-lingually deaf children who use cochlear implants (CIs). In order to apply measures of spectral resolution to assess device efficacy in younger CI users, it is necessary to understand how spectral resolution develops in NH children. In this study, spectral ripple discrimination (SRD) was used to measure listeners’ sensitivity to a shift in phase of the spectral envelope of a broadband noise. Both resolution of peak to peak location (frequency resolution) and peak to trough intensity (across-channel intensity resolution) are required for SRD. Design SRD was measured as the highest ripple density (in ripples per octave) for which a listener could discriminate a 90 degree shift in phase of the sinusoidally-modulated amplitude spectrum. A 2X3 between subjects design was used to assess the effects of age (7-month-old infants versus adults) and ripple peak/trough “depth” (10, 13, and 20 dB) on SRD in normal hearing listeners (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, SRD thresholds in the same age groups were compared using a task in which ripple starting phases were randomized across trials to obscure within-channel intensity cues. In Experiment 3, the randomized starting phase method was used to measure SRD as a function of age (3-month-old infants, 7-month-old infants, and young adults) and ripple depth (10 and 20 dB in repeated measures design). Results In Experiment 1, there was a significant interaction between age and ripple depth. The Infant SRDs were significantly poorer than the adult SRDs at 10 and 13 dB ripple depths but adult-like at 20 dB depth. This result is consistent with immature across-channel intensity resolution. In contrast, the trajectory of SRD as a function of depth was steeper for infants than adults suggesting that frequency resolution was better in infants than adults. However, in Experiment 2 infant performance was

Relation of distortion product otoacoustic emission and tinnitus in normal hearing patients: A pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Datt Modh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Tinnitus, the perception of the sound in the absence of an external acoustic source, disrupts the daily life 1 out of every 200 adults, yet its physiological basis remains largely a mystery. The generation of tinnitus is commonly linked with the impaired functioning of the outer hair cells (OHC inside the cochlea. Otoacoustic emissions are the objective test used to assess their activity. Objective: The objective of the investigation was to study the features of Distortion product OtoAcoustic emissions (DPOAE in a group of tinnitus patients with normal hearing and to find out whether there is any difference in DPOAE findings in the tinnitus patients with normal hearing and in persons with normal hearing with no complaint of tinnitus. Materials and Methods: The participants consisted of two groups. The subject group consisted of 16 ears of patients, in which 6 subjects were having tinnitus in both ears while 4 subjects were having tinnitus only in one ear. All subjects were aged between 20 to 60 years with complaint of tinnitus with audiometrically normal hearing. Control group was comprised of 16 audiometrically normal hearing ears of persons who were age and gender matched with the subject groups and had no complaint of tinnitus. Both the subject group as well as control group was subjected for DPOAE test. Findings of both the groups were compared using the unpaired t test. Result and conclusion: It was observed that the amplitudes of DPOAE were significantly lower in tinnitus patients than that of persons without complaint of tinnitus, at a frequency of 1281-1560, 5120-6250, 7243-8837 Hz, which imply that decrease of DPOAEs amplitudes may be related to the presence of tinnitus. It can be concluded that there is association between tinnitus and reduced OHC activity which indicate the OHC of cochlea are involved in the generation of tinnitus.

Comparison of Gated Audiovisual Speech Identification in Elderly Hearing Aid Users and Elderly Normal-Hearing Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Lidestam, Björn; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-01-01

The present study compared elderly hearing aid (EHA) users (n = 20) with elderly normal-hearing (ENH) listeners (n = 20) in terms of isolation points (IPs, the shortest time required for correct identification of a speech stimulus) and accuracy of audiovisual gated speech stimuli (consonants, words, and final words in highly and less predictable sentences) presented in silence. In addition, we compared the IPs of audiovisual speech stimuli from the present study with auditory ones extracted from a previous study, to determine the impact of the addition of visual cues. Both participant groups achieved ceiling levels in terms of accuracy in the audiovisual identification of gated speech stimuli; however, the EHA group needed longer IPs for the audiovisual identification of consonants and words. The benefit of adding visual cues to auditory speech stimuli was more evident in the EHA group, as audiovisual presentation significantly shortened the IPs for consonants, words, and final words in less predictable sentences; in the ENH group, audiovisual presentation only shortened the IPs for consonants and words. In conclusion, although the audiovisual benefit was greater for EHA group, this group had inferior performance compared with the ENH group in terms of IPs when supportive semantic context was lacking. Consequently, EHA users needed the initial part of the audiovisual speech signal to be longer than did their counterparts with normal hearing to reach the same level of accuracy in the absence of a semantic context. PMID:27317667

Music perception by cochlear implant and normal hearing listeners as measured by the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, William B; Tobey, Emily; Loizou, Philipos C

2008-08-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility/possibility of using the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) test (Peretz, et al., Ann N Y Acad Sci, 999, 58-75) to assess the music perception abilities of cochlear implant (CI) users. The MBEA was used to measure six different aspects of music perception (Scale, Contour, Interval, Rhythm, Meter, and Melody Memory) by CI users and normal-hearing (NH) listeners presented with stimuli processed via CI simulations. The spectral resolution (number of channels) was varied in the CI simulations to determine: (a) the number of channels (4, 6, 8, 12, and 16) needed to achieve the highest levels of music perception and (b) the number of channels needed to produce levels of music perception performance comparable with that of CI users. CI users and NH listeners performed higher on temporal-based tests (Rhythm and Meter) than on pitch-based tests (Scale, Contour, and Interval)--a finding that is consistent with previous research studies. The CI users' scores on pitch-based tests were near chance. The CI users' (but not NH listeners') scores for the Memory test, a test that incorporates an integration of both temporal-based and pitch-based aspects of music, were significantly higher than the scores obtained for the pitch-based Scale test and significantly lower than the temporal-based Rhythm and Meter tests. The data from NH listeners indicated that 16 channels of stimulation did not provide the highest music perception scores and performance was as good as that obtained with 12 channels. This outcome is consistent with other studies showing that NH listeners listening to vocoded speech are not able to use effectively F0 cues present in the envelopes, even when the stimuli are processed with a large number (16) of channels. The CI user data seem to most closely match with the 4- and 6-channel NH listener conditions for the pitch-based tasks. Consistent with previous studies, both CI users and NH listeners

Music Perception by Cochlear Implant and Normal Hearing Listeners as Measured by the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusia

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, William B.; Tobey, Emily; Loizou, Philipos C.

2009-01-01

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the utility/possibility of using the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) test (Peretz, Champod, & Hyde, 2003) to assess the music perception abilities of cochlear implant (CI) users. Design The MBEA was used to measure six different aspects of music perception (Scale, Contour, Interval, Rhythm, Meter, and Melody Memory) by CI users and normal hearing (NH) listeners presented with stimuli processed via CI simulations. The spectral resolution (number of channels) was varied in the CI simulations to determine: (a) the number of channels (4, 6, 8, 12, 16) needed to achieve the highest levels of music perception and (b) the number of channels needed to produce levels of music perception performance comparable to that of CI users. Results CI users and NH listeners performed higher on temporal-based tests (Rhythm and Meter) than on pitch-based tests (Scale, Contour, and Interval) – a finding that is consistent with previous research studies. The CI users' scores on pitch-based tests were near chance. The CI users' (but not NH listeners') scores for the Memory test, a test that incorporates an integration of both temporal-based and pitch-based aspects of music, were significantly higher than the scores obtained for the pitch-based Scale test and significantly lower than the temporal-based Rhythm and Meter tests. The data from NH listeners indicated that 16 channels of stimulation did not provide the highest music perception scores and performance was as good as that obtained with 12 channels. This outcome is consistent with other studies showing that NH listeners listening to vocoded speech are not able to utilize effectively F0 cues present in the envelopes, even when the stimuli are processed with a large number (16) of channels. The CI user data appear to most closely match with the 4- and 6- channel NH listener conditions for the pitch-based tasks. Conclusions Consistent with previous studies, both CI

Speech recognition in normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss as a function of the number of spectral channels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baskent, Deniz

Speech recognition by normal-hearing listeners improves as a function of the number of spectral channels when tested with a noiseband vocoder simulating cochlear implant signal processing. Speech recognition by the best cochlear implant users, however, saturates around eight channels and does not

DESCRIPTION OF BRAINSTEM AUDITORY EVOKED RESPONSES (AIR AND BONE CONDUCTION IN CHILDREN WITH NORMAL HEARING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Pashkov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Diagnosis of hearing level in small children with conductive hearing loss associated with congenital craniofacial abnormalities, particularly with agenesis of external ear and external auditory meatus is a pressing issue. Conventional methods of assessing hearing in the first years of life, i. e. registration of brainstem auditory evoked responses to acoustic stimuli in the event of air conduction, does not give an indication of the auditory analyzer’s condition due to potential conductive hearing loss in these patients. This study was aimed at assessing potential of diagnosing the auditory analyzer’s function with registering brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAERs to acoustic stimuli transmitted by means of a bone vibrator. The study involved 17 children aged 3–10 years with normal hearing. We compared parameters of registering brainstem auditory evoked responses (peak V depending on the type of stimulus transmission (air/bone in children with normal hearing. The data on thresholds of the BAERs registered to acoustic stimuli in the event of air and bone conduction obtained in this study are comparable; hearing thresholds in the event of acoustic stimulation by means of a bone vibrator correlates with the results of the BAERs registered to the stimuli transmitted by means of air conduction earphones (r = 0.9. High correlation of thresholds of BAERs to the stimuli transmitted by means of a bone vibrator with thresholds of BAERs registered when air conduction earphones were used helps to assess auditory analyzer’s condition in patients with any form of conductive hearing loss.  

Evidence for Website Claims about the Benefits of Teaching Sign Language to Infants and Toddlers with Normal Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Lauri H.; White, Karl R.; Grewe, Jennifer

2012-01-01

The development of proficient communication skills in infants and toddlers is an important component to child development. A popular trend gaining national media attention is teaching sign language to babies with normal hearing whose parents also have normal hearing. Thirty-three websites were identified that advocate sign language for hearing…

The approximate number system and domain-general abilities as predictors of math ability in children with normal hearing and hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Rebecca; Marschark, Marc; Nordmann, Emily; Sapere, Patricia; Skene, Wendy A

2018-06-01

Many children with hearing loss (CHL) show a delay in mathematical achievement compared to children with normal hearing (CNH). This study examined whether there are differences in acuity of the approximate number system (ANS) between CHL and CNH, and whether ANS acuity is related to math achievement. Working memory (WM), short-term memory (STM), and inhibition were considered as mediators of any relationship between ANS acuity and math achievement. Seventy-five CHL were compared with 75 age- and gender-matched CNH. ANS acuity, mathematical reasoning, WM, and STM of CHL were significantly poorer compared to CNH. Group differences in math ability were no longer significant when ANS acuity, WM, or STM was controlled. For CNH, WM and STM fully mediated the relationship of ANS acuity to math ability; for CHL, WM and STM only partially mediated this relationship. ANS acuity, WM, and STM are significant contributors to hearing status differences in math achievement, and to individual differences within the group of CHL. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Children with hearing loss often perform poorly on measures of math achievement, although there have been few studies focusing on basic numerical cognition in these children. In typically developing children, the approximate number system predicts math skills concurrently and longitudinally, although there have been some contradictory findings. Recent studies suggest that domain-general skills, such as inhibition, may account for the relationship found between the approximate number system and math achievement. What does this study adds? This is the first robust examination of the approximate number system in children with hearing loss, and the findings suggest poorer acuity of the approximate number system in these children compared to hearing children. The study addresses recent issues regarding the contradictory findings of the relationship of the approximate number system to math ability

Age-Related Change in Vestibular Ganglion Cell Populations in Individuals With Presbycusis and Normal Hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gluth, Michael B; Nelson, Erik G

2017-04-01

We sought to establish that the decline of vestibular ganglion cell counts uniquely correlates with spiral ganglion cell counts, cochlear hair cell counts, and hearing phenotype in individuals with presbycusis. The relationship between aging in the vestibular system and aging in the cochlea is a topic of ongoing investigation. Histopathologic age-related changes the vestibular system may mirror what is seen in the cochlea, but correlations with hearing phenotype and the impact of presbycusis are not well understood. Vestibular ganglion cells, spiral ganglion cells, and cochlear hair cells were counted in specimens from individuals with presbycusis and normal hearing. These were taken from within a large collection of processed human temporal bones. Correlations between histopathology and hearing phenotype were investigated. Vestibular ganglion cell counts were positively correlated with spiral ganglion cell counts and cochlear hair cell counts and were negatively correlated with hearing phenotype. There was no statistical evidence on linear regression to suggest that the relationship between age and cell populations differed significantly according to whether presbycusis was present or not. Superior vestibular ganglion cells were more negatively correlated with age than inferior ganglion cells. No difference in vestibular ganglion cells was noted based on sex. Vestibular ganglion cell counts progressively deteriorate with age, and this loss correlates closely with changes in the cochlea, as well as hearing phenotype. However, these correlations do not appear to be unique in individuals with presbycusis as compared with those with normal hearing.

Spectral Ripple Discrimination in Normal-Hearing Infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, David L; Won, Jong Ho; Rubinstein, Jay T; Werner, Lynne A

Spectral resolution is a correlate of open-set speech understanding in postlingually deaf adults and prelingually deaf children who use cochlear implants (CIs). To apply measures of spectral resolution to assess device efficacy in younger CI users, it is necessary to understand how spectral resolution develops in normal-hearing children. In this study, spectral ripple discrimination (SRD) was used to measure listeners' sensitivity to a shift in phase of the spectral envelope of a broadband noise. Both resolution of peak to peak location (frequency resolution) and peak to trough intensity (across-channel intensity resolution) are required for SRD. SRD was measured as the highest ripple density (in ripples per octave) for which a listener could discriminate a 90° shift in phase of the sinusoidally-modulated amplitude spectrum. A 2 × 3 between-subjects design was used to assess the effects of age (7-month-old infants versus adults) and ripple peak/trough "depth" (10, 13, and 20 dB) on SRD in normal-hearing listeners (experiment 1). In experiment 2, SRD thresholds in the same age groups were compared using a task in which ripple starting phases were randomized across trials to obscure within-channel intensity cues. In experiment 3, the randomized starting phase method was used to measure SRD as a function of age (3-month-old infants, 7-month-old infants, and young adults) and ripple depth (10 and 20 dB in repeated measures design). In experiment 1, there was a significant interaction between age and ripple depth. The infant SRDs were significantly poorer than the adult SRDs at 10 and 13 dB ripple depths but adult-like at 20 dB depth. This result is consistent with immature across-channel intensity resolution. In contrast, the trajectory of SRD as a function of depth was steeper for infants than adults suggesting that frequency resolution was better in infants than adults. However, in experiment 2 infant performance was significantly poorer than adults at 20 d

An acoustic analysis of laughter produced by congenitally deaf and normally hearing college students1

Science.gov (United States)

Makagon, Maja M.; Funayama, E. Sumie; Owren, Michael J.

2008-01-01

Relatively few empirical data are available concerning the role of auditory experience in nonverbal human vocal behavior, such as laughter production. This study compared the acoustic properties of laughter in 19 congenitally, bilaterally, and profoundly deaf college students and in 23 normally hearing control participants. Analyses focused on degree of voicing, mouth position, air-flow direction, temporal features, relative amplitude, fundamental frequency, and formant frequencies. Results showed that laughter produced by the deaf participants was fundamentally similar to that produced by the normally hearing individuals, which in turn was consistent with previously reported findings. Finding comparable acoustic properties in the sounds produced by deaf and hearing vocalizers confirms the presumption that laughter is importantly grounded in human biology, and that auditory experience with this vocalization is not necessary for it to emerge in species-typical form. Some differences were found between the laughter of deaf and hearing groups; the most important being that the deaf participants produced lower-amplitude and longer-duration laughs. These discrepancies are likely due to a combination of the physiological and social factors that routinely affect profoundly deaf individuals, including low overall rates of vocal fold use and pressure from the hearing world to suppress spontaneous vocalizations. PMID:18646991

The effect of sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus on speech recognition over air and bone conduction military communications headsets.

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, Candice; Mermagen, Timothy; Scharine, Angelique

2017-06-01

Military personnel are at risk for hearing loss due to noise exposure during deployment (USACHPPM, 2008). Despite mandated use of hearing protection, hearing loss and tinnitus are prevalent due to reluctance to use hearing protection. Bone conduction headsets can offer good speech intelligibility for normal hearing (NH) listeners while allowing the ears to remain open in quiet environments and the use of hearing protection when needed. Those who suffer from tinnitus, the experience of perceiving a sound not produced by an external source, often show degraded speech recognition; however, it is unclear whether this is a result of decreased hearing sensitivity or increased distractibility (Moon et al., 2015). It has been suggested that the vibratory stimulation of a bone conduction headset might ameliorate the effects of tinnitus on speech perception; however, there is currently no research to support or refute this claim (Hoare et al., 2014). Speech recognition of words presented over air conduction and bone conduction headsets was measured for three groups of listeners: NH, sensorineural hearing impaired, and/or tinnitus sufferers. Three levels of speech-to-noise (SNR = 0, -6, -12 dB) were created by embedding speech items in pink noise. Better speech recognition performance was observed with the bone conduction headset regardless of hearing profile, and speech intelligibility was a function of SNR. Discussion will include study limitations and the implications of these findings for those serving in the military. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Acoustic properties of vocal singing in prelingually-deafened children with cochlear implants or hearing aids.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Yitao; Zhang, Mengchao; Nutter, Heather; Zhang, Yijing; Zhou, Qixin; Liu, Qiaoyun; Wu, Weijing; Xie, Dinghua; Xu, Li

2013-11-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate vocal singing performance of hearing-impaired children with cochlear implants (CI) and hearing aids (HA) as well as to evaluate the relationship between demographic factors of those hearing-impaired children and their singing ability. Thirty-seven prelingually-deafened children with CIs and 31 prelingually-deafened children with HAs, and 37 normal-hearing (NH) children participated in the study. The fundamental frequencies (F0) of each note in the recorded songs were extracted and the duration of each sung note was measured. Five metrics were used to evaluate the pitch-related and rhythm-based aspects of singing accuracy. Children with CIs and HAs showed significantly poorer performance in either the pitch-based assessments or the rhythm-based measure than the NH children. No significant differences were seen between the CI and HA groups in all of these measures except for the mean deviation of the pitch intervals. For both hearing-impaired groups, length of device use was significantly correlated with singing accuracy. There is a marked deficit in vocal singing ability either in pitch or rhythm accuracy in a majority of prelingually-deafened children who have received CIs or fitted with HAs. Although an increased length of device use might facilitate singing performance to some extent, the chance for the hearing-impaired children fitted with either HAs or CIs to reach high proficiency in singing is quite slim. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rotatory and collic vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children.

Science.gov (United States)

Maes, Leen; De Kegel, Alexandra; Van Waelvelde, Hilde; Dhooge, Ingeborg

2014-01-01

Vertigo and imbalance are often underestimated in the pediatric population, due to limited communication abilities, atypical symptoms, and relatively quick adaptation and compensation in children. Moreover, examination and interpretation of vestibular tests are very challenging, because of difficulties with cooperation and maintenance of alertness, and because of the sometimes nauseatic reactions. Therefore, it is of great importance for each vestibular laboratory to implement a child-friendly test protocol with age-appropriate normative data. Because of the often masked appearance of vestibular problems in young children, the vestibular organ should be routinely examined in high-risk pediatric groups, such as children with a hearing impairment. Purposes of the present study were (1) to determine age-appropriate normative data for two child-friendly vestibular laboratory techniques (rotatory and collic vestibular evoked myogenic potential [cVEMP] test) in a group of children without auditory or vestibular complaints, and (2) to examine vestibular function in a group of children presenting with bilateral hearing impairment. Forty-eight typically developing children (mean age 8 years 0 months; range: 4 years 1 month to 12 years 11 months) without any auditory or vestibular complaints as well as 39 children (mean age 7 years 8 months; range: 3 years 8 months to 12 years 10 months) with a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss were included in this study. All children underwent three sinusoidal rotations (0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 Hz at 50 degrees/s) and bilateral cVEMP testing. No significant age differences were found for the rotatory test, whereas a significant increase of N1 latency and a significant threshold decrease was noticeable for the cVEMP, resulting in age-appropriate normative data. Hearing-impaired children demonstrated significantly lower gain values at the 0.01 Hz rotation and a larger percentage of absent cVEMP responses compared with normal-hearing children

The effects of familiarity and complexity on appraisal of complex songs by cochlear implant recipients and normal hearing adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gfeller, Kate; Christ, Aaron; Knutson, John; Witt, Shelley; Mehr, Maureen

2003-01-01

The purposes of this study were (a) to develop a test of complex song appraisal that would be suitable for use with adults who use a cochlear implant (assistive hearing device) and (b) to compare the appraisal ratings (liking) of complex songs by adults who use cochlear implants (n = 66) with a comparison group of adults with normal hearing (n = 36). The article describes the development of a computerized test for appraisal, with emphasis on its theoretical basis and the process for item selection of naturalistic stimuli. The appraisal test was administered to the 2 groups to determine the effects of prior song familiarity and subjective complexity on complex song appraisal. Comparison of the 2 groups indicates that the implant users rate 2 of 3 musical genres (country western, pop) as significantly more complex than do normal hearing adults, and give significantly less positive ratings to classical music than do normal hearing adults. Appraisal responses of implant recipients were examined in relation to hearing history, age, performance on speech perception and cognitive tests, and musical background.

Binaural hearing in children using Gaussian enveloped and transposed tones.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehlers, Erica; Kan, Alan; Winn, Matthew B; Stoelb, Corey; Litovsky, Ruth Y

2016-04-01

Children who use bilateral cochlear implants (BiCIs) show significantly poorer sound localization skills than their normal hearing (NH) peers. This difference has been attributed, in part, to the fact that cochlear implants (CIs) do not faithfully transmit interaural time differences (ITDs) and interaural level differences (ILDs), which are known to be important cues for sound localization. Interestingly, little is known about binaural sensitivity in NH children, in particular, with stimuli that constrain acoustic cues in a manner representative of CI processing. In order to better understand and evaluate binaural hearing in children with BiCIs, the authors first undertook a study on binaural sensitivity in NH children ages 8-10, and in adults. Experiments evaluated sound discrimination and lateralization using ITD and ILD cues, for stimuli with robust envelope cues, but poor representation of temporal fine structure. Stimuli were spondaic words, Gaussian-enveloped tone pulse trains (100 pulse-per-second), and transposed tones. Results showed that discrimination thresholds in children were adult-like (15-389 μs for ITDs and 0.5-6.0 dB for ILDs). However, lateralization based on the same binaural cues showed higher variability than seen in adults. Results are discussed in the context of factors that may be responsible for poor representation of binaural cues in bilaterally implanted children.

Brainstem auditory evoked response characteristics in normal-hearing subjects with chronic tinnitus and in non-tinnitus group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shadman Nemati

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: While most of the people with tinnitus have some degrees of hearing impairment, a small percent of patients admitted to ear, nose and throat clinics or hearing evaluation centers are those who complain of tinnitus despite having normal hearing thresholds. This study was performed to better understanding of the reasons of probable causes of tinnitus and to investigate possible changes in the auditory brainstem function in normal-hearing patients with chronic tinnitus.Methods: In this comparative cross-sectional, descriptive and analytic study, 52 ears (26 with and 26 without tinnitus were examined. Components of the auditory brainstem response (ABR including wave latencies and wave amplitudes were determined in the two groups and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.Results: The mean differences between the absolute latencies of waves I, III and V was less than 0.1 ms between the two groups that was not statistically significant. Also, the interpeak latency values of waves I-III, III-V and I-V in both groups had no significant difference. Only, the V/I amplitude ratio in the tinnitus group was significantly higher (p=0.04.Conclusion: The changes observed in amplitude of waves, especially in the latter ones, can be considered as an indication of plastic changes in neuronal activity and its possible role in generation of tinnitus in normal-hearing patients.

Effects of Age and Working Memory Capacity on Speech Recognition Performance in Noise Among Listeners With Normal Hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon-Salant, Sandra; Cole, Stacey Samuels

2016-01-01

This study aimed to determine if younger and older listeners with normal hearing who differ on working memory span perform differently on speech recognition tests in noise. Older adults typically exhibit poorer speech recognition scores in noise than younger adults, which is attributed primarily to poorer hearing sensitivity and more limited working memory capacity in older than younger adults. Previous studies typically tested older listeners with poorer hearing sensitivity and shorter working memory spans than younger listeners, making it difficult to discern the importance of working memory capacity on speech recognition. This investigation controlled for hearing sensitivity and compared speech recognition performance in noise by younger and older listeners who were subdivided into high and low working memory groups. Performance patterns were compared for different speech materials to assess whether or not the effect of working memory capacity varies with the demands of the specific speech test. The authors hypothesized that (1) normal-hearing listeners with low working memory span would exhibit poorer speech recognition performance in noise than those with high working memory span; (2) older listeners with normal hearing would show poorer speech recognition scores than younger listeners with normal hearing, when the two age groups were matched for working memory span; and (3) an interaction between age and working memory would be observed for speech materials that provide contextual cues. Twenty-eight older (61 to 75 years) and 25 younger (18 to 25 years) normal-hearing listeners were assigned to groups based on age and working memory status. Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 words and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers sentences were presented in noise using an adaptive procedure to measure the signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to 50% correct performance. Cognitive ability was evaluated with two tests of working memory (Listening

Phonological processes in the speech of school-age children with hearing loss: Comparisons with children with normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Asad, Areej Nimer; Purdy, Suzanne C; Ballard, Elaine; Fairgray, Liz; Bowen, Caroline

2018-04-27

In this descriptive study, phonological processes were examined in the speech of children aged 5;0-7;6 (years; months) with mild to profound hearing loss using hearing aids (HAs) and cochlear implants (CIs), in comparison to their peers. A second aim was to compare phonological processes of HA and CI users. Children with hearing loss (CWHL, N = 25) were compared to children with normal hearing (CWNH, N = 30) with similar age, gender, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Speech samples obtained from a list of 88 words, derived from three standardized speech tests, were analyzed using the CASALA (Computer Aided Speech and Language Analysis) program to evaluate participants' phonological systems, based on lax (a process appeared at least twice in the speech of at least two children) and strict (a process appeared at least five times in the speech of at least two children) counting criteria. Developmental phonological processes were eliminated in the speech of younger and older CWNH while eleven developmental phonological processes persisted in the speech of both age groups of CWHL. CWHL showed a similar trend of age of elimination to CWNH, but at a slower rate. Children with HAs and CIs produced similar phonological processes. Final consonant deletion, weak syllable deletion, backing, and glottal replacement were present in the speech of HA users, affecting their overall speech intelligibility. Developmental and non-developmental phonological processes persist in the speech of children with mild to profound hearing loss compared to their peers with typical hearing. The findings indicate that it is important for clinicians to consider phonological assessment in pre-school CWHL and the use of evidence-based speech therapy in order to reduce non-developmental and non-age-appropriate developmental processes, thereby enhancing their speech intelligibility. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Speech Perception in Noise in Normally Hearing Children: Does Binaural Frequency Modulated Fitting Provide More Benefit than Monaural Frequency Modulated Fitting?

Science.gov (United States)

Mukari, Siti Zamratol-Mai Sarah; Umat, Cila; Razak, Ummu Athiyah Abdul

2011-07-01

The aim of the present study was to compare the benefit of monaural versus binaural ear-level frequency modulated (FM) fitting on speech perception in noise in children with normal hearing. Reception threshold for sentences (RTS) was measured in no-FM, monaural FM, and binaural FM conditions in 22 normally developing children with bilateral normal hearing, aged 8 to 9 years old. Data were gathered using the Pediatric Malay Hearing in Noise Test (P-MyHINT) with speech presented from front and multi-talker babble presented from 90°, 180°, 270° azimuths in a sound treated booth. The results revealed that the use of either monaural or binaural ear level FM receivers provided significantly better mean RTSs than the no-FM condition (Pbinaural FM did not produce a significantly greater benefit in mean RTS than monaural fitting. The benefit of binaural over monaural FM varies across individuals; while binaural fitting provided better RTSs in about 50% of study subjects, there were those in whom binaural fitting resulted in either deterioration or no additional improvement compared to monaural FM fitting. The present study suggests that the use of monaural ear-level FM receivers in children with normal hearing might provide similar benefit as binaural use. Individual subjects' variations of binaural FM benefit over monaural FM suggests that the decision to employ monaural or binaural fitting should be individualized. It should be noted however, that the current study recruits typically developing normal hearing children. Future studies involving normal hearing children with high risk of having difficulty listening in noise is indicated to see if similar findings are obtained.

Impact of stimulus-related factors and hearing impairment on listening effort as indicated by pupil dilation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohlenforst, Barbara; Zekveld, Adriana A.; Lunner, Thomas

2017-01-01

Previous research has reported effects of masker type and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on listening effort, as indicated by the peak pupil dilation (PPD) relative to baseline during speech recognition. At about 50% correct sentence recognition performance, increasing SNRs generally results...... in declining PPDs, indicating reduced effort. However, the decline in PPD over SNRs has been observed to be less pronounced for hearing-impaired (HI) compared to normal-hearing (NH) listeners. The presence of a competing talker during speech recognition generally resulted in larger PPDs as compared......-talker masker) on the PPD during speech perception. Twenty-five HI and 32 age-matched NH participants listened to sentences across a broad range of SNRs, masked with speech from a single talker (-25 dB to +15 dB SNR) or with stationary noise (-12 dB to +16 dB). Correct sentence recognition scores and pupil...

Recognition of "real-world" musical excerpts by cochlear implant recipients and normal-hearing adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gfeller, Kate; Olszewski, Carol; Rychener, Marly; Sena, Kimberly; Knutson, John F; Witt, Shelley; Macpherson, Beth

2005-06-01

The purposes of this study were (a) to compare recognition of "real-world" music excerpts by postlingually deafened adults using cochlear implants and normal-hearing adults; (b) to compare the performance of cochlear implant recipients using different devices and processing strategies; and (c) to examine the variability among implant recipients in recognition of musical selections in relation to performance on speech perception tests, performance on cognitive tests, and demographic variables. Seventy-nine cochlear implant users and 30 normal-hearing adults were tested on open-set recognition of systematically selected excerpts from musical recordings heard in real life. The recognition accuracy of the two groups was compared for three musical genre: classical, country, and pop. Recognition accuracy was correlated with speech recognition scores, cognitive measures, and demographic measures, including musical background. Cochlear implant recipients were significantly less accurate in recognition of previously familiar (known before hearing loss) musical excerpts than normal-hearing adults (p genre. Implant recipients were most accurate in the recognition of country items and least accurate in the recognition of classical items. There were no significant differences among implant recipients due to implant type (Nucleus, Clarion, or Ineraid), or programming strategy (SPEAK, CIS, or ACE). For cochlear implant recipients, correlations between melody recognition and other measures were moderate to weak in strength; those with statistically significant correlations included age at time of testing (negatively correlated), performance on selected speech perception tests, and the amount of focused music listening following implantation. Current-day cochlear implants are not effective in transmitting several key structural features (i.e., pitch, harmony, timbral blends) of music essential to open-set recognition of well-known musical selections. Consequently, implant

Experience Changes How Emotion in Music Is Judged: Evidence from Children Listening with Bilateral Cochlear Implants, Bimodal Devices, and Normal Hearing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Giannantonio

Full Text Available Children using unilateral cochlear implants abnormally rely on tempo rather than mode cues to distinguish whether a musical piece is happy or sad. This led us to question how this judgment is affected by the type of experience in early auditory development. We hypothesized that judgments of the emotional content of music would vary by the type and duration of access to sound in early life due to deafness, altered perception of musical cues through new ways of using auditory prostheses bilaterally, and formal music training during childhood. Seventy-five participants completed the Montreal Emotion Identification Test. Thirty-three had normal hearing (aged 6.6 to 40.0 years and 42 children had hearing loss and used bilateral auditory prostheses (31 bilaterally implanted and 11 unilaterally implanted with contralateral hearing aid use. Reaction time and accuracy were measured. Accurate judgment of emotion in music was achieved across ages and musical experience. Musical training accentuated the reliance on mode cues which developed with age in the normal hearing group. Degrading pitch cues through cochlear implant-mediated hearing induced greater reliance on tempo cues, but mode cues grew in salience when at least partial acoustic information was available through some residual hearing in the contralateral ear. Finally, when pitch cues were experimentally distorted to represent cochlear implant hearing, individuals with normal hearing (including those with musical training switched to an abnormal dependence on tempo cues. The data indicate that, in a western culture, access to acoustic hearing in early life promotes a preference for mode rather than tempo cues which is enhanced by musical training. The challenge to these preferred strategies during cochlear implant hearing (simulated and real, regardless of musical training, suggests that access to pitch cues for children with hearing loss must be improved by preservation of residual hearing and

Experience Changes How Emotion in Music Is Judged: Evidence from Children Listening with Bilateral Cochlear Implants, Bimodal Devices, and Normal Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

Papsin, Blake C.; Paludetti, Gaetano; Gordon, Karen A.

2015-01-01

Children using unilateral cochlear implants abnormally rely on tempo rather than mode cues to distinguish whether a musical piece is happy or sad. This led us to question how this judgment is affected by the type of experience in early auditory development. We hypothesized that judgments of the emotional content of music would vary by the type and duration of access to sound in early life due to deafness, altered perception of musical cues through new ways of using auditory prostheses bilaterally, and formal music training during childhood. Seventy-five participants completed the Montreal Emotion Identification Test. Thirty-three had normal hearing (aged 6.6 to 40.0 years) and 42 children had hearing loss and used bilateral auditory prostheses (31 bilaterally implanted and 11 unilaterally implanted with contralateral hearing aid use). Reaction time and accuracy were measured. Accurate judgment of emotion in music was achieved across ages and musical experience. Musical training accentuated the reliance on mode cues which developed with age in the normal hearing group. Degrading pitch cues through cochlear implant-mediated hearing induced greater reliance on tempo cues, but mode cues grew in salience when at least partial acoustic information was available through some residual hearing in the contralateral ear. Finally, when pitch cues were experimentally distorted to represent cochlear implant hearing, individuals with normal hearing (including those with musical training) switched to an abnormal dependence on tempo cues. The data indicate that, in a western culture, access to acoustic hearing in early life promotes a preference for mode rather than tempo cues which is enhanced by musical training. The challenge to these preferred strategies during cochlear implant hearing (simulated and real), regardless of musical training, suggests that access to pitch cues for children with hearing loss must be improved by preservation of residual hearing and improvements in

Comparison of visual working memory in deaf and hearing-impaired students with normal counterparts: A research in people without sign language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farideh Tangestani Zadeh

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: The hearing defects in deaf and hearing-impaired students also affect their cognitive skills such as memory in addition to communication skills. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare visual working memory in deaf and hearing-impaired students with that in normal counterparts.Method: In the present study, which was a causal-comparative study using the André Rey test, 30 deaf and 30 hearing-impaired students were compared with 30 students in a normal group, and they were matched based on gender, intelligence, educational grade, and socioeconomic status.Findings: Findings show that there is significant difference between the three groups’ subjects (p0.05.Conclusion: Function of deaf or hard-of-hearing students in the visual working memory task was weaker in comparison with the normal counterparts, while the two deaf and hard-of-hearing groups have similar functions. With a better identification and understanding of the factors that affect the development of this cognitive ability, we can offer new methods of teaching and reduce many of the disadvantages of this group of people in the different fields of cognitive science.

Stress in Mothers of Hearing Impaired Children Compared to Mothers of Normal and Other Disabled Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Stress is associated with life satisfaction and also development of some physical diseases. Birth of a disabled child with mental or physical disability (especially deaf or blind children, impose an enormous load of stress on their parents especially the mothers. This study compared stress levels of mothers with hearing impaired children and mothers of normal children or with other disabilities.Methods: In this study, cluster random sampling was performed in Karaj city. 120 mothers in four groups of having a child with mental retardation, low vision, hearing impairment and with normal children were included. Family inventory of life events (FILE of Mc Cubbin et al. was used to determine stress level in four groups of mothers.Results: The results of this research indicated a significant difference (p<0.05 between stress levels of mothers with hearing impaired children and mothers of other disabled and normal children in subscales of intra-family stress, finance and business strains, stress of job transitions, stress of illness and family care and family members "in and out''. There was no difference between compared groups in other subscales.Conclusion: Since deafness is a hidden inability, the child with hearing impairment has a set of social and educational problems causing great stress for parents, especially to mother. In order to decrease mother’s stress, it is suggested to provide more family consultation, adequate social support and to run educational classes for parents to practice stress coping strategies.

Differences in the perceived music pleasantness between monolateral cochlear implanted and normal hearing children assessed by EEG.

Science.gov (United States)

Vecchiato, G; Maglione, A G; Scorpecci, A; Malerba, P; Graziani, I; Cherubino, P; Astolfi, L; Marsella, P; Colosimo, A; Babiloni, Fabio

2013-01-01

The perception of the music in cochlear implanted (CI) patients is an important aspect of their quality of life. In fact, the pleasantness of the music perception by such CI patients can be analyzed through a particular analysis of EEG rhythms. Studies on healthy subjects show that exists a particular frontal asymmetry of the EEG alpha rhythm which can be correlated with pleasantness of the perceived stimuli (approach-withdrawal theory). In particular, here we describe differences between EEG activities estimated in the alpha frequency band for a monolateral CI group of children and a normal hearing one during the fruition of a musical cartoon. The results of the present analysis showed that the alpha EEG asymmetry patterns related to the normal hearing group refers to a higher pleasantness perception when compared to the cerebral activity of the monolateral CI patients. In fact, the present results support the statement that a monolateral CI group could perceive the music in a less pleasant way when compared to normal hearing children.

Comparative multivariate analyses of transient otoacoustic emissions and distorsion products in normal and impaired hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Stamate, Mirela Cristina; Todor, Nicolae; Cosgarea, Marcel

2015-01-01

The clinical utility of otoacoustic emissions as a noninvasive objective test of cochlear function has been long studied. Both transient otoacoustic emissions and distorsion products can be used to identify hearing loss, but to what extent they can be used as predictors for hearing loss is still debated. Most studies agree that multivariate analyses have better test performances than univariate analyses. The aim of the study was to determine transient otoacoustic emissions and distorsion products performance in identifying normal and impaired hearing loss, using the pure tone audiogram as a gold standard procedure and different multivariate statistical approaches. The study included 105 adult subjects with normal hearing and hearing loss who underwent the same test battery: pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, otoacoustic emission tests. We chose to use the logistic regression as a multivariate statistical technique. Three logistic regression models were developed to characterize the relations between different risk factors (age, sex, tinnitus, demographic features, cochlear status defined by otoacoustic emissions) and hearing status defined by pure-tone audiometry. The multivariate analyses allow the calculation of the logistic score, which is a combination of the inputs, weighted by coefficients, calculated within the analyses. The accuracy of each model was assessed using receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. We used the logistic score to generate receivers operating curves and to estimate the areas under the curves in order to compare different multivariate analyses. We compared the performance of each otoacoustic emission (transient, distorsion product) using three different multivariate analyses for each ear, when multi-frequency gold standards were used. We demonstrated that all multivariate analyses provided high values of the area under the curve proving the performance of the otoacoustic emissions. Each otoacoustic emission test presented high

Some Neurocognitive Correlates of Noise-Vocoded Speech Perception in Children with Normal Hearing: A Replication and Extension of Eisenberg et al., 2002

Science.gov (United States)

Roman, Adrienne S.; Pisoni, David B.; Kronenberger, William G.; Faulkner, Kathleen F.

2016-01-01

Objectives Noise-vocoded speech is a valuable research tool for testing experimental hypotheses about the effects of spectral-degradation on speech recognition in adults with normal hearing (NH). However, very little research has utilized noise-vocoded speech with children with NH. Earlier studies with children with NH focused primarily on the amount of spectral information needed for speech recognition without assessing the contribution of neurocognitive processes to speech perception and spoken word recognition. In this study, we first replicated the seminal findings reported by Eisenberg et al. (2002) who investigated effects of lexical density and word frequency on noise-vocoded speech perception in a small group of children with NH. We then extended the research to investigate relations between noise-vocoded speech recognition abilities and five neurocognitive measures: auditory attention and response set, talker discrimination and verbal and nonverbal short-term working memory. Design Thirty-one children with NH between 5 and 13 years of age were assessed on their ability to perceive lexically controlled words in isolation and in sentences that were noise-vocoded to four spectral channels. Children were also administered vocabulary assessments (PPVT-4 and EVT-2) and measures of auditory attention (NEPSY Auditory Attention (AA) and Response Set (RS) and a talker discrimination task (TD)) and short-term memory (visual digit and symbol spans). Results Consistent with the findings reported in the original Eisenberg et al. (2002) study, we found that children perceived noise-vocoded lexically easy words better than lexically hard words. Words in sentences were also recognized better than the same words presented in isolation. No significant correlations were observed between noise-vocoded speech recognition scores and the PPVT-4 using language quotients to control for age effects. However, children who scored higher on the EVT-2 recognized lexically easy words

Masking release with changing fundamental frequency: Electric acoustic stimulation resembles normal hearing subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Auinger, Alice Barbara; Riss, Dominik; Liepins, Rudolfs; Rader, Tobias; Keck, Tilman; Keintzel, Thomas; Kaider, Alexandra; Baumgartner, Wolf-Dieter; Gstoettner, Wolfgang; Arnoldner, Christoph

2017-07-01

It has been shown that patients with electric acoustic stimulation (EAS) perform better in noisy environments than patients with a cochlear implant (CI). One reason for this could be the preserved access to acoustic low-frequency cues including the fundamental frequency (F0). Therefore, our primary aim was to investigate whether users of EAS experience a release from masking with increasing F0 difference between target talker and masking talker. The study comprised 29 patients and consisted of three groups of subjects: EAS users, CI users and normal-hearing listeners (NH). All CI and EAS users were implanted with a MED-EL cochlear implant and had at least 12 months of experience with the implant. Speech perception was assessed with the Oldenburg sentence test (OlSa) using one sentence from the test corpus as speech masker. The F0 in this masking sentence was shifted upwards by 4, 8, or 12 semitones. For each of these masker conditions the speech reception threshold (SRT) was assessed by adaptively varying the masker level while presenting the target sentences at a fixed level. A statistically significant improvement in speech perception was found for increasing difference in F0 between target sentence and masker sentence in EAS users (p = 0.038) and in NH listeners (p = 0.003). In CI users (classic CI or EAS users with electrical stimulation only) speech perception was independent from differences in F0 between target and masker. A release from masking with increasing difference in F0 between target and masking speech was only observed in listeners and configurations in which the low-frequency region was presented acoustically. Thus, the speech information contained in the low frequencies seems to be crucial for allowing listeners to separate multiple sources. By combining acoustic and electric information, EAS users even manage tasks as complicated as segregating the audio streams from multiple talkers. Preserving the natural code, like fine-structure cues in

Externalization versus Internalization of Sound in Normal-hearing and Hearing-impaired Listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohl, Björn; Laugesen, Søren; Buchholz, Jörg

2010-01-01

The externalization of sound, i. e. the perception of auditory events as being located outside of the head, is a natural phenomenon for normalhearing listeners, when perceiving sound coming from a distant physical sound source. It is potentially useful for hearing in background noise......, but the relevant cues might be distorted by a hearing impairment and also by the processing of the incoming sound through hearing aids. In this project, two intuitive tests in natural real-life surroundings were developed, which capture the limits of the perception of externalization. For this purpose...

Distortion-Product Otoacoustic Emission Measured Below 300 Hz in Normal-Hearing Human Subjects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Anders Tornvig; Ordoñez Pizarro, Rodrigo Eduardo; Hammershøi, Dorte

2017-01-01

, a custom-built low-frequency acoustic probe was put to use in 21 normal-hearing human subjects (of 34 recruited). Distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) was measured in the enclosed ear canal volume as the response to two simultaneously presented tones with frequencies f1 and f2. The stimulus...

Differences and similarities in early vocabulary development between children with hearing aids and children with cochlear implant enrolled in 3-year auditory verbal intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Percy-Smith, Lone; Hallstrøm, Maria; Josvassen, Jane Lignel; Mikkelsen, Jeanette Hølledig; Nissen, Lena; Dieleman, Eveline; Cayé-Thomasen, Per

2018-05-01

The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a Nordic Auditory Verbal (AV) intervention for children with all degrees and types of hearing impairment (HI) using all kinds of hearing technology. A first specific objective was to identify differences and similarities in early vocabulary development between children with cochlear implant (CI) compared with children with hearing aids (HAs)/Bone anchored hearing aids (Bahs) enrolled in a 3-year AVprogram, and to compare the group of children with HI to a control group of children with normal hearing (NH). A second specific objective was to study universal neonatal hearing screening (UNHS) using the 1-3-6 Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) guidelines. Effect of AV intervention for children with HI using different hearing technology is not thoroughly studied. It is relevant to question, whether children with mild to moderate HI encounter the same intensive need for AV intervention as children with congenital deafness. A longitudinal and comparative study design was used involving two cohorts of children, i.e. 36 children with CI and 19 children with HA/Bahs. The children were the first in Denmark to receive a 3-year AV intervention by formally trained AV-practitioners. Children were tested annually with standardized speech and language tests, i.e. Peabody Picture Vocabulary test, Reynell test and a Danish test for active vocabulary, Viborgmaterialet. Categorical variables were compared using Fischer's exact test and continuous variables were compared using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, as data was not normally distributed. Median age of diagnosis was 6 months and median age at intervention was 13 and 12 months respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of scores according to age equivalency for the three tests. However, there was a significant difference between children with HI regardless of hearing technology and children with

Are You There for Me? Joint Engagement and Emotional Availability in Parent-Child Interactions for Toddlers With Moderate Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Dirks, Evelien; Rieffe, Carolien

2018-05-11

This study examined joint engagement and emotional availability of parent-child interactions for toddlers with moderate hearing loss (MHL) compared with toddlers with normal hearing (NH) and in relation to children's language abilities. The participants in this study were 25 children with MHL (40 to 60 dB hearing loss) and 26 children with NH (mean age: 33.3 months). The children and their parents were filmed during a 10-minute free play session in their homes. The duration of joint engagement and success rate of initiations were coded next to the level of emotional availability reflected by the Emotional Availability Scales. Receptive and expressive language tests were administered to the children to examine their language ability. Groups differed in joint engagement: children with MHL and their parents were less successful in establishing joint engagement and had briefer episodes of joint engagement than children with NH and their parents. No differences between groups were found for emotional availability measures. Both joint engagement and emotional availability measures were positively related to children's language ability. Children with MHL and their parents are emotional available to each other. However, they have more difficulties in establishing joint engagement with each other and have briefer episodes of joint engagement compared with children with NH and their parents. The parent-child interactions of children with better language abilities are characterized with higher levels of emotional availability and longer episodes of joint engagement. The results imply that interactions of children with MHL and their parents are an important target for family-centered early intervention programs.

Temporal and spatio-temporal vibrotactile displays for voice fundamental frequency: an initial evaluation of a new vibrotactile speech perception aid with normal-hearing and hearing-impaired individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Auer, E T; Bernstein, L E; Coulter, D C

1998-10-01

Four experiments were performed to evaluate a new wearable vibrotactile speech perception aid that extracts fundamental frequency (F0) and displays the extracted F0 as a single-channel temporal or an eight-channel spatio-temporal stimulus. Specifically, we investigated the perception of intonation (i.e., question versus statement) and emphatic stress (i.e., stress on the first, second, or third word) under Visual-Alone (VA), Visual-Tactile (VT), and Tactile-Alone (TA) conditions and compared performance using the temporal and spatio-temporal vibrotactile display. Subjects were adults with normal hearing in experiments I-III and adults with severe to profound hearing impairments in experiment IV. Both versions of the vibrotactile speech perception aid successfully conveyed intonation. Vibrotactile stress information was successfully conveyed, but vibrotactile stress information did not enhance performance in VT conditions beyond performance in VA conditions. In experiment III, which involved only intonation identification, a reliable advantage for the spatio-temporal display was obtained. Differences between subject groups were obtained for intonation identification, with more accurate VT performance by those with normal hearing. Possible effects of long-term hearing status are discussed.

A comparative evaluation of dental caries status among hearing-impaired and normal children of Malda, West Bengal, evaluated with the Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kar, Sudipta; Kundu, Goutam; Maiti, Shyamal Kumar; Ghosh, Chiranjit; Bazmi, Badruddin Ahamed; Mukhopadhyay, Santanu

2016-01-01

Dental caries is one of the major modern-day diseases of dental hard tissue. It may affect both normal and hearing-impaired children. This study is aimed to evaluate and compare the prevalence of dental caries in hearing-impaired and normal children of Malda, West Bengal, utilizing the Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST). In a cross-sectional, case-control study of dental caries status of 6-12-year-old children was assessed. Statistically significant difference was found in studied (hearing-impaired) and control group (normal children). In the present study, caries affected hearing-impaired children found to be about 30.51% compared to 15.81% in normal children, and the result was statistically significant. Regarding individual caries assessment criteria, nearly all subgroups reflect statistically significant difference except sealed tooth structure group, internal caries-related discoloration in dentin, and distinct cavitation into dentine group, and the result is significant at P caries effected hearing-impaired children found about 30.51% instead of 15.81% in normal children, and the result was statistically significant (P caries assessment criteria, nearly all subgroups reflect statistically significant difference except sealed tooth structure group, internal caries-related discoloration in dentin, and distinct cavitation into dentine group. Dental health of hearing-impaired children was found unsatisfactory than normal children when studied in relation to dental caries status evaluated with CAST.

A comparative evaluation of dental caries status among hearing-impaired and normal children of Malda, West Bengal, evaluated with the Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudipta Kar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Dental caries is one of the major modern-day diseases of dental hard tissue. It may affect both normal and hearing-impaired children. Aims: This study is aimed to evaluate and compare the prevalence of dental caries in hearing-impaired and normal children of Malda, West Bengal, utilizing the Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST. Settings and Design: In a cross-sectional, case-control study of dental caries status of 6-12-year-old children was assessed. Subjects and Methods: Statistically significant difference was found in studied (hearing-impaired and control group (normal children. In the present study, caries affected hearing-impaired children found to be about 30.51% compared to 15.81% in normal children, and the result was statistically significant. Regarding individual caries assessment criteria, nearly all subgroups reflect statistically significant difference except sealed tooth structure group, internal caries-related discoloration in dentin, and distinct cavitation into dentine group, and the result is significant at P < 0.05. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was carried out utilizing Z-test. Results: Statistically significant difference was found in studied (hearing-impaired and control group (normal children. In the present study, caries effected hearing-impaired children found about 30.51% instead of 15.81% in normal children, and the result was statistically significant (P < 0.05. Regarding individual caries assessment criteria, nearly all subgroups reflect statistically significant difference except sealed tooth structure group, internal caries-related discoloration in dentin, and distinct cavitation into dentine group. Conclusions: Dental health of hearing-impaired children was found unsatisfactory than normal children when studied in relation to dental caries status evaluated with CAST.

Use of nouns and verbs in the oral narrative of individuals with hearing impairment and normal hearing between 5 and 11 years of age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erica Endo Amemiya

Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Nouns and verbs indicate actions in oral communication. However, hearing impairment can compromise the acquisition of oral language to such an extent that appropriate use of these can be challenging. The objective of this study was to compare the use of nouns and verbs in the oral narrative of hearing-impaired and hearing children. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analytical cross-sectional study at the Department of Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo. METHODS: Twenty-one children with moderate to profound bilateral neurosensory hearing impairment and twenty-one with normal hearing (controls were matched according to sex, school year and school type. A board showing pictures was presented to each child, to elicit a narrative and measure their performance in producing nouns and verbs. RESULTS: Twenty-two (52.4% of the subjects were males. The mean age was 8 years (standard deviation, SD = 1.5. Comparing averages between the groups of boys and girls, we did not find any significant difference in their use of nouns, but among verbs, there was a significant difference regarding use of the imperative (P = 0.041: more frequent among boys (mean = 2.91. There was no significant difference in the use of nouns and verbs between deaf children and hearers, in relation to school type. Regarding use of the indicative, there was a nearly significant trend (P = 0.058. CONCLUSION: Among oralized hearing-impaired children who underwent speech therapy, their performance regarding verbs and noun use was similar to that of their hearing counterparts.

Self-esteem in hearing-impaired children: the influence of communication, education, and audiological characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Theunissen, Stephanie C P M; Rieffe, Carolien; Netten, Anouk P; Briaire, Jeroen J; Soede, Wim; Kouwenberg, Maartje; Frijns, Johan H M

2014-01-01

Sufficient self-esteem is extremely important for psychosocial functioning. It is hypothesized that hearing-impaired (HI) children have lower levels of self-esteem, because, among other things, they frequently experience lower language and communication skills. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare HI children's self-esteem across different domains with those of normal hearing (NH) children and to investigate the influence of communication, type of education, and audiological characteristics. This large (N = 252) retrospective, multicenter study consisted of two age- and gender-matched groups: 123 HI children and 129 NH controls (mean age  = 11.8 years). Self-reports were used to measure self-esteem across four domains: perceived social acceptance by peers, perceived parental attention, perceived physical appearance, and global self-esteem. HI children experienced lower levels of self-esteem regarding peers and parents than NH controls. Particularly HI children who attended special education for the deaf were at risk, even after correcting for their language development and intelligence. Yet, levels of global self-esteem and self-esteem involving physical appearance in HI children equalled those of NH controls. Furthermore, younger age at implantation and longer duration of having cochlear implants (CIs) were related to higher levels of self-esteem. HI children experience lower levels of self-esteem in the social domains. Yet, due to the heterogeneity of the HI population, there is high variability in levels of self-esteem. Clinicians must always be aware of the risk and protective factors related to self-esteem in order to help individual patients reach their full potential.

Effects of dynamic range compression on spatial selective auditory attention in normal-hearing listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Andrew H; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G

2013-04-01

Many hearing aids introduce compressive gain to accommodate the reduced dynamic range that often accompanies hearing loss. However, natural sounds produce complicated temporal dynamics in hearing aid compression, as gain is driven by whichever source dominates at a given moment. Moreover, independent compression at the two ears can introduce fluctuations in interaural level differences (ILDs) important for spatial perception. While independent compression can interfere with spatial perception of sound, it does not always interfere with localization accuracy or speech identification. Here, normal-hearing listeners reported a target message played simultaneously with two spatially separated masker messages. We measured the amount of spatial separation required between the target and maskers for subjects to perform at threshold in this task. Fast, syllabic compression that was independent at the two ears increased the required spatial separation, but linking the compressors to provide identical gain to both ears (preserving ILDs) restored much of the deficit caused by fast, independent compression. Effects were less clear for slower compression. Percent-correct performance was lower with independent compression, but only for small spatial separations. These results may help explain differences in previous reports of the effect of compression on spatial perception of sound.

Sensory-motor relationships in speech production in post-lingually deaf cochlear-implanted adults and normal-hearing seniors: Evidence from phonetic convergence and speech imitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarbel, Lucie; Beautemps, Denis; Schwartz, Jean-Luc; Sato, Marc

2017-07-01

Speech communication can be viewed as an interactive process involving a functional coupling between sensory and motor systems. One striking example comes from phonetic convergence, when speakers automatically tend to mimic their interlocutor's speech during communicative interaction. The goal of this study was to investigate sensory-motor linkage in speech production in postlingually deaf cochlear implanted participants and normal hearing elderly adults through phonetic convergence and imitation. To this aim, two vowel production tasks, with or without instruction to imitate an acoustic vowel, were proposed to three groups of young adults with normal hearing, elderly adults with normal hearing and post-lingually deaf cochlear-implanted patients. Measure of the deviation of each participant's f 0 from their own mean f 0 was measured to evaluate the ability to converge to each acoustic target. showed that cochlear-implanted participants have the ability to converge to an acoustic target, both intentionally and unintentionally, albeit with a lower degree than young and elderly participants with normal hearing. By providing evidence for phonetic convergence and speech imitation, these results suggest that, as in young adults, perceptuo-motor relationships are efficient in elderly adults with normal hearing and that cochlear-implanted adults recovered significant perceptuo-motor abilities following cochlear implantation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Exogenous Cues on Covert Spatial Orienting in Deaf and Normal Hearing Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Seema Gorur; Patil, Gouri Shanker; Mishra, Ramesh Kumar

2015-01-01

Deaf individuals have been known to process visual stimuli better at the periphery compared to the normal hearing population. However, very few studies have examined attention orienting in the oculomotor domain in the deaf, particularly when targets appear at variable eccentricity. In this study, we examined if the visual perceptual processing advantage reported in the deaf people also modulates spatial attentional orienting with eye movement responses. We used a spatial cueing task with cued and uncued targets that appeared at two different eccentricities and explored attentional facilitation and inhibition. We elicited both a saccadic and a manual response. The deaf showed a higher cueing effect for the ocular responses than the normal hearing participants. However, there was no group difference for the manual responses. There was also higher facilitation at the periphery for both saccadic and manual responses, irrespective of groups. These results suggest that, owing to their superior visual processing ability, the deaf may orient attention faster to targets. We discuss the results in terms of previous studies on cueing and attentional orienting in deaf.

Gaps-in-Noise test: gap detection thresholds in 9-year-old normal-hearing children.

Science.gov (United States)

Marculino, Carolina Finetti; Rabelo, Camila Maia; Schochat, Eliane

2011-12-01

To establish the standard criteria for the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) test in 9-year-old normal-hearing children; to obtain the mean gap detection thresholds; and to verify the influence of the variables gender and ear on the gap detection thresholds. Forty normal-hearing individuals, 20 male and 20 female, with ages ranging from 9 years to 9 years and 11 months, were evaluated. The procedures performed were: anamnesis, audiological evaluation, acoustic immittance measures (tympanometry and acoustic reflex), Dichotic Digits Test, and GIN test. The results obtained were statistically analyzed. The results revealed similar performance of right and left ears in the population studied. There was also no difference regarding the variable gender. In the subjects evaluated, the mean gap detection thresholds were 4.4 ms for the right ear, and 4.2 ms for the left ear. The values obtained for right and left ear, as well as their standard deviations, can be used as standard criteria for 9-year-old children, regardless of ear or gender.

Self-esteem in hearing-impaired children: the influence of communication, education, and audiological characteristics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie C P M Theunissen

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Sufficient self-esteem is extremely important for psychosocial functioning. It is hypothesized that hearing-impaired (HI children have lower levels of self-esteem, because, among other things, they frequently experience lower language and communication skills. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare HI children's self-esteem across different domains with those of normal hearing (NH children and to investigate the influence of communication, type of education, and audiological characteristics. METHODS: This large (N = 252 retrospective, multicenter study consisted of two age- and gender-matched groups: 123 HI children and 129 NH controls (mean age  = 11.8 years. Self-reports were used to measure self-esteem across four domains: perceived social acceptance by peers, perceived parental attention, perceived physical appearance, and global self-esteem. RESULTS: HI children experienced lower levels of self-esteem regarding peers and parents than NH controls. Particularly HI children who attended special education for the deaf were at risk, even after correcting for their language development and intelligence. Yet, levels of global self-esteem and self-esteem involving physical appearance in HI children equalled those of NH controls. Furthermore, younger age at implantation and longer duration of having cochlear implants (CIs were related to higher levels of self-esteem. CONCLUSION: HI children experience lower levels of self-esteem in the social domains. Yet, due to the heterogeneity of the HI population, there is high variability in levels of self-esteem. DISCUSSION: Clinicians must always be aware of the risk and protective factors related to self-esteem in order to help individual patients reach their full potential.

Self-Esteem in Hearing-Impaired Children: The Influence of Communication, Education, and Audiological Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Theunissen, Stephanie C. P. M.; Rieffe, Carolien; Netten, Anouk P.; Briaire, Jeroen J.; Soede, Wim; Kouwenberg, Maartje; Frijns, Johan H. M.

2014-01-01

Objective Sufficient self-esteem is extremely important for psychosocial functioning. It is hypothesized that hearing-impaired (HI) children have lower levels of self-esteem, because, among other things, they frequently experience lower language and communication skills. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare HI children's self-esteem across different domains with those of normal hearing (NH) children and to investigate the influence of communication, type of education, and audiological characteristics. Methods This large (N = 252) retrospective, multicenter study consisted of two age- and gender-matched groups: 123 HI children and 129 NH controls (mean age  = 11.8 years). Self-reports were used to measure self-esteem across four domains: perceived social acceptance by peers, perceived parental attention, perceived physical appearance, and global self-esteem. Results HI children experienced lower levels of self-esteem regarding peers and parents than NH controls. Particularly HI children who attended special education for the deaf were at risk, even after correcting for their language development and intelligence. Yet, levels of global self-esteem and self-esteem involving physical appearance in HI children equalled those of NH controls. Furthermore, younger age at implantation and longer duration of having cochlear implants (CIs) were related to higher levels of self-esteem. Conclusion HI children experience lower levels of self-esteem in the social domains. Yet, due to the heterogeneity of the HI population, there is high variability in levels of self-esteem. Discussion Clinicians must always be aware of the risk and protective factors related to self-esteem in order to help individual patients reach their full potential. PMID:24722329

Open-type congenital cholesteatoma: differential diagnosis for conductive hearing loss with a normal tympanic membrane.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Se-Hyung; Cho, Yang-Sun; Chu, Ho-Suk; Jang, Jeon-Yeob; Chung, Won-Ho; Hong, Sung Hwa

2012-06-01

In patients with progressive conductive hearing loss and a normal tympanic membrane (TM), and with soft tissue density in the middle ear cavity (MEC) on temporal bone computed tomography (TBCT) scan, open-type congenital cholesteatoma (OCC) should be highly suspected and a proper surgical plan that includes mastoid exploration and second-stage operation is required. The clinical presentation of OCC is very similar to congenital ossicular anomaly (COA) presenting with a conductive hearing loss with intact TM. Therefore, it is challenging to make a correct preoperative diagnosis in patients with OCC. We evaluated the clinical characteristics of OCC compared with those of COA to find diagnostic clues useful in diagnosis of OCC. The medical records of 12 patients with surgically proven OCC and 14 patients with surgically proven COA were reviewed for demographic data, otologic history, preoperative TBCT findings, intraoperative findings, and pre- and postoperative audiologic data. There was no difference between OCC and COA based on demographic data, preoperative hearing, and ossicular status on TBCT. However, the presence of progressive hearing loss, soft tissue density in the MEC on TBCT scan, and the need for mastoid surgery and second-stage operation were significantly more frequent in OCC patients.

Temporal and speech processing skills in normal hearing individuals exposed to occupational noise.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, U Ajith; Ameenudin, Syed; Sangamanatha, A V

2012-01-01

Prolonged exposure to high levels of occupational noise can cause damage to hair cells in the cochlea and result in permanent noise-induced cochlear hearing loss. Consequences of cochlear hearing loss on speech perception and psychophysical abilities have been well documented. Primary goal of this research was to explore temporal processing and speech perception Skills in individuals who are exposed to occupational noise of more than 80 dBA and not yet incurred clinically significant threshold shifts. Contribution of temporal processing skills to speech perception in adverse listening situation was also evaluated. A total of 118 participants took part in this research. Participants comprised three groups of train drivers in the age range of 30-40 (n= 13), 41 50 ( = 13), 41-50 (n = 9), and 51-60 (n = 6) years and their non-noise-exposed counterparts (n = 30 in each age group). Participants of all the groups including the train drivers had hearing sensitivity within 25 dB HL in the octave frequencies between 250 and 8 kHz. Temporal processing was evaluated using gap detection, modulation detection, and duration pattern tests. Speech recognition was tested in presence multi-talker babble at -5dB SNR. Differences between experimental and control groups were analyzed using ANOVA and independent sample t-tests. Results showed a trend of reduced temporal processing skills in individuals with noise exposure. These deficits were observed despite normal peripheral hearing sensitivity. Speech recognition scores in the presence of noise were also significantly poor in noise-exposed group. Furthermore, poor temporal processing skills partially accounted for the speech recognition difficulties exhibited by the noise-exposed individuals. These results suggest that noise can cause significant distortions in the processing of suprathreshold temporal cues which may add to difficulties in hearing in adverse listening conditions.

Temporal and speech processing skills in normal hearing individuals exposed to occupational noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U Ajith Kumar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Prolonged exposure to high levels of occupational noise can cause damage to hair cells in the cochlea and result in permanent noise-induced cochlear hearing loss. Consequences of cochlear hearing loss on speech perception and psychophysical abilities have been well documented. Primary goal of this research was to explore temporal processing and speech perception Skills in individuals who are exposed to occupational noise of more than 80 dBA and not yet incurred clinically significant threshold shifts. Contribution of temporal processing skills to speech perception in adverse listening situation was also evaluated. A total of 118 participants took part in this research. Participants comprised three groups of train drivers in the age range of 30-40 (n= 13, 41 50 ( = 13, 41-50 (n = 9, and 51-60 (n = 6 years and their non-noise-exposed counterparts (n = 30 in each age group. Participants of all the groups including the train drivers had hearing sensitivity within 25 dB HL in the octave frequencies between 250 and 8 kHz. Temporal processing was evaluated using gap detection, modulation detection, and duration pattern tests. Speech recognition was tested in presence multi-talker babble at -5dB SNR. Differences between experimental and control groups were analyzed using ANOVA and independent sample t-tests. Results showed a trend of reduced temporal processing skills in individuals with noise exposure. These deficits were observed despite normal peripheral hearing sensitivity. Speech recognition scores in the presence of noise were also significantly poor in noise-exposed group. Furthermore, poor temporal processing skills partially accounted for the speech recognition difficulties exhibited by the noise-exposed individuals. These results suggest that noise can cause significant distortions in the processing of suprathreshold temporal cues which may add to difficulties in hearing in adverse listening conditions.

Deficits in comprehending wh-questions in children with hearing loss - the contribution of phonological short-term memory and syntactic complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Penke, Martina; Wimmer, Eva

2018-01-01

The aim of the study is to investigate if German children with hearing loss (HL) display persisting problems in comprehending complex sentences and to find out whether these problems can be linked to limitations in phonological short-term memory (PSTM). A who-question comprehension test (picture pointing) and a nonword repetition (NWR) task were conducted with 21 German children with bilateral sensorineural HL (ages 3-4) and with age-matched 19 normal hearing (NH) children. Follow-up data (ages 6-8) are reported for 10 of the children with HL. The data reveal that the comprehension of who-questions as well as PSTM was significantly more impaired in children with HL than in children with NH. For both groups of participants, there were no correlations between question comprehension scores and performance in the NWR test. Syntactic complexity (subject vs. object question) affected question comprehension in children with HL, however, these problems were overcome at school age. In conclusion, the data indicate that a hearing loss affects the comprehension of complex sentences. The observed problems did, however, not persist and were, therefore, unlikely to be caused by a genuine syntactic deficit. For the tested wh-questions, there is no indication that syntactic comprehension problems of children with HL are due to limitations in PSTM.

Negotiating hearing disability and hearing disabled identities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lykke Hindhede, Anette

2012-01-01

  　 Using disability theory as a framework and social science theories of identity to strengthen the arguments, this paper explores empirically how working-age adults confront the medical diagnosis of hearing impairment. For most participants hearing impairment threatens the stability of social...... interaction and the construction of hearing disabled identities is seen as shaped in the interaction with the hearing impaired person‟s surroundings. In order to overcome the potential stigmatisation the „passing‟ as normal becomes predominant. For many the diagnosis provokes radical redefinitions of the self....... The discursively produced categorisation and subjectivity of senescence mean that rehabilitation technologies such as hearing aids identify a particular life-style (disabled) which determines their social significance. Thus wearing a hearing aid works against the contemporary attempt to create socially ideal...

How to quantify binaural hearing in patients with unilateral hearing using hearing implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Snik, Ad; Agterberg, Martijn; Bosman, Arjan

2015-01-01

Application of bilateral hearing devices in bilateral hearing loss and unilateral application in unilateral hearing loss (second ear with normal hearing) does not a priori lead to binaural hearing. An overview is presented on several measures of binaural benefits that have been used in patients with unilateral or bilateral deafness using one or two cochlear implants, respectively, and in patients with unilateral or bilateral conductive/mixed hearing loss using one or two percutaneous bone conduction implants (BCDs), respectively. Overall, according to this overview, the most significant and sensitive measure is the benefit in directional hearing. Measures using speech (viz. binaural summation, binaural squelch or use of the head shadow effect) showed minor benefits, except for patients with bilateral conductive/mixed hearing loss using two BCDs. Although less feasible in daily practise, the binaural masking level difference test seems to be a promising option in the assessment of binaural function. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Does hearing aid use affect audiovisual integration in mild hearing impairment?

Science.gov (United States)

Gieseler, Anja; Tahden, Maike A S; Thiel, Christiane M; Colonius, Hans

2018-04-01

There is converging evidence for altered audiovisual integration abilities in hearing-impaired individuals and those with profound hearing loss who are provided with cochlear implants, compared to normal-hearing adults. Still, little is known on the effects of hearing aid use on audiovisual integration in mild hearing loss, although this constitutes one of the most prevalent conditions in the elderly and, yet, often remains untreated in its early stages. This study investigated differences in the strength of audiovisual integration between elderly hearing aid users and those with the same degree of mild hearing loss who were not using hearing aids, the non-users, by measuring their susceptibility to the sound-induced flash illusion. We also explored the corresponding window of integration by varying the stimulus onset asynchronies. To examine general group differences that are not attributable to specific hearing aid settings but rather reflect overall changes associated with habitual hearing aid use, the group of hearing aid users was tested unaided while individually controlling for audibility. We found greater audiovisual integration together with a wider window of integration in hearing aid users compared to their age-matched untreated peers. Signal detection analyses indicate that a change in perceptual sensitivity as well as in bias may underlie the observed effects. Our results and comparisons with other studies in normal-hearing older adults suggest that both mild hearing impairment and hearing aid use seem to affect audiovisual integration, possibly in the sense that hearing aid use may reverse the effects of hearing loss on audiovisual integration. We suggest that these findings may be particularly important for auditory rehabilitation and call for a longitudinal study.

Semantic processing in deaf and hard-of-hearing children: Large N400 mismatch effects in brain responses, despite poor semantic ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petter Kallioinen

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Difficulties in auditory and phonological processing affect semantic processing in speech comprehension of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH children. However, little is known about brain responses of semantic processing in this group. We investigated event-related potentials (ERPs in DHH children with cochlear implants (CI and/or hearing aids (HA, and in normally hearing controls (NH. We used a semantic priming task with spoken word primes followed by picture targets. In both DHH children and controls, response differences between matching and mismatching targets revealed a typical N400-effect associated with semantic processing. Children with CI had the largest mismatch response despite poor semantic abilities overall, children with CI also had the largest ERP differentiation between mismatch types, with small effects of within-category mismatches (target from same category as prime and large effects between-category mismatches (were target is from a different category than prime. NH and HA children had similar responses to both mismatch types. While the large and differentiated ERP responses in the CI group were unexpected and should be interpreted with caution, the results could reflect less precision in semantic processing among children with CI, or a stronger reliance on predictive processing.

Comparison of general health status in mothers of hearing and hearing-impaired children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Movallali

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: The birth of a hearing-impaired child and raising him/her often brings special psychological feelings for parents, especially mothers who spend more time with the child. This study aimed to compare the general health status in mothers of hearing-impaired and hearing children. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. General Health Questionnaire was used to identify general health status; and data were analyzed with independent-t test. Results: The general health level of mothers of hearing-impaired children was lower than mothers of normal hearing children (p=0.01 . The average scores of anxiety (p=0.01, depression (p= 0.01 and physical (p=0.02 symptoms and social function (p=0.01 of mothers of hearing-impaired children was higher than mothers of normal hearing ones (p=0.01. Conclusion: Having a child with hearing impairment affects mothers’ general health status. Our findings show that it’s necessary to provide psychological and social support for mothers of hearing-impaired children.

The effect of mild-to-moderate hearing loss on auditory and emotion processing networks

Science.gov (United States)

Husain, Fatima T.; Carpenter-Thompson, Jake R.; Schmidt, Sara A.

2014-01-01

We investigated the impact of hearing loss (HL) on emotional processing using task- and rest-based functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two age-matched groups of middle-aged participants were recruited: one with bilateral high-frequency HL and a control group with normal hearing (NH). During the task-based portion of the experiment, participants were instructed to rate affective stimuli from the International Affective Digital Sounds (IADS) database as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. In the resting state experiment, participants were told to fixate on a “+” sign on a screen for 5 min. The results of both the task-based and resting state studies suggest that NH and HL patients differ in their emotional response. Specifically, in the task-based study, we found slower response to affective but not neutral sounds by the HL group compared to the NH group. This was reflected in the brain activation patterns, with the NH group employing the expected limbic and auditory regions including the left amygdala, left parahippocampus, right middle temporal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus to a greater extent in processing affective stimuli when compared to the HL group. In the resting state study, we observed no significant differences in connectivity of the auditory network between the groups. In the dorsal attention network (DAN), HL patients exhibited decreased connectivity between seed regions and left insula and left postcentral gyrus compared to controls. The default mode network (DMN) was also altered, showing increased connectivity between seeds and left middle frontal gyrus in the HL group. Further targeted analysis revealed increased intrinsic connectivity between the right middle temporal gyrus and the right precentral gyrus. The results from both studies suggest neuronal reorganization as a consequence of HL, most notably in networks responding to emotional sounds. PMID:24550791

Effect of minimal/mild hearing loss on children's speech understanding in a simulated classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Dawna E; Valente, Daniel L; Spalding, Jody L

2015-01-01

While classroom acoustics can affect educational performance for all students, the impact for children with minimal/mild hearing loss (MMHL) may be greater than for children with normal hearing (NH). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of MMHL on children's speech recognition comprehension and looking behavior in a simulated classroom environment. It was hypothesized that children with MMHL would perform similarly to their peers with NH on the speech recognition task but would perform more poorly on the comprehension task. Children with MMHL also were expected to look toward talkers more often than children with NH. Eighteen children with MMHL and 18 age-matched children with NH participated. In a simulated classroom environment, children listened to lines from an elementary-age-appropriate play read by a teacher and four students reproduced over LCD monitors and loudspeakers located around the listener. A gyroscopic headtracking device was used to monitor looking behavior during the task. At the end of the play, comprehension was assessed by asking a series of 18 factual questions. Children also were asked to repeat 50 meaningful sentences with three key words each presented audio-only by a single talker either from the loudspeaker at 0 degree azimuth or randomly from the five loudspeakers. Both children with NH and those with MMHL performed at or near ceiling on the sentence recognition task. For the comprehension task, children with MMHL performed more poorly than those with NH. Assessment of looking behavior indicated that both groups of children looked at talkers while they were speaking less than 50% of the time. In addition, the pattern of overall looking behaviors suggested that, compared with older children with NH, a larger portion of older children with MMHL may demonstrate looking behaviors similar to younger children with or without MMHL. The results of this study demonstrate that, under realistic acoustic conditions, it is difficult to

Cortical and Sensory Causes of Individual Differences in Selective Attention Ability among Listeners with Normal Hearing Thresholds

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2017-01-01

Purpose: This review provides clinicians with an overview of recent findings relevant to understanding why listeners with normal hearing thresholds (NHTs) sometimes suffer from communication difficulties in noisy settings. Method: The results from neuroscience and psychoacoustics are reviewed. Results: In noisy settings, listeners focus their…

Signal-to-background-ratio preferences of normal-hearing listeners as a function of music

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Jillian G.

2005-04-01

The primary purpose of speech is to convey a message. Many factors affect the listener's overall reception, several of which have little to do with the linguistic content itself, but rather with the delivery (e.g., prosody, intonation patterns, pragmatics, paralinguistic cues). Music, however, may convey a message either with or without linguistic content. In instances in which music has lyrics, one cannot assume verbal content will take precedence over sonic properties. Lyric emphasis over other aspects of music cannot be assumed. Singing introduces distortion of the vowel-consonant temporal ratio of speech, emphasizing vowels and de-emphasizing consonants. The phonemic production alterations of singing make it difficult for even those with normal hearing to understand the singer. This investigation was designed to identify singer-to-background-ratio (SBR) prefer- ences for normal hearing adult listeners (as opposed to SBR levels maxi-mizing speech discrimination ability). Stimuli were derived from three different original songs, each produced in two different genres and sung by six different singers. Singer and genre were the two primary contributors to significant differences in SBR preferences, though results clearly indicate genre, style and singer interact in different combinations for each song, each singer, and for each subject in an unpredictable manner.

Comparison of psychological well-being and coping styles in mothers of deaf and normally-hearing children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdollah Ghasempour

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Families who have a child with hearing deficiency deal with different challenges, and mothers have a greater responsibility towards these children because of their traditional role of caregiver; so, they deal with more psychological problems. The aim of this study was to compare the psychological well-being and coping styles in mothers of deaf and normal children.Methods: In this cross-sectional and post event study (causal-comparative method, 30 mothers of deaf students and 30 mothers of normal students from elementary schools of Ardabil, Iran, were selected using available sampling. The Ryff psychological well-being (1989 and Billings and Moos coping styles (1981 questionnaires were used in this study. The data were analyzed using MANOVA test.Results: We found that in mother's of deaf children, psychological well-being and its components was significantly lower than mothers of normal children (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively. There was a significant difference between two groups in terms of cognitive coping style, too (p<0.01. However, mothers of deaf children used less cognitive coping style.Conclusions: It seems that child's hearing loss affects on mothers psychological well-being and coping styles; this effect can be visible as psychological problems and lower use of adaptive coping styles.

Comparison of Gated Audiovisual Speech Identification in Elderly Hearing Aid Users and Elderly Normal-Hearing Individuals: Effects of Adding Visual Cues to Auditory Speech Stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Moradi, Shahram; Lidestam, Björn; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-06-17

The present study compared elderly hearing aid (EHA) users (n = 20) with elderly normal-hearing (ENH) listeners (n = 20) in terms of isolation points (IPs, the shortest time required for correct identification of a speech stimulus) and accuracy of audiovisual gated speech stimuli (consonants, words, and final words in highly and less predictable sentences) presented in silence. In addition, we compared the IPs of audiovisual speech stimuli from the present study with auditory ones extracted from a previous study, to determine the impact of the addition of visual cues. Both participant groups achieved ceiling levels in terms of accuracy in the audiovisual identification of gated speech stimuli; however, the EHA group needed longer IPs for the audiovisual identification of consonants and words. The benefit of adding visual cues to auditory speech stimuli was more evident in the EHA group, as audiovisual presentation significantly shortened the IPs for consonants, words, and final words in less predictable sentences; in the ENH group, audiovisual presentation only shortened the IPs for consonants and words. In conclusion, although the audiovisual benefit was greater for EHA group, this group had inferior performance compared with the ENH group in terms of IPs when supportive semantic context was lacking. Consequently, EHA users needed the initial part of the audiovisual speech signal to be longer than did their counterparts with normal hearing to reach the same level of accuracy in the absence of a semantic context. © The Author(s) 2016.

Listening effort and perceived clarity for normal-hearing children with the use of digital noise reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Gustafson, Samantha; McCreery, Ryan; Hoover, Brenda; Kopun, Judy G; Stelmachowicz, Pat

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to evaluate how digital noise reduction (DNR) impacts listening effort and judgment of sound clarity in children with normal hearing. It was hypothesized that when two DNR algorithms differing in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) output are compared, the algorithm that provides the greatest improvement in overall output SNR will reduce listening effort and receive a better clarity rating from child listeners. A secondary goal was to evaluate the relation between the inversion method measurements and listening effort with DNR processing. Twenty-four children with normal hearing (ages 7 to 12 years) participated in a speech recognition task in which consonant-vowel-consonant nonwords were presented in broadband background noise. Test stimuli were recorded through two hearing aids with DNR off and DNR on at 0 dB and +5 dB input SNR. Stimuli were presented to listeners and verbal response time (VRT) and phoneme recognition scores were measured. The underlying assumption was that an increase in VRT reflects an increase in listening effort. Children rated the sound clarity for each condition. The two commercially available HAs were chosen based on: (1) an inversion technique, which was used to quantify the magnitude of change in SNR with the activation of DNR, and (2) a measure of magnitude-squared coherence, which was used to ensure that DNR in both devices preserved the spectrum. One device provided a greater improvement in overall output SNR than the other. Both DNR algorithms resulted in minimal spectral distortion as measured using coherence. For both devices, VRT decreased for the DNR-on condition, suggesting that listening effort decreased with DNR in both devices. Clarity ratings were also better in the DNR-on condition for both devices. The device showing the greatest improvement in output SNR with DNR engaged improved phoneme recognition scores. The magnitude of this improved phoneme recognition was not accurately predicted with

The role of spectral and temporal cues in voice gender discrimination by normal-hearing listeners and cochlear implant users.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Qian-Jie; Chinchilla, Sherol; Galvin, John J

2004-09-01

The present study investigated the relative importance of temporal and spectral cues in voice gender discrimination and vowel recognition by normal-hearing subjects listening to an acoustic simulation of cochlear implant speech processing and by cochlear implant users. In the simulation, the number of speech processing channels ranged from 4 to 32, thereby varying the spectral resolution; the cutoff frequencies of the channels' envelope filters ranged from 20 to 320 Hz, thereby manipulating the available temporal cues. For normal-hearing subjects, results showed that both voice gender discrimination and vowel recognition scores improved as the number of spectral channels was increased. When only 4 spectral channels were available, voice gender discrimination significantly improved as the envelope filter cutoff frequency was increased from 20 to 320 Hz. For all spectral conditions, increasing the amount of temporal information had no significant effect on vowel recognition. Both voice gender discrimination and vowel recognition scores were highly variable among implant users. The performance of cochlear implant listeners was similar to that of normal-hearing subjects listening to comparable speech processing (4-8 spectral channels). The results suggest that both spectral and temporal cues contribute to voice gender discrimination and that temporal cues are especially important for cochlear implant users to identify the voice gender when there is reduced spectral resolution.

Validation of the second version of the LittlEARS® Early Speech Production Questionnaire (LEESPQ) in German-speaking children with normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Keilmann, Annerose; Friese, Barbara; Lässig, Anne; Hoffmann, Vanessa

2018-04-01

The introduction of neonatal hearing screening and the increasingly early age at which children can receive a cochlear implant has intensified the need for a validated questionnaire to assess the speech production of children aged 0‒18. Such a questionnaire has been created, the LittlEARS ® Early Speech Production Questionnaire (LEESPQ). This study aimed to validate a second, revised edition of the LEESPQ. Questionnaires were returned for 362 children with normal hearing. Completed questionnaires were analysed to determine if the LEESPQ is reliable, prognostically accurate, internally consistent, and if gender or multilingualism affects total scores. Total scores correlated positively with age. The LEESPQ is reliable, accurate, and consistent, and independent of gender or lingual status. A norm curve was created. This second version of the LEESPQ is a valid tool to assess the speech production development of children with normal hearing, aged 0‒18, regardless of their gender. As such, the LEESPQ may be a useful tool to monitor the development of paediatric hearing device users. The second version of the LEESPQ is a valid instrument for assessing early speech production of children aged 0‒18 months.

Seeing the Talker's Face Improves Free Recall of Speech for Young Adults With Normal Hearing but Not Older Adults With Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudner, Mary; Mishra, Sushmit; Stenfelt, Stefan; Lunner, Thomas; Rönnberg, Jerker

2016-06-01

Seeing the talker's face improves speech understanding in noise, possibly releasing resources for cognitive processing. We investigated whether it improves free recall of spoken two-digit numbers. Twenty younger adults with normal hearing and 24 older adults with hearing loss listened to and subsequently recalled lists of 13 two-digit numbers, with alternating male and female talkers. Lists were presented in quiet as well as in stationary and speech-like noise at a signal-to-noise ratio giving approximately 90% intelligibility. Amplification compensated for loss of audibility. Seeing the talker's face improved free recall performance for the younger but not the older group. Poorer performance in background noise was contingent on individual differences in working memory capacity. The effect of seeing the talker's face did not differ in quiet and noise. We have argued that the absence of an effect of seeing the talker's face for older adults with hearing loss may be due to modulation of audiovisual integration mechanisms caused by an interaction between task demands and participant characteristics. In particular, we suggest that executive task demands and interindividual executive skills may play a key role in determining the benefit of seeing the talker's face during a speech-based cognitive task.

Print Knowledge of Preschool Children with Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Werfel, Krystal L.; Lund, Emily; Schuele, C. Melanie

2015-01-01

Measures of print knowledge were compared across preschoolers with hearing loss and normal hearing. Alphabet knowledge did not differ between groups, but preschoolers with hearing loss performed lower on measures of print concepts and concepts of written words than preschoolers with normal hearing. Further study is needed in this area.

Sound localization in noise in hearing-impaired listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenzi, C; Gatehouse, S; Lever, C

1999-06-01

The present study assesses the ability of four listeners with high-frequency, bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss to localize and detect a broadband click train in the frontal-horizontal plane, in quiet and in the presence of a white noise. The speaker array and stimuli are identical to those described by Lorenzi et al. (in press). The results show that: (1) localization performance is only slightly poorer in hearing-impaired listeners than in normal-hearing listeners when noise is at 0 deg azimuth, (2) localization performance begins to decrease at higher signal-to-noise ratios for hearing-impaired listeners than for normal-hearing listeners when noise is at +/- 90 deg azimuth, and (3) the performance of hearing-impaired listeners is less consistent when noise is at +/- 90 deg azimuth than at 0 deg azimuth. The effects of a high-frequency hearing loss were also studied by measuring the ability of normal-hearing listeners to localize the low-pass filtered version of the clicks. The data reproduce the effects of noise on three out of the four hearing-impaired listeners when noise is at 0 deg azimuth. They reproduce the effects of noise on only two out of the four hearing-impaired listeners when noise is at +/- 90 deg azimuth. The additional effects of a low-frequency hearing loss were investigated by attenuating the low-pass filtered clicks and the noise by 20 dB. The results show that attenuation does not strongly affect localization accuracy for normal-hearing listeners. Measurements of the clicks' detectability indicate that the hearing-impaired listeners who show the poorest localization accuracy also show the poorest ability to detect the clicks. The inaudibility of high frequencies, "distortions," and reduced detectability of the signal are assumed to have caused the poorer-than-normal localization accuracy for hearing-impaired listeners.

Expansion of Prosodic Abilities at the Transition From Babble to Words: A Comparison Between Children With Cochlear Implants and Normally Hearing Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Pettinato, Michèle; Clerck, Ilke De; Verhoeven, Jo; Gillis, Steven

This longitudinal study examined the effect of emerging vocabulary production on the ability to produce the phonetic cues to prosodic prominence in babbled and lexical disyllables of infants with cochlear implants (CI) and normally hearing (NH) infants. Current research on typical language acquisition emphasizes the importance of vocabulary development for phonological and phonetic acquisition. Children with CI experience significant difficulties with the perception and production of prosody, and the role of possible top-down effects is, therefore, particularly relevant for this population. Isolated disyllabic babble and first words were identified and segmented in longitudinal audio-video recordings and transcriptions for nine NH infants and nine infants with CI interacting with their parents. Monthly recordings were included from the onset of babbling until children had reached a cumulative vocabulary of 200 words. Three cues to prosodic prominence, fundamental frequency (f0), intensity, and duration, were measured in the vocalic portions of stand-alone disyllables. To represent the degree of prosodic differentiation between two syllables in an utterance, the raw values for intensity and duration were transformed to ratios, and for f0, a measure of the perceptual distance in semitones was derived. The degree of prosodic differentiation for disyllabic babble and words for each cue was compared between groups. In addition, group and individual tendencies on the types of stress patterns for babble and words were also examined. The CI group had overall smaller pitch and intensity distances than the NH group. For the NH group, words had greater pitch and intensity distances than babbled disyllables. Especially for pitch distance, this was accompanied by a shift toward a more clearly expressed stress pattern that reflected the influence of the ambient language. For the CI group, the same expansion in words did not take place for pitch. For intensity, the CI group gave

Effects of Varying Reverberation on Music Perception for Young Normal-Hearing and Old Hearing-Impaired Listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhart, Paul N; Souza, Pamela E

2018-01-01

Reverberation enhances music perception and is one of the most important acoustic factors in auditorium design. However, previous research on reverberant music perception has focused on young normal-hearing (YNH) listeners. Old hearing-impaired (OHI) listeners have degraded spatial auditory processing; therefore, they may perceive reverberant music differently. Two experiments were conducted examining the effects of varying reverberation on music perception for YNH and OHI listeners. Experiment 1 examined whether YNH listeners and OHI listeners prefer different amounts of reverberation for classical music listening. Symphonic excerpts were processed at a range of reverberation times using a point-source simulation. Listeners performed a paired-comparisons task in which they heard two excerpts with different reverberation times, and they indicated which they preferred. The YNH group preferred a reverberation time of 2.5 s; however, the OHI group did not demonstrate any significant preference. Experiment 2 examined whether OHI listeners are less sensitive to (e, less able to discriminate) differences in reverberation time than YNH listeners. YNH and OHI participants listened to pairs of music excerpts and indicated whether they perceived the same or different amount of reverberation. Results indicated that the ability of both groups to detect differences in reverberation time improved with increasing reverberation time difference. However, discrimination was poorer for the OHI group than for the YNH group. This suggests that OHI listeners are less sensitive to differences in reverberation when listening to music than YNH listeners, which might explain the lack of group reverberation time preferences of the OHI group.

Using a multi-feature paradigm to measure mismatch responses to minimal sound contrasts in children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.

Science.gov (United States)

Uhlén, Inger; Engström, Elisabet; Kallioinen, Petter; Nakeva von Mentzer, Cecilia; Lyxell, Björn; Sahlén, Birgitta; Lindgren, Magnus; Ors, Marianne

2017-10-01

Our aim was to explore whether a multi-feature paradigm (Optimum-1) for eliciting mismatch negativity (MMN) would objectively capture difficulties in perceiving small sound contrasts in children with hearing impairment (HI) listening through their hearing aids (HAs) and/or cochlear implants (CIs). Children aged 5-7 years with HAs, CIs and children with normal hearing (NH) were tested in a free-field setting using a multi-feature paradigm with deviations in pitch, intensity, gap, duration, and location. There were significant mismatch responses across all subjects that were positive (p-MMR) for the gap and pitch deviants (F(1,43) = 5.17, p = 0.028 and F(1,43) = 6.56, p = 0.014, respectively) and negative (MMN) for the duration deviant (F(1,43) = 4.74, p = 0.035). Only the intensity deviant showed a significant group interaction with MMN in the HA group and p-MMR in the CI group (F(2,43) = 3.40, p = 0.043). The p-MMR correlated negatively with age, with the strongest correlation in the NH subjects. In the CI group, the late discriminative negativity (LDN) was replaced by a late positivity with a significant group interaction for the location deviant. Children with severe HI can be assessed through their hearing device with a fast multi-feature paradigm. For further studies a multi-feature paradigm including more complex speech sounds may better capture variation in auditory processing in these children. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Investigating the Role of Working Memory in Speech-in-noise Identification for Listeners with Normal Hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Füllgrabe, Christian; Rosen, Stuart

2016-01-01

With the advent of cognitive hearing science, increased attention has been given to individual differences in cognitive functioning and their explanatory power in accounting for inter-listener variability in understanding speech in noise (SiN). The psychological construct that has received most interest is working memory (WM), representing the ability to simultaneously store and process information. Common lore and theoretical models assume that WM-based processes subtend speech processing in adverse perceptual conditions, such as those associated with hearing loss or background noise. Empirical evidence confirms the association between WM capacity (WMC) and SiN identification in older hearing-impaired listeners. To assess whether WMC also plays a role when listeners without hearing loss process speech in acoustically adverse conditions, we surveyed published and unpublished studies in which the Reading-Span test (a widely used measure of WMC) was administered in conjunction with a measure of SiN identification. The survey revealed little or no evidence for an association between WMC and SiN performance. We also analysed new data from 132 normal-hearing participants sampled from across the adult lifespan (18-91 years), for a relationship between Reading-Span scores and identification of matrix sentences in noise. Performance on both tasks declined with age, and correlated weakly even after controlling for the effects of age and audibility (r = 0.39, p ≤ 0.001, one-tailed). However, separate analyses for different age groups revealed that the correlation was only significant for middle-aged and older groups but not for the young (< 40 years) participants.

Effect of hearing loss on semantic access by auditory and audiovisual speech in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Jerger, Susan; Tye-Murray, Nancy; Damian, Markus F; Abdi, Hervé

2013-01-01

This research studied whether the mode of input (auditory versus audiovisual) influenced semantic access by speech in children with sensorineural hearing impairment (HI). Participants, 31 children with HI and 62 children with normal hearing (NH), were tested with the authors' new multimodal picture word task. Children were instructed to name pictures displayed on a monitor and ignore auditory or audiovisual speech distractors. The semantic content of the distractors was varied to be related versus unrelated to the pictures (e.g., picture distractor of dog-bear versus dog-cheese, respectively). In children with NH, picture-naming times were slower in the presence of semantically related distractors. This slowing, called semantic interference, is attributed to the meaning-related picture-distractor entries competing for selection and control of the response (the lexical selection by competition hypothesis). Recently, a modification of the lexical selection by competition hypothesis, called the competition threshold (CT) hypothesis, proposed that (1) the competition between the picture-distractor entries is determined by a threshold, and (2) distractors with experimentally reduced fidelity cannot reach the CT. Thus, semantically related distractors with reduced fidelity do not produce the normal interference effect, but instead no effect or semantic facilitation (faster picture naming times for semantically related versus unrelated distractors). Facilitation occurs because the activation level of the semantically related distractor with reduced fidelity (1) is not sufficient to exceed the CT and produce interference but (2) is sufficient to activate its concept, which then strengthens the activation of the picture and facilitates naming. This research investigated whether the proposals of the CT hypothesis generalize to the auditory domain, to the natural degradation of speech due to HI, and to participants who are children. Our multimodal picture word task allowed us

Sudden bilateral hearing loss after organophosphate inhalation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet Akif Dundar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Sudden bilateral hearing loss are seen rarely and the toxic substance exposure constitutes a small part of etiology. A Fifty-eight-year-old woman admitted to our clinic with sudden bilateral hearing loss shortly after chlorpyrifos-ethyl exposure. Otolaryngologic examination findings were normal. The patient had 40 dB sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL on the right ear and 48 dB SNHL on the left ear. Additional diagnostic tests were normal. The conventional treatment for sudden hearing loss was performed. On the second week following organophosphate (OP exposure the patient's hearing loss almost completely resolved. OP's are heavily used in agriculture and should be taken into consideration as an etiologic factor in sudden hearing loss. Keywords: Organophosphates, Hearing loss, Sudden

OI Issues: Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

... signals normally to the brain. In addition, hearing losses are classified according to the degree of severity: • Mild, • Moderate, • Severe, • Profound. Hearing losses are also classified according to the sound frequency ...

Speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses in children with hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Koravand, Amineh; Al Osman, Rida; Rivest, Véronique; Poulin, Catherine

2017-08-01

The main objective of the present study was to investigate subcortical auditory processing in children with sensorineural hearing loss. Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABRs) were recorded using click and speech/da/stimuli. Twenty-five children, aged 6-14 years old, participated in the study: 13 with normal hearing acuity and 12 with sensorineural hearing loss. No significant differences were observed for the click-evoked ABRs between normal hearing and hearing-impaired groups. For the speech-evoked ABRs, no significant differences were found for the latencies of the following responses between the two groups: onset (V and A), transition (C), one of the steady-state wave (F), and offset (O). However, the latency of the steady-state waves (D and E) was significantly longer for the hearing-impaired compared to the normal hearing group. Furthermore, the amplitude of the offset wave O and of the envelope frequency response (EFR) of the speech-evoked ABRs was significantly larger for the hearing-impaired compared to the normal hearing group. Results obtained from the speech-evoked ABRs suggest that children with a mild to moderately-severe sensorineural hearing loss have a specific pattern of subcortical auditory processing. Our results show differences for the speech-evoked ABRs in normal hearing children compared to hearing-impaired children. These results add to the body of the literature on how children with hearing loss process speech at the brainstem level. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quality of Life and Hearing Eight Years After Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Härkönen, Kati; Kivekäs, Ilkka; Rautiainen, Markus; Kotti, Voitto; Vasama, Juha-Pekka

2017-04-01

To explore long-term hearing results, quality of life (QoL), quality of hearing (QoH), work-related stress, tinnitus, and balance problems after idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Cross-sectional study. We reviewed the audiograms of 680 patients with unilateral ISSNHL on average 8 years after the hearing impairment, and then divided the patients into two study groups based on whether their ISSNHL had recovered to normal (pure tone average [PTA] ≤ 30 dB) or not (PTA > 30 dB). The inclusion criteria were a hearing threshold decrease of 30 dB or more in at least three contiguous frequencies occurring within 72 hours in the affected ear and normal hearing in the contralateral ear. Audiograms of 217 patients fulfilled the criteria. We reviewed their medical records; measured present QoL, QoH, and work-related stress with specific questionnaires; and updated the hearing status. Poor hearing outcome after ISSNHL was correlated with age, severity of hearing loss, and vertigo together with ISSNHL. Quality of life and QoH were statistically significantly better in patients with recovered hearing, and the patients had statistically significantly less tinnitus and balance problems. During the 8-year follow-up, the PTA of the affected ear deteriorated on average 7 dB, and healthy ear deteriorated 6 dB. Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss that failed to recover had a negative impact on long-term QoL and QoH. The hearing deteriorated as a function of age similarly both in the affected and the healthy ear, and there were no differences between the groups. The cumulative recurrence rate for ISSNHL was 3.5%. 4 Laryngoscope, 127:927-931, 2017. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Procalcitonin NH2-terminal cleavage peptide has no mitogenic effect on normal human osteoblast-like cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassager, C.; Bonde, S.K.; Anderson, M.A.; Rink, H.; Spelsberg, T.C.; Riggs, B.L.

1991-01-01

The NH2-terminal cleavage peptide of procalcitonin (N-proCT) recently was reported to be a bone cell mitogen. The authors have investigated the effect of N-proCT on the proliferation of normal human cells that have the phenotype of mature osteoblasts (hOB cells). N-proCT treatment for 24, 48, or 96 h in concentrations from 1 nM to 1 microM did not significantly increase [3H]thymidine uptake (means ranged from -19% to 38% of control, no significant differences) in hOB cells (6-10 cell strains per experiment) plated at four different densities. However, the hOB cells responded significantly to treatment with transforming growth factor β (3 ng/ml), bovine insulin (300 micrograms/ml), or 30% fetal calf serum, which were included in all experiments as positive controls. The [3H]thymidine uptake data were confirmed in a direct cell count experiment tested at 96 h. Thus they data do not support the hypothesis that N-proCT is a potent mitogen for normal human osteoblasts

Digital music exposure reliably induces temporary threshold shift in normal-hearing human subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Prell, Colleen G; Dell, Shawna; Hensley, Brittany; Hall, James W; Campbell, Kathleen C M; Antonelli, Patrick J; Green, Glenn E; Miller, James M; Guire, Kenneth

2012-01-01

One of the challenges for evaluating new otoprotective agents for potential benefit in human populations is the availability of an established clinical paradigm with real-world relevance. These studies were explicitly designed to develop a real-world digital music exposure that reliably induces temporary threshold shift (TTS) in normal-hearing human subjects. Thirty-three subjects participated in studies that measured effects of digital music player use on hearing. Subjects selected either rock or pop music, which was then presented at 93 to 95 (n = 10), 98 to 100 (n = 11), or 100 to 102 (n = 12) dBA in-ear exposure level for a period of 4 hr. Audiograms and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were measured before and after music exposure. Postmusic tests were initiated 15 min, 1 hr 15 min, 2 hr 15 min, and 3 hr 15 min after the exposure ended. Additional tests were conducted the following day and 1 week later. Changes in thresholds after the lowest-level exposure were difficult to distinguish from test-retest variability; however, TTS was reliably detected after higher levels of sound exposure. Changes in audiometric thresholds had a "notch" configuration, with the largest changes observed at 4 kHz (mean = 6.3 ± 3.9 dB; range = 0-14 dB). Recovery was largely complete within the first 4 hr postexposure, and all subjects showed complete recovery of both thresholds and DPOAE measures when tested 1 week postexposure. These data provide insight into the variability of TTS induced by music-player use in a healthy, normal-hearing, young adult population, with music playlist, level, and duration carefully controlled. These data confirm the likelihood of temporary changes in auditory function after digital music-player use. Such data are essential for the development of a human clinical trial protocol that provides a highly powered design for evaluating novel therapeutics in human clinical trials. Care must be taken to fully inform potential subjects in

Language structures used by kindergartners with cochlear implants: relationship to phonological awareness, lexical knowledge and hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Nittrouer, Susan; Sansom, Emily; Low, Keri; Rice, Caitlin; Caldwell-Tarr, Amanda

2014-01-01

Listeners use their knowledge of how language is structured to aid speech recognition in everyday communication. When it comes to children with congenital hearing loss severe enough to warrant cochlear implants (CIs), the question arises of whether these children can acquire the language knowledge needed to aid speech recognition, in spite of only having spectrally degraded signals available to them. That question was addressed in the present study. Specifically, there were three goals: (1) to compare the language structures used by children with CIs to those of children with normal hearing (NH); (2) to assess the amount of variance in the language measures explained by phonological awareness and lexical knowledge; and (3) to assess the amount of variance in the language measures explained by factors related to the hearing loss itself and subsequent treatment. Language samples were obtained and transcribed for 40 children who had just completed kindergarten: 19 with NH and 21 with CIs. Five measures were derived from Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts: (1) mean length of utterance in morphemes, (2) number of conjunctions, excluding and, (3) number of personal pronouns, (4) number of bound morphemes, and (5) number of different words. Measures were also collected on phonological awareness and lexical knowledge. Statistics examined group differences, as well as the amount of variance in the language measures explained by phonological awareness, lexical knowledge, and factors related to hearing loss and its treatment for children with CIs. Mean scores of children with CIs were roughly one standard deviation below those of children with NH on all language measures, including lexical knowledge, matching outcomes of other studies. Mean scores of children with CIs were closer to two standard deviations below those of children with NH on two out of three measures of phonological awareness (specifically those related to phonemic structure). Lexical knowledge

Computer-assisted training of phoneme-grapheme correspondence for children who are deaf and hard of hearing: effects on phonological processing skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakeva von Mentzer, Cecilia; Lyxell, Björn; Sahlén, Birgitta; Wass, Malin; Lindgren, Magnus; Ors, Marianne; Kallioinen, Petter; Uhlén, Inger

2013-12-01

Examine deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children's phonological processing skills in relation to a reference group of children with normal hearing (NH) at two baselines pre intervention. Study the effects of computer-assisted phoneme-grapheme correspondence training in the children. Specifically analyze possible effects on DHH children's phonological processing skills. The study included 48 children who participated in a computer-assisted intervention study, which focuses on phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Children were 5, 6, and 7 years of age. There were 32 DHH children using cochlear implants (CI) or hearing aids (HA), or both in combination, and 16 children with NH. The study had a quasi-experimental design with three test occasions separated in time by four weeks; baseline 1 and 2 pre intervention, and 3 post intervention. Children performed tasks measuring lexical access, phonological processing, and letter knowledge. All children were asked to practice ten minutes per day at home supported by their parents. NH children outperformed DHH children on the majority of tasks. All children improved their accuracy in phoneme-grapheme correspondence and output phonology as a function of the computer-assisted intervention. For the whole group of children, and specifically for children with CI, a lower initial phonological composite score was associated with a larger phonological change between baseline 2 and post intervention. Finally, 18 DHH children, whereof 11 children with CI, showed specific intervention effects on their phonological processing skills, and strong effect sizes for their improved accuracy of phoneme-grapheme correspondence. For some DHH children phonological processing skills are boosted relatively more by phoneme-grapheme correspondence training. This reflects the reciprocal relationship between phonological change and exposure to and manipulations of letters. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel approach to select genes from RMA normalized microarray data using functional hearing tests in aging mice

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Mary; Zhu, Xiaoxia; Frisina, Robert D.

2008-01-01

Presbycusis – age-related hearing loss – is the number one communicative disorder and one of the top three chronic medical condition of our aged population. High-throughput technologies potentially can be used to identify differentially expressed genes that may be better diagnostic and therapeutic targets for sensory and neural disorders. Here we analyzed gene expression for a set of GABA receptors in the cochlea of aging CBA mice using the Affymetrix GeneChip MOE430A. Functional phenotypic hearing measures were made, including auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds and distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) amplitudes (four age groups). Four specific criteria were used to assess gene expression changes from RMA normalized microarray data (40 replicates). Linear regression models were used to fit the neurophysiological hearing measurements to probe-set expression profiles. These data were first subjected to one-way ANOVA, and then linear regression was performed. In addition, the log signal ratio was converted to fold change, and selected gene expression changes were confirmed by relative real-time PCR. Major findings: expression of GABA-A receptor subunit α6 was upregulated with age and hearing loss, whereas subunit α1 was repressed. In addition, GABA-A receptor associated protein like-1 and GABA-A receptor associated protein like-2 were strongly downregulated with age and hearing impairment. Lastly, gene expression measures were correlated with pathway/network relationships relevant to the inner ear using Pathway Architect, to identify key pathways consistent with the gene expression changes observed. PMID:18455804

Hearing loss - infants

Science.gov (United States)

... can allow many infants to develop normal language skills without delay. In infants born with hearing loss, ... therapy allow many children to develop normal language skills at the same age as their peers with ...

Hearing speech in music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seth-Reino Ekström

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The masking effect of a piano composition, played at different speeds and in different octaves, on speech-perception thresholds was investigated in 15 normal-hearing and 14 moderately-hearing-impaired subjects. Running speech (just follow conversation, JFC testing and use of hearing aids increased the everyday validity of the findings. A comparison was made with standard audiometric noises [International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA noise and speech spectrum-filtered noise (SPN]. All masking sounds, music or noise, were presented at the same equivalent sound level (50 dBA. The results showed a significant effect of piano performance speed and octave (P<.01. Low octave and fast tempo had the largest effect; and high octave and slow tempo, the smallest. Music had a lower masking effect than did ICRA noise with two or six speakers at normal vocal effort (P<.01 and SPN (P<.05. Subjects with hearing loss had higher masked thresholds than the normal-hearing subjects (P<.01, but there were smaller differences between masking conditions (P<.01. It is pointed out that music offers an interesting opportunity for studying masking under realistic conditions, where spectral and temporal features can be varied independently. The results have implications for composing music with vocal parts, designing acoustic environments and creating a balance between speech perception and privacy in social settings.

Auditory and language outcomes in children with unilateral hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth M; Gaboury, Isabelle; Durieux-Smith, Andrée; Coyle, Doug; Whittingham, JoAnne; Nassrallah, Flora

2018-03-13

Children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) are being diagnosed at younger ages because of newborn hearing screening. Historically, they have been considered at risk for difficulties in listening and language development. Little information is available on contemporary cohorts of children identified in the early months of life. We examined auditory and language acquisition outcomes in a contemporary cohort of early-identified children with UHL and compared their outcomes at preschool age with peers with mild bilateral loss and with normal hearing. As part of the Mild and Unilateral Hearing Loss in Children Study, we collected auditory and spoken language outcomes on children with unilateral, bilateral hearing loss and with normal hearing over a four-year period. This report provides a cross-sectional analysis of results at age 48 months. A total of 120 children (38 unilateral and 31 bilateral mild, 51 normal hearing) were enrolled in the study from 2010 to 2015. Children started the study at varying ages between 12 and 36 months of age and were followed until age 36-48 months. The median age of identification of hearing loss was 3.4 months (IQR: 2.0, 5.5) for unilateral and 3.6 months (IQR: 2.7, 5.9) for the mild bilateral group. Families completed an intake form at enrolment to provide baseline child and family-related characteristics. Data on amplification fitting and use were collected via parent questionnaires at each annual assessment interval. This study involved a range of auditory development and language measures. For this report, we focus on the end of follow-up results from two auditory development questionnaires and three standardized speech-language assessments. Assessments included in this report were completed at a median age of 47.8 months (IQR: 38.8, 48.5). Using ANOVA, we examined auditory and language outcomes in children with UHL and compared their scores to children with mild bilateral hearing loss and those with normal hearing. On most

[Examination of relationship between level of hearing and written language skills in 10-14-year-old hearing impaired children].

Science.gov (United States)

Turğut, Nedim; Karlıdağ, Turgut; Başar, Figen; Yalçın, Şinasi; Kaygusuz, İrfan; Keleş, Erol; Birkent, Ömer Faruk

2015-01-01

This study aims to review the relationship between written language skills and factors which are thought to affect this skill such as mean hearing loss, duration of auditory deprivation, speech discrimination score, and pre-school education attendance and socioeconomic status of hearing impaired children who attend 4th-7th grades in primary school in inclusive environment. The study included 25 hearing impaired children (14 males, 11 females; mean age 11.4±1.4 years; range 10 to 14 years) (study group) and 20 children (9 males, 11 females; mean age 11.5±1.3 years; range 10 to 14 years) (control group) with normal hearing in the same age group and studying in the same class. Study group was separated into two subgroups as group 1a and group 1b since some of the children with hearing disability used hearing aid while some used cochlear implant. Intragroup comparisons and relational screening were performed for those who use hearing aids and cochlear implants. Intergroup comparisons were performed to evaluate the effect of the parameters on written language skills. Written expression skill level of children with hearing disability was significantly lower than their normal hearing peers (p=0.001). A significant relationship was detected between written language skills and mean hearing loss (p=0.048), duration of auditory deprivation (p=0.021), speech discrimination score (p=0.014), and preschool attendance (p=0.005), when it comes to socioeconomic status we were not able to find any significant relationship (p=0.636). It can be said that hearing loss affects written language skills negatively and hearing impaired individuals develop low-level written language skills compared to their normal hearing peers.

Grammatical Deviations in the Spoken and Written Language of Hebrew-Speaking Children With Hearing Impairments.

Science.gov (United States)

Tur-Kaspa, Hana; Dromi, Esther

2001-04-01

The present study reports a detailed analysis of written and spoken language samples of Hebrew-speaking children aged 11-13 years who are deaf. It focuses on the description of various grammatical deviations in the two modalities. Participants were 13 students with hearing impairments (HI) attending special classrooms integrated into two elementary schools in Tel Aviv, Israel, and 9 students with normal hearing (NH) in regular classes in these same schools. Spoken and written language samples were collected from all participants using the same five preplanned elicitation probes. Students with HI were found to display significantly more grammatical deviations than their NH peers in both their spoken and written language samples. Most importantly, between-modality differences were noted. The participants with HI exhibited significantly more grammatical deviations in their written language samples than in their spoken samples. However, the distribution of grammatical deviations across categories was similar in the two modalities. The most common grammatical deviations in order of their frequency were failure to supply obligatory morphological markers, failure to mark grammatical agreement, and the omission of a major syntactic constituent in a sentence. Word order violations were rarely recorded in the Hebrew samples. Performance differences in the two modalities encourage clinicians and teachers to facilitate target linguistic forms in diverse communication contexts. Furthermore, the identification of linguistic targets for intervention must be based on the unique grammatical structure of the target language.

Theory of Mind and Language in Children with Cochlear Implants

Science.gov (United States)

Remmel, Ethan; Peters, Kimberly

2009-01-01

Thirty children with cochlear implants (CI children), age range 3-12 years, and 30 children with normal hearing (NH children), age range 4-6 years, were tested on theory of mind and language measures. The CI children showed little to no delay on either theory of mind, relative to the NH children, or spoken language, relative to hearing norms. The…

Speech Recognition in Real-Life Background Noise by Young and Middle-Aged Adults with Normal Hearing

OpenAIRE

Lee, Ji Young; Lee, Jin Tae; Heo, Hye Jeong; Choi, Chul-Hee; Choi, Seong Hee; Lee, Kyungjae

2015-01-01

Background and Objectives People usually converse in real-life background noise. They experience more difficulty understanding speech in noise than in a quiet environment. The present study investigated how speech recognition in real-life background noise is affected by the type of noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and age. Subjects and Methods Eighteen young adults and fifteen middle-aged adults with normal hearing participated in the present study. Three types of noise [subway noise, vacu...

Digital music exposure reliably induces temporary threshold shift (TTS) in normal hearing human subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Le Prell, C. G.; Dell, S.; Hensley, B.; Hall, J. W.; Campbell, K. C. M.; Antonelli, P. J.; Green, G. E.; Miller, J. M.; Guire, K.

2012-01-01

Objectives One of the challenges for evaluating new otoprotective agents for potential benefit in human populations is availability of an established clinical paradigm with real world relevance. These studies were explicitly designed to develop a real-world digital music exposure that reliably induces temporary threshold shift (TTS) in normal hearing human subjects. Design Thirty-three subjects participated in studies that measured effects of digital music player use on hearing. Subjects selected either rock or pop music, which was then presented at 93–95 (n=10), 98–100 (n=11), or 100–102 (n=12) dBA in-ear exposure level for a period of four hours. Audiograms and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were measured prior to and after music exposure. Post-music tests were initiated 15 min, 1 hr 15 min, 2 hr 15 min, and 3 hr 15 min after the exposure ended. Additional tests were conducted the following day and one week later. Results Changes in thresholds after the lowest level exposure were difficult to distinguish from test-retest variability; however, TTS was reliably detected after higher levels of sound exposure. Changes in audiometric thresholds had a “notch” configuration, with the largest changes observed at 4 kHz (mean=6.3±3.9dB; range=0–13 dB). Recovery was largely complete within the first 4 hours post-exposure, and all subjects showed complete recovery of both thresholds and DPOAE measures when tested 1-week post-exposure. Conclusions These data provide insight into the variability of TTS induced by music player use in a healthy, normal-hearing, young adult population, with music playlist, level, and duration carefully controlled. These data confirm the likelihood of temporary changes in auditory function following digital music player use. Such data are essential for the development of a human clinical trial protocol that provides a highly powered design for evaluating novel therapeutics in human clinical trials. Care must be

The cochlear implant and possibilities for narrowing the remaining gaps between prosthetic and normal hearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blake S. Wilson

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: The cochlear implant has become the standard of care for severe or worse losses in hearing and indeed has produced the first substantial restoration of a lost or absent human sense using a medical intervention. However, the devices are not perfect and many efforts to narrow the remaining gaps between prosthetic and normal hearing are underway. Objective: To assess the present status of cochlear implants and to describe possibilities for improving them. Results: The present-day devices work well in quiet conditions for the great majority of users. However, not all users have high levels of speech reception in quiet and nearly all users struggle with speech reception in typically noisy acoustic environments. In addition, perception of sounds more complex than speech, such as most music, is generally poor unless residual hearing at low frequencies can be stimulated acoustically in conjunction with the electrical stimuli provided by the implant. Possibilities for improving the present devices include increasing the spatial specificity of neural excitation by reducing masking effects or with new stimulus modes; prudent pruning of interfering or otherwise detrimental electrodes from the stimulation map; a further relaxation in the criteria for implant candidacy, based on recent evidence from persons with high levels of residual hearing and to allow many more people to benefit from cochlear implants; and “top down” or “brain centric” approaches to implant designs and applications. Conclusions: Progress in the development of the cochlear implant and related treatments has been remarkable but room remains for improvements. The future looks bright as there are multiple promising possibilities for improvements and many talented teams are pursuing them. Keywords: Auditory prosthesis, Cochlear implant, Cochlear prosthesis, Deafness, Neural prosthesis

Music Listening in Electric Hearing -designing and testing two novel EEG paradigms for measuring music perception in cochlear implant users

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Bjørn; Friis Andersen, Anne Sofie; Højlund, Andreas

With the considerable advances made in cochlear implant (CI) technology with regards to speech perception, it is natural that many CI users express hopes of being able to enjoy music. For the majority of CI users, however, the music experience is disappointing and their discrimination of musical...... features as well as self-reported levels of music enjoyment is significantly lower than normal-hearing (NH) listeners (1,2). Therefore, it is important that ongoing efforts are made to improve the quality of music through a CI. To aid in this process, the aim of this study is to validate two new musical...

Development of a music perception test for adult hearing-aid users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marinda Uys

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was two-fold. Firstly to develop a music perception test for hearing aid users and secondly to evaluate the influence of non-linear frequency compression (NFC on music perception with the use of the self-compiled test. This article focuses on the description of the development and validation of a music perception test. To date, the main direction in frequency lowering hearing aid studies has been in relation to speech perception abilities. With improvements in hearing aid technology, interest in musical perception as a dimension that could improve hearing aid users’ quality of life grew. The Music Perception Test (MPT was designed to evaluate different aspects of rhythm, timbre, pitch and melody. The development of the MPT could be described as design based. Phase 1 of the study included test development and recording while Phase 2 entailed presentation of stimuli to normal hearing listeners (n=15 and hearing aid users (n=4. Based on the findings of Phase 2, item analysis was performed to eliminate or change stimuli that resulted in high error rates. During Phase 3 the adapted version of the test was performed on a smaller group of normal hearing listeners (n=4 and twenty hearing aid users. Results proved that normal hearing adults as well as adults using hearing aids were able to complete all the sub-tests of the MPT although hearing aid users scored less on the various sub-tests than normal hearing listeners. For the rhythm section of the MPT normal hearing listeners scored on average 93.8% versus 75.5% of hearing aid users and 83% for the timbre section compared to 62.3% by hearing aid users. Normal hearing listeners obtained an average score of 86.3% for the pitch section and 88.2% for the melody section compared to the 70.8% and 61.9% respectively obtained by hearing aid users. This implicates that the MPT can be used successfully for assessment of music perception in hearing aid users within the South African

Cortical and Sensory Causes of Individual Differences in Selective Attention Ability Among Listeners With Normal Hearing Thresholds.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2017-10-17

This review provides clinicians with an overview of recent findings relevant to understanding why listeners with normal hearing thresholds (NHTs) sometimes suffer from communication difficulties in noisy settings. The results from neuroscience and psychoacoustics are reviewed. In noisy settings, listeners focus their attention by engaging cortical brain networks to suppress unimportant sounds; they then can analyze and understand an important sound, such as speech, amidst competing sounds. Differences in the efficacy of top-down control of attention can affect communication abilities. In addition, subclinical deficits in sensory fidelity can disrupt the ability to perceptually segregate sound sources, interfering with selective attention, even in listeners with NHTs. Studies of variability in control of attention and in sensory coding fidelity may help to isolate and identify some of the causes of communication disorders in individuals presenting at the clinic with "normal hearing." How well an individual with NHTs can understand speech amidst competing sounds depends not only on the sound being audible but also on the integrity of cortical control networks and the fidelity of the representation of suprathreshold sound. Understanding the root cause of difficulties experienced by listeners with NHTs ultimately can lead to new, targeted interventions that address specific deficits affecting communication in noise. http://cred.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2601617.

Informational Masking and Spatial Hearing in Listeners with and without Unilateral Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Rothpletz, Ann M.; Wightman, Frederic L.; Kistler, Doris J.

2012-01-01

Purpose: This study assessed selective listening for speech in individuals with and without unilateral hearing loss (UHL) and the potential relationship between spatial release from informational masking and localization ability in listeners with UHL. Method: Twelve adults with UHL and 12 normal-hearing controls completed a series of monaural and…

Loudness of brief tones in listeners with normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Søren; Florentine, Mary; Poulsen, Torben

1997-01-01

To investigate how hearing loss affects the loudness of brief tones, loudness matches between 5- and 200-ms tones were obtained as a function of level. Loudness functions derived from these data indicated that the gain required to restore loudness usually is the same for short and long sounds....

Effects of Hearing Loss on Dual-Task Performance in an Audiovisual Virtual Reality Simulation of Listening While Walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Sin Tung; Pichora-Fuller, M Kathleen; Li, Karen Z H; Singh, Gurjit; Campos, Jennifer L

2016-07-01

Most activities of daily living require the dynamic integration of sights, sounds, and movements as people navigate complex environments. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects of hearing loss (HL) or hearing aid (HA) use on listening during multitasking challenges. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) on word recognition accuracy in a dual-task experiment. Virtual reality (VR) technologies in a specialized laboratory (Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory) were used to produce a controlled and safe simulated environment for listening while walking. In a simulation of a downtown street intersection, participants completed two single-task conditions, listening-only (standing stationary) and walking-only (walking on a treadmill to cross the simulated intersection with no speech presented), and a dual-task condition (listening while walking). For the listening task, they were required to recognize words spoken by a target talker when there was a competing talker. For some blocks of trials, the target talker was always located at 0° azimuth (100% probability condition); for other blocks, the target talker was more likely (60% of trials) to be located at the center (0° azimuth) and less likely (40% of trials) to be located at the left (270° azimuth). The participants were eight older adults with bilateral HL (mean age = 73.3 yr, standard deviation [SD] = 8.4; three males) who wore their own HAs during testing and eight controls with normal hearing (NH) thresholds (mean age = 69.9 yr, SD = 5.4; two males). No participant had clinically significant visual, cognitive, or mobility impairments. Word recognition accuracy and kinematic parameters (head and trunk angles, step width and length, stride time, cadence) were analyzed using mixed factorial analysis of variances with group as a between-subjects factor. Task condition (single versus dual) and probability (100% versus 60%) were within

The influence of age, hearing, and working memory on the speech comprehension benefit derived from an automatic speech recognition system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zekveld, Adriana A; Kramer, Sophia E; Kessens, Judith M; Vlaming, Marcel S M G; Houtgast, Tammo

2009-04-01

The aim of the current study was to examine whether partly incorrect subtitles that are automatically generated by an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system, improve speech comprehension by listeners with hearing impairment. In an earlier study (Zekveld et al. 2008), we showed that speech comprehension in noise by young listeners with normal hearing improves when presenting partly incorrect, automatically generated subtitles. The current study focused on the effects of age, hearing loss, visual working memory capacity, and linguistic skills on the benefit obtained from automatically generated subtitles during listening to speech in noise. In order to investigate the effects of age and hearing loss, three groups of participants were included: 22 young persons with normal hearing (YNH, mean age = 21 years), 22 middle-aged adults with normal hearing (MA-NH, mean age = 55 years) and 30 middle-aged adults with hearing impairment (MA-HI, mean age = 57 years). The benefit from automatic subtitling was measured by Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) tests (Plomp & Mimpen, 1979). Both unimodal auditory and bimodal audiovisual SRT tests were performed. In the audiovisual tests, the subtitles were presented simultaneously with the speech, whereas in the auditory test, only speech was presented. The difference between the auditory and audiovisual SRT was defined as the audiovisual benefit. Participants additionally rated the listening effort. We examined the influences of ASR accuracy level and text delay on the audiovisual benefit and the listening effort using a repeated measures General Linear Model analysis. In a correlation analysis, we evaluated the relationships between age, auditory SRT, visual working memory capacity and the audiovisual benefit and listening effort. The automatically generated subtitles improved speech comprehension in noise for all ASR accuracies and delays covered by the current study. Higher ASR accuracy levels resulted in more benefit obtained

Infrared spectra of the ammonium ion in ammonium hexavanadate (NH 4) 2V 6O 16

Science.gov (United States)

de Waal, D.; Heyns, A. M.; Range, K.-J.; Eglmeier, C.

The infrared bands of the NH +4 and ND +4 groups in (NH 4) 2V 6O 16 and its deuterated analogue can be assigned with a fair amount of certainty at 90 K under the space group P2 1/ m( C22 h). The ND stretching modes of isotopically dilute NH 3D + ions in the crystal are in agreement with the predicted splitting into Cs, Cs and C1(2) components. The frequencies, shapes and temperature dependence of these modes suggest that both normal and bifurcated hydrogen bonds are formed. The latter closely resembles corresponding bonds in NH 4VO 3, but the normal hydrogen bonds are not as strong as the similar bonds in NH 4VO 3. This can be expected as NH +4 ions are dynamic in character in (NH 4) 2V 6O 16 and remain so down to temperatures of 90 K.

Hearing Loss in Cryptococcal Meningitis Survivors

OpenAIRE

Lofgren, Sarah; Montgomery, Martha; Yueh, Nathan; Namudde, Alice; Rhein, Joshua; Abassi, Mahsa; Musubire, Abdu; Meya, David; Boulware, David

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Hearing loss is a known complication cryptococcal meningitis (CM); however, there is a paucity of data. We aimed to describe hearing loss in CM survivors. Methods We assessed hearing via audiometry 8 and 18 weeks after diagnosis of CM in Kampala, Uganda from 2015-2016. We measured at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 Hz. Normal hearing was defined as minimum hearing level at 25 cm H2O 113 24 (71%) 28 (45%) 0.017 Average Opening Pressure >20 cm H20 96 34 (81%) 43 (61%) 0.025 Quantitative Cultur...

Story retelling skills in Persian speaking hearing-impaired children.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarollahi, Farnoush; Mohamadi, Reyhane; Modarresi, Yahya; Agharasouli, Zahra; Rahimzadeh, Shadi; Ahmadi, Tayebeh; Keyhani, Mohammad-Reza

2017-05-01

Since the pragmatic skills of hearing-impaired Persian-speaking children have not yet been investigated particularly through story retelling, this study aimed to evaluate some pragmatic abilities of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children using a story retelling test. 15 normal-hearing and 15 profound hearing-impaired 7-year-old children were evaluated using the story retelling test with the content validity of 89%, construct validity of 85%, and reliability of 83%. Three macro structure criteria including topic maintenance, event sequencing, explicitness, and four macro structure criteria including referencing, conjunctive cohesion, syntax complexity, and utterance length were assessed. The test was performed with live voice in a quiet room where children were then asked to retell the story. The tasks of the children were recorded on a tape, transcribed, scored and analyzed. In the macro structure criteria, utterances of hearing-impaired students were less consistent, enough information was not given to listeners to have a full understanding of the subject, and the story events were less frequently expressed in a rational order than those of normal-hearing group (P hearing students who obtained high scores, hearing-impaired students failed to gain any scores on the items of this section. These results suggest that Hearing-impaired children were not able to use language as effectively as their hearing peers, and they utilized quite different pragmatic functions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Right-Ear Advantage for Speech-in-Noise Recognition in Patients with Nonlateralized Tinnitus and Normal Hearing Sensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, Yihsin; Husain, Fatima T

2018-04-01

Despite having normal hearing sensitivity, patients with chronic tinnitus may experience more difficulty recognizing speech in adverse listening conditions as compared to controls. However, the association between the characteristics of tinnitus (severity and loudness) and speech recognition remains unclear. In this study, the Quick Speech-in-Noise test (QuickSIN) was conducted monaurally on 14 patients with bilateral tinnitus and 14 age- and hearing-matched adults to determine the relation between tinnitus characteristics and speech understanding. Further, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), tinnitus loudness magnitude estimation, and loudness matching were obtained to better characterize the perceptual and psychological aspects of tinnitus. The patients reported low THI scores, with most participants in the slight handicap category. Significant between-group differences in speech-in-noise performance were only found at the 5-dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) condition. The tinnitus group performed significantly worse in the left ear than in the right ear, even though bilateral tinnitus percept and symmetrical thresholds were reported in all patients. This between-ear difference is likely influenced by a right-ear advantage for speech sounds, as factors related to testing order and fatigue were ruled out. Additionally, significant correlations found between SNR loss in the left ear and tinnitus loudness matching suggest that perceptual factors related to tinnitus had an effect on speech-in-noise performance, pointing to a possible interaction between peripheral and cognitive factors in chronic tinnitus. Further studies, that take into account both hearing and cognitive abilities of patients, are needed to better parse out the effect of tinnitus in the absence of hearing impairment.

Ampleness of head movements of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza Melo, Renato

2017-02-01

Head movements are controlled by the vestibular system. Children with sensorineural hearing loss can present restrictions in ampleness of head movements due to damage in the vestibule-cochlear systems, resulting from injury in the inner ear. To evaluate the ampleness of head movements of children with normal hearing and children with sensorineural hearing loss and compare data between groups. Cross-sectional study that evaluated the ampleness of head movements of 96 students, being 48 with normal hearing and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss, of both sexes, with aged between 7 and 18 years old. The performance of ampleness of head movements was analyzed by a manual goniometric evaluation, according the references proposed by Marques. To the statistical analysis we used the t-Student test in case of normality of the data or the Mann-Whitney test when did not applied the suppositions of normality. Hearing loss children showed less mean in ampleness of all movements of head compared to normal hearing children, pointing difference to movements of flexion (p = 0,001), lateral inclination to the right (p = 0,025) and lateral rotation to the left (p = 0,021). Hearing loss children showed reduction in the ampleness of these head movements: flexion, lateral inclination to the right and lateral rotation to the left compared to normal hearing children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Auditory Memory deficit in Elderly People with Hearing Loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Shahidipour

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Hearing loss is one of the most common problems in elderly people. Functional side effects of hearing loss are various. Due to the fact that hearing loss is the common impairment in elderly people; the importance of its possible effects on auditory memory is undeniable. This study aims to focus on the hearing loss effects on auditory memory.   Materials and Methods: Dichotic Auditory Memory Test (DVMT was performed on 47 elderly people, aged 60 to 80; that were divided in two groups, the first group consisted of elderly people with hearing range of 24 normal and the second one consisted of 23 elderly people with bilateral symmetrical ranged from mild to moderate Sensorineural hearing loss in the high frequency due to aging in both genders.   Results: Significant difference was observed in DVMT between elderly people with normal hearing and those with hearing loss (P

Static and dynamic balance of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Melo, Renato de Souza; Marinho, Sônia Elvira Dos Santos; Freire, Maryelly Evelly Araújo; Souza, Robson Arruda; Damasceno, Hélio Anderson Melo; Raposo, Maria Cristina Falcão

2017-01-01

To assess the static and dynamic balance performance of students with normal hearing and with sensorineural hearing loss. A cross-sectional study assessing 96 students, 48 with normal hearing and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss of both sexes, aged 7 and 18 years. To evaluate static balance, Romberg, Romberg-Barré and Fournier tests were used; and for the dynamic balance, we applied the Unterberger test. Hearing loss students showed more changes in static and dynamic balance as compared to normal hearing, in all tests used (pRomberg, Romberg-Barré, Fournier and Unterberger test p values were, respectively, p=0.004, pRomberg, Romberg-Barré and Fournier tests were, respectively, p=0.007, pRomberg, Romberg-Barré, Fournier and Unterberger tests were p=0.002, pRomberg-Barré, Fournier and Unterberger tests were, respectively, p=0.037, p<0.001 and p=0.037. Hearing-loss students showed more changes in static and dynamic balance comparing to normal hearing of same sex and age groups.

Vowel production of Mandarin-speaking hearing aid users with different types of hearing loss.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Chen Hung

Full Text Available In contrast with previous research focusing on cochlear implants, this study examined the speech performance of hearing aid users with conductive (n = 11, mixed (n = 10, and sensorineural hearing loss (n = 7 and compared it with the speech of hearing control. Speech intelligibility was evaluated by computing the vowel space area defined by the Mandarin Chinese corner vowels /a, u, i/. The acoustic differences between the vowels were assessed using the Euclidean distance. The results revealed that both the conductive and mixed hearing loss groups exhibited a reduced vowel working space, but no significant difference was found between the sensorineural hearing loss and normal hearing groups. An analysis using the Euclidean distance further showed that the compression of vowel space area in conductive hearing loss can be attributed to the substantial lowering of the second formant of /i/. The differences in vowel production between groups are discussed in terms of the occlusion effect and the signal transmission media of various hearing devices.

Self-masking: Listening during vocalization. Normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Borg, Erik; Bergkvist, Christina; Gustafsson, Dan

2009-06-01

What underlying mechanisms are involved in the ability to talk and listen simultaneously and what role does self-masking play under conditions of hearing impairment? The purpose of the present series of studies is to describe a technique for assessment of masked thresholds during vocalization, to describe normative data for males and females, and to focus on hearing impairment. The masking effect of vocalized [a:] on narrow-band noise pulses (250-8000 Hz) was studied using the maximum vocalization method. An amplitude-modulated series of sound pulses, which sounded like a steam engine, was masked until the criterion of halving the perceived pulse rate was reached. For masking of continuous reading, a just-follow-conversation criterion was applied. Intra-session test-retest reproducibility and inter-session variability were calculated. The results showed that female voices were more efficient in masking high frequency noise bursts than male voices and more efficient in masking both a male and a female test reading. The male had to vocalize 4 dBA louder than the female to produce the same masking effect on the test reading. It is concluded that the method is relatively simple to apply and has small intra-session and fair inter-session variability. Interesting gender differences were observed.

Open-Fit Domes and Children with Bilateral High-Frequency Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Benefits and Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnstone, Patti M; Yeager, Kelly R; Pomeroy, Marnie L; Hawk, Nicole

2018-04-01

Open-fit domes (OFDs) coupled with behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids were designed for adult listeners with moderate-to-severe bilateral high-frequency hearing loss (BHFL) with little to no concurrent loss in the lower frequencies. Adult research shows that BHFL degrades sound localization accuracy (SLA) and that BTE hearing aids with conventional earmolds (CEs) make matters worse. In contrast, research has shown that OFDs enhance spatial hearing percepts in adults with BHFL. Although the benefits of OFDs have been studied in adults with BHFL, no published studies to date have investigated the use of OFDs in children with the same hearing loss configuration. This study seeks to use SLA measurements to assess efficacy of bilateral OFDs in children with BHFL. To measure SLA in children with BHFL to determine the extent to which hearing loss, age, duration of CE use, and OFDs affect localization accuracy. A within-participant experimental design using repeated measures was used to determine the effect of OFDs on localization accuracy in children with BHFL. A between-participant experimental design was used to compare localization accuracy between children with BHFL and age-matched controls with normal hearing (NH). Eighteen children with BHFL who used CE and 18 age-matched NH controls. Children in both groups were divided into two age groups: older children (10-16 yr) and younger children (6-9 yr). All testing was done in a sound-treated booth with a horizontal array of 15 loudspeakers (radius of 1 m). The stimulus was a spondee word, "baseball": the level averaged 60 dB SPL and randomly roved (±8 dB). Each child was asked to identify the location of a sound source. Localization error was calculated across the loudspeaker array for each listening condition. A significant interaction was found between immediate benefit from OFD and duration of CE usage. Longer CE usage was associated with degraded localization accuracy using OFDs. Regardless of chronological age

Everyday trajectories of hearing correction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lykke Hindhede, Anette

2010-01-01

wearers in order to rehabilitate them back to ‘normal'. However, within audiological research, noncompliance has attracted much attention as investigations have shown that more than 20 percent of hearing aids are very seldom, if ever, in use and 19 percent are used only occasionally. As shown in the paper...... are complex and epistemologically contested and can help explain why noncompliance is dominant when it comes to hearing rehabilitation for hearing impaired adults....

Laboratory evaluation of an optimised internet-based speech-in-noise test for occupational high-frequency hearing loss screening: Occupational Earcheck.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheikh Rashid, Marya; Leensen, Monique C J; de Laat, Jan A P M; Dreschler, Wouter A

2017-11-01

The "Occupational Earcheck" (OEC) is a Dutch online self-screening speech-in-noise test developed for the detection of occupational high-frequency hearing loss (HFHL). This study evaluates an optimised version of the test and determines the most appropriate masking noise. The original OEC was improved by homogenisation of the speech material, and shortening the test. A laboratory-based cross-sectional study was performed in which the optimised OEC in five alternative masking noise conditions was evaluated. The study was conducted on 18 normal-hearing (NH) adults, and 15 middle-aged listeners with HFHL. The OEC in a low-pass (LP) filtered stationary background noise (test version LP 3: with a cut-off frequency of 1.6 kHz, and a noise floor of -12 dB) was the most accurate version tested. The test showed a reasonable sensitivity (93%), and specificity (94%) and test reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient: 0.84, mean within-subject standard deviation: 1.5 dB SNR, slope of psychometric function: 13.1%/dB SNR). The improved OEC, with homogenous word material in a LP filtered noise, appears to be suitable for the discrimination between younger NH listeners and older listeners with HFHL. The appropriateness of the OEC for screening purposes in an occupational setting will be studied further.

Acceptance of background noise, working memory capacity, and auditory evoked potentials in subjects with normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Brännström, K Jonas; Zunic, Edita; Borovac, Aida; Ibertsson, Tina

2012-01-01

The acceptable noise level (ANL) test is a method for quantifying the amount of background noise that subjects accept when listening to speech. Large variations in ANL have been seen between normal-hearing subjects and between studies of normal-hearing subjects, but few explanatory variables have been identified. To explore a possible relationship between a Swedish version of the ANL test, working memory capacity (WMC), and auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). ANL, WMC, and AEP were tested in a counterbalanced order across subjects. Twenty-one normal-hearing subjects participated in the study (14 females and 7 males; aged 20-39 yr with an average of 25.7 yr). Reported data consists of age, pure-tone average (PTA), most comfortable level (MCL), background noise level (BNL), ANL (i.e., MCL - BNL), AEP latencies, AEP amplitudes, and WMC. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated between the collected variables to investigate associations. A principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was conducted on the collected variables to explore underlying factors and estimate interactions between the tested variables. Subjects were also pooled into two groups depending on their results on the WMC test, one group with a score lower than the average and one with a score higher than the average. Comparisons between these two groups were made using the Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. A negative association was found between ANL and WMC but not between AEP and ANL or WMC. Furthermore, ANL is derived from MCL and BNL, and a significant positive association was found between BNL and WMC. However, no significant associations were seen between AEP latencies and amplitudes and the demographic variables, MCL, and BNL. The PCA identified two underlying factors: One that contained MCL, BNL, ANL, and WMC and another that contained latency for wave Na and amplitudes for waves V and Na-Pa. Using the variables in the first factor

Speech perception in noise in unilateral hearing loss

OpenAIRE

Mondelli, Maria Fernanda Capoani Garcia; dos Santos, Marina de Marchi; José, Maria Renata

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Unilateral hearing loss is characterized by a decrease of hearing in one ear only. In the presence of ambient noise, individuals with unilateral hearing loss are faced with greater difficulties understanding speech than normal listeners. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the speech perception of individuals with unilateral hearing loss in speech perception with and without competitive noise, before and after the hearing aid fitting process. METHODS: The study included 30 adu...

Infrared spectra of the ammonium ion in ammonium metavanadate NH 4VO 3

Science.gov (United States)

de Waal, D.; Heyns, A. M.; Range, K.-J.; Eglmeier, C.

The ND stretching modes of isotopically dilute NH 3D + ions in NH 4VO 3 are in agreement with the predicted splitting into C s, C s and C1(2) components under C s site symmetry for the NH +4 ion. The three bands observed represent the three NH bonding distances in the crystal, and the position, shape and low temperature behaviour of each band confirms the existence of two types of hydrogen bonding in NH 4VO 3. The low temperature infrared modes of NH +4 and ND +4 in NH 4VO 3 and ND 4VO 3, respectively, can be assigned under space group Pbcm. Temperature dependence of these modes also reflects the presence of both normal and bifurcated hydrogen bonds in NH 4VO 3.

Depletion of the heaviest stable N isotope is associated with NH4+/NH3 toxicity in NH4+-fed plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Ariz, Idoia; Cruz, Cristina; Moran, Jose F; González-Moro, María B; García-Olaverri, Carmen; González-Murua, Carmen; Martins-Loução, Maria A; Aparicio-Tejo, Pedro M

2011-05-16

In plants, nitrate (NO3-) nutrition gives rise to a natural N isotopic signature (δ15N), which correlates with the δ15N of the N source. However, little is known about the relationship between the δ15N of the N source and the 14N/15N fractionation in plants under ammonium (NH4+) nutrition. When NH4+ is the major N source, the two forms, NH4+ and NH3, are present in the nutrient solution. There is a 1.025 thermodynamic isotope effect between NH3 (g) and NH4+ (aq) which drives to a different δ15N. Nine plant species with different NH4+-sensitivities were cultured hydroponically with NO3- or NH4+ as the sole N sources, and plant growth and δ15N were determined. Short-term NH4+/NH3 uptake experiments at pH 6.0 and 9.0 (which favours NH3 form) were carried out in order to support and substantiate our hypothesis. N source fractionation throughout the whole plant was interpreted on the basis of the relative transport of NH4+ and NH3. Several NO3--fed plants were consistently enriched in 15N, whereas plants under NH4+ nutrition were depleted of 15N. It was shown that more sensitive plants to NH4+ toxicity were the most depleted in 15N. In parallel, N-deficient pea and spinach plants fed with 15NH4+ showed an increased level of NH3 uptake at alkaline pH that was related to the 15N depletion of the plant. Tolerant to NH4+ pea plants or sensitive spinach plants showed similar trend on 15N depletion while slight differences in the time kinetics were observed during the initial stages. The use of RbNO3 as control discarded that the differences observed arise from pH detrimental effects. This article proposes that the negative values of δ15N in NH4+-fed plants are originated from NH3 uptake by plants. Moreover, this depletion of the heavier N isotope is proportional to the NH4+/NH3 toxicity in plants species. Therefore, we hypothesise that the low affinity transport system for NH4+ may have two components: one that transports N in the molecular form and is associated with

Depletion of the heaviest stable N isotope is associated with NH4+/NH3 toxicity in NH4+-fed plants

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background In plants, nitrate (NO3-) nutrition gives rise to a natural N isotopic signature (δ15N), which correlates with the δ15N of the N source. However, little is known about the relationship between the δ15N of the N source and the 14N/15N fractionation in plants under ammonium (NH4+) nutrition. When NH4+ is the major N source, the two forms, NH4+ and NH3, are present in the nutrient solution. There is a 1.025 thermodynamic isotope effect between NH3 (g) and NH4+ (aq) which drives to a different δ15N. Nine plant species with different NH4+-sensitivities were cultured hydroponically with NO3- or NH4+ as the sole N sources, and plant growth and δ15N were determined. Short-term NH4+/NH3 uptake experiments at pH 6.0 and 9.0 (which favours NH3 form) were carried out in order to support and substantiate our hypothesis. N source fractionation throughout the whole plant was interpreted on the basis of the relative transport of NH4+ and NH3. Results Several NO3--fed plants were consistently enriched in 15N, whereas plants under NH4+ nutrition were depleted of 15N. It was shown that more sensitive plants to NH4+ toxicity were the most depleted in 15N. In parallel, N-deficient pea and spinach plants fed with 15NH4+ showed an increased level of NH3 uptake at alkaline pH that was related to the 15N depletion of the plant. Tolerant to NH4+ pea plants or sensitive spinach plants showed similar trend on 15N depletion while slight differences in the time kinetics were observed during the initial stages. The use of RbNO3 as control discarded that the differences observed arise from pH detrimental effects. Conclusions This article proposes that the negative values of δ15N in NH4+-fed plants are originated from NH3 uptake by plants. Moreover, this depletion of the heavier N isotope is proportional to the NH4+/NH3 toxicity in plants species. Therefore, we hypothesise that the low affinity transport system for NH4+ may have two components: one that transports N in the

Rhyme and Syllable Recognition in Severe to Profound Hearing-Impaired Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MohammadReza Keihani

2003-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: A research was conducted to assess the phonological awareness in hearing-impaired children in comparison to normal children. In this context, we discussed about the ability of these children in identification of rhyme and word segmentation to syllables. Method and Material: The sample of this study is composed of 320 children, 160 normal & 160 hearing-impaired with a hearing-loss. Of over 70 dB, studying in the 1st t 4th grade of the primary schools in Tehran. They are divided into two groups at each level (20 girls & 20 boys. Results: 1 Hearing-impaired children's scores on test related to rhyme and syllable is lower as compared with normal children. 2 Hearing-impaired children are more potent on test of word segmentation to syllables in comparison to that related to rhyme, while normal children are more successful on test of word segmentation to syllables as compared with that related to rhyme. Discussion: Hearing is an important factor in phonological awareness. Formal education at special schools doesn't compensate for the hearing impairment as to development of the phonological awareness.

Static and dynamic balance of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss

OpenAIRE

Melo, Renato de Souza; Marinho, Sônia Elvira dos Santos; Freire, Maryelly Evelly Araújo; Souza, Robson Arruda; Damasceno, Hélio Anderson Melo; Raposo, Maria Cristina Falcão

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective To assess the static and dynamic balance performance of students with normal hearing and with sensorineural hearing loss. Methods A cross-sectional study assessing 96 students, 48 with normal hearing and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss of both sexes, aged 7 and 18 years. To evaluate static balance, Romberg, Romberg-Barré and Fournier tests were used; and for the dynamic balance, we applied the Unterberger test. Results Hearing loss students showed more changes in static ...

Static and dynamic balance of children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss

OpenAIRE

Melo, Renato de Souza; Marinho, Sônia Elvira dos Santos; Freire, Maryelly Evelly Araújo; Souza, Robson Arruda; Damasceno, Hélio Anderson Melo; Raposo, Maria Cristina Falcão

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective To assess the static and dynamic balance performance of students with normal hearing and with sensorineural hearing loss. Methods A cross-sectional study assessing 96 students, 48 with normal hearing and 48 with sensorineural hearing loss of both sexes, aged 7 and 18 years. To evaluate static balance, Romberg, Romberg-Barré and Fournier tests were used; and for the dynamic balance, we applied the Unterberger test. Results Hearing loss students showed more changes in s...

Comparison of self-esteem level of adolescents with cochlear implant and normal hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahli, Sanem; Belgin, Erol

2006-09-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the levels of self-esteem of adolescents with cochlear implants (before and after cochlear implantation) and the ones who have normal hearing. For this purpose, Rosenberg self-esteem scale is applied upon the study group which consists of 30 adolescents with cochlear implant between the ages of 12-19 and upon the control group which consists of 60 adolescents having the similar characteristics. The scale is used to evaluate the level of self-esteem of adolescents with cochlear implant and with normal hearing. At the end of the application, the scores of these two groups which they got according to their answers were compared statistically. When the results were examined, there seemed to be no significant difference statistically between the self-esteem values of the cochlear implant group and the control group. Apart from this, there seemed to be significant difference statistically between the self-esteem values of the before cochlear implantation and control group. In this study, we examined changes in the level of self-esteem according to different variables. As a result, it was found out that in both groups levels of self-esteem was higher for adolescents who had had preschool education, had brothers/sisters, high level of income, whose mother was working and whose father and mother had higher levels of education. On the other hand, the birth sequence and the child's father's profession did not seem to have any effect on the child's level of self-esteem. As a result of these findings, it was thought that cochlear implantation had a positive effect on life quality and it was suggested that the adolescents and their families should get assistance from experts about the characteristics and principles of approaching the child in this period. The adolescent should be directed towards social activities and courses, their positive sides should be supported and further studies should be carried out with different case groups on

Application procedures and analysis examples of the SIE ASME-NH program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seok Hoon; Koo, G. H.; Kim, J. B.

2010-12-01

In this report, the design rule of the ASME-NH Code was briefly summarized and the application procedures of SIE ASME-NH program were analysed, the analysis examples were described. The SIE ASME-NH program was developed according to the ASME Code Section III Subsection NH rules to perform the primary stress limits, the accumulated inelastic strain limits and the creep fatigue damage evaluations in the structural design of nuclear power plants operating with high temperatures over creep temperature at normal operating conditions. In the analysis examples, the benchmark problem for the high temperature reactor vessel which was discussed in the SIE ASME-NH user's seminar was described. Also, the preliminary structural analysis of an Advanced Burner Test Reactor internal structure was described. Considering the load combinations of the various cycle types submitted from significant operating conditions, the integrity of a reactor internal structure was reviewed according to the stress and strain limits of the ASME-NH rules and the analysis and evaluation results were summarized

Depletion of the heaviest stable N isotope is associated with NH4+/NH3 toxicity in NH4+-fed plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martins-Loução Maria A

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In plants, nitrate (NO3- nutrition gives rise to a natural N isotopic signature (δ15N, which correlates with the δ15N of the N source. However, little is known about the relationship between the δ15N of the N source and the 14N/15N fractionation in plants under ammonium (NH4+ nutrition. When NH4+ is the major N source, the two forms, NH4+ and NH3, are present in the nutrient solution. There is a 1.025 thermodynamic isotope effect between NH3 (g and NH4+ (aq which drives to a different δ15N. Nine plant species with different NH4+-sensitivities were cultured hydroponically with NO3- or NH4+ as the sole N sources, and plant growth and δ15N were determined. Short-term NH4+/NH3 uptake experiments at pH 6.0 and 9.0 (which favours NH3 form were carried out in order to support and substantiate our hypothesis. N source fractionation throughout the whole plant was interpreted on the basis of the relative transport of NH4+ and NH3. Results Several NO3--fed plants were consistently enriched in 15N, whereas plants under NH4+ nutrition were depleted of 15N. It was shown that more sensitive plants to NH4+ toxicity were the most depleted in 15N. In parallel, N-deficient pea and spinach plants fed with 15NH4+ showed an increased level of NH3 uptake at alkaline pH that was related to the 15N depletion of the plant. Tolerant to NH4+ pea plants or sensitive spinach plants showed similar trend on 15N depletion while slight differences in the time kinetics were observed during the initial stages. The use of RbNO3 as control discarded that the differences observed arise from pH detrimental effects. Conclusions This article proposes that the negative values of δ15N in NH4+-fed plants are originated from NH3 uptake by plants. Moreover, this depletion of the heavier N isotope is proportional to the NH4+/NH3 toxicity in plants species. Therefore, we hypothesise that the low affinity transport system for NH4+ may have two components: one that

An Auditory Model with Hearing Loss

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Lars Bramsløw

An auditory model based on the psychophysics of hearing has been developed and tested. The model simulates the normal ear or an impaired ear with a given hearing loss. Based on reviews of the current literature, the frequency selectivity and loudness growth as functions of threshold and stimulus...... level have been found and implemented in the model. The auditory model was verified against selected results from the literature, and it was confirmed that the normal spread of masking and loudness growth could be simulated in the model. The effects of hearing loss on these parameters was also...... in qualitative agreement with recent findings. The temporal properties of the ear have currently not been included in the model. As an example of a real-world application of the model, loudness spectrograms for a speech utterance were presented. By introducing hearing loss, the speech sounds became less audible...

Validation of the Korean Version of the Spatial Hearing Questionnaire for Assessing the Severity and Symmetry of Hearing Impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Tae Hoon; Park, Yoon Ah; Bong, Jeong Pyo; Park, Sang Yoo

2017-07-01

Spatial hearing refers to the ability to understand speech and identify sounds in various environments. We assessed the validity of the Korean version of the Spatial Hearing Questionnaire (K-SHQ). We performed forward translation of the original English SHQ to Korean and backward translation from the Korean to English. Forty-eight patients who were able to read and understand Korean and received a score of 24 or higher on the Mini-Mental Status Examination were included in the study. Patients underwent pure tone audiometry (PTA) using a standard protocol and completed the K-SHQ. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, and factor analysis was performed to prove reliability. Construct validity was tested by comparing K-SHQ scores from patients with normal hearing to those with hearing impairment. Scores were compared between subjects with unilateral or bilateral hearing loss and between symmetrical and asymmetrical hearing impairment. Cronbach's alpha showed good internal consistency (0.982). Two factors were identified by factor analysis: There was a significant difference in K-SHQ scores for patients with normal hearing compared to those with hearing impairment. Patients with asymmetric hearing impairment had higher K-SHQ scores than those with symmetric hearing impairment. This is related to a lower threshold of PTA in the better ear of subjects. The hearing ability of the better ear is correlated with K-SHQ score. The K-SHQ is a reliable and valid tool with which to assess spatial hearing in patients who speak and read Korean. K-SHQ score reflects the severity and symmetry of hearing impairment. © Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2017

Concurrent Speech Segregation Problems in Hearing Impaired Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Talebi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study was a basic investigation of the ability of concurrent speech segregation in hearing impaired children. Concurrent segregation is one of the fundamental components of auditory scene analysis and plays an important role in speech perception. In the present study, we compared auditory late responses or ALRs between hearing impaired and normal children. Materials & Methods: Auditory late potentials in response to 12 double vowels were recorded in 10 children with moderate to severe sensory neural hearing loss and 10 normal children. Double vowels (pairs of synthetic vowels were presented concurrently and binaurally. Fundamental frequency (F0 of these vowels and the size of the difference in F0 between vowels was 100 Hz and 0.5 semitones respectively. Results: Comparing N1-P2 amplitude showed statistically significant difference in some stimuli between hearing impaired and normal children (P<0.05. This complex indexing the vowel change detection and reflecting central auditory speech representation without active client participation was decreased in hearing impaired children. Conclusion: This study showed problems in concurrent speech segregation in hearing impaired children evidenced by ALRs. This information indicated deficiencies in bottom-up processing of speech characteristics based on F0 and its differences in these children.

Comparing auditory filter bandwidths, spectral ripple modulation detection, spectral ripple discrimination, and speech recognition: Normal and impaired hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies-Venn, Evelyn; Nelson, Peggy; Souza, Pamela

2015-07-01

Some listeners with hearing loss show poor speech recognition scores in spite of using amplification that optimizes audibility. Beyond audibility, studies have suggested that suprathreshold abilities such as spectral and temporal processing may explain differences in amplified speech recognition scores. A variety of different methods has been used to measure spectral processing. However, the relationship between spectral processing and speech recognition is still inconclusive. This study evaluated the relationship between spectral processing and speech recognition in listeners with normal hearing and with hearing loss. Narrowband spectral resolution was assessed using auditory filter bandwidths estimated from simultaneous notched-noise masking. Broadband spectral processing was measured using the spectral ripple discrimination (SRD) task and the spectral ripple depth detection (SMD) task. Three different measures were used to assess unamplified and amplified speech recognition in quiet and noise. Stepwise multiple linear regression revealed that SMD at 2.0 cycles per octave (cpo) significantly predicted speech scores for amplified and unamplified speech in quiet and noise. Commonality analyses revealed that SMD at 2.0 cpo combined with SRD and equivalent rectangular bandwidth measures to explain most of the variance captured by the regression model. Results suggest that SMD and SRD may be promising clinical tools for diagnostic evaluation and predicting amplification outcomes.

Auditory steady-state response thresholds in adults with conductive and mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseinabadi, Reza; Jafarzadeh, Sadegh

2015-01-01

The Auditory steady state response (ASSR) provides a frequency-specific and automatic assessment of hearing sensitivity and is used in infants and difficult-to-test adults. The aim of this study was to compare the ASSR thresholds among various types (normal, conductive, and sensorineural), degree (normal, mild, and moderate), and configuration (flat and sloping) of hearing sensitivity, and measuring the cutoff point between normal condition and hearing loss for different frequencies. This clinical trial was performed in Iran and included patients who were referred from Ear, Nose, and Throat Department. A total of 54 adults (27 with sensorineural hearing loss, 17 with conductive hearing losses, and 10 with normal hearing) were randomly chosen to participate in our study. The type and degree of hearing loss were determined through testing by otoscopy, tympanometry, acoustic reflex, and pure tone audiometry. Then the ASSR was tested at carrier frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. The ASSR accurately estimates the behavioral thresholds as well as flat and sloping configurations. There was no correlation between types of hearing loss and difference of behavioral and ASSR thresholds (P = 0.69). The difference between ASSR and behavioral thresholds decreased as severity of hearing loss increased. The 40, 35, 30, and 35 dB could be considered as cutoffs between normal hearing and hearing loss for 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, respectively. The ASSR can accurately predict the degree and configuration of hearing loss and discriminate the normal hearing from mild or moderate hearing loss and mild from moderate hearing loss, except for 500 Hz. The Air-conducted ASSR could not define the type of hearing loss.

Formation of simple nitrogen hydrides NH and NH2 at cryogenic temperatures through N + NH3→ NH + NH2 reaction: dark cloud chemistry of nitrogen.

Science.gov (United States)

Nourry, Sendres; Krim, Lahouari

2016-07-21

Although NH3 molecules interacting with ground state nitrogen atoms N((4)S) seem not to be a very reactive system without providing additional energy to initiate the chemical process, we show through this study that, in the solid phase, at very low temperature, NH3 + N((4)S) reaction leads to the formation of the amidogen radical NH2. Such a dissociation reaction previously thought to occur exclusively through UV photon or energetic particle irradiation is in this work readily occurring just by stimulating the mobility of N((4)S)-atoms in the 3-10 K temperature range in the solid sample. The N((4)S)-N((4)S) recombination may be the source of metastable molecular nitrogen N2(A), a reactive species which might trigger the NH3 dissociation or react with ground state nitrogen atoms N((4)S) to form excited nitrogen atoms N((4)P/(2)D) through energy transfer processes. Based on our obtained results, it is possible to propose reaction pathways to explain the NH2 radical formation which is the first step in the activation of stable species such as NH3, a chemical induction process that, in addition to playing an important role in the origin of molecular complexity in interstellar space, is known to require external energy supplies to occur in the gas phase.

The effects of limited bandwidth and noise on verbal processing time and word recall in normal-hearing children.

Science.gov (United States)

McCreery, Ryan W; Stelmachowicz, Patricia G

2013-09-01

Understanding speech in acoustically degraded environments can place significant cognitive demands on school-age children who are developing the cognitive and linguistic skills needed to support this process. Previous studies suggest the speech understanding, word learning, and academic performance can be negatively impacted by background noise, but the effect of limited audibility on cognitive processes in children has not been directly studied. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of limited audibility on speech understanding and working memory tasks in school-age children with normal hearing. Seventeen children with normal hearing between 6 and 12 years of age participated in the present study. Repetition of nonword consonant-vowel-consonant stimuli was measured under conditions with combinations of two different signal to noise ratios (SNRs; 3 and 9 dB) and two low-pass filter settings (3.2 and 5.6 kHz). Verbal processing time was calculated based on the time from the onset of the stimulus to the onset of the child's response. Monosyllabic word repetition and recall were also measured in conditions with a full bandwidth and 5.6 kHz low-pass cutoff. Nonword repetition scores decreased as audibility decreased. Verbal processing time increased as audibility decreased, consistent with predictions based on increased listening effort. Although monosyllabic word repetition did not vary between the full bandwidth and 5.6 kHz low-pass filter condition, recall was significantly poorer in the condition with limited bandwidth (low pass at 5.6 kHz). Age and expressive language scores predicted performance on word recall tasks, but did not predict nonword repetition accuracy or verbal processing time. Decreased audibility was associated with reduced accuracy for nonword repetition and increased verbal processing time in children with normal hearing. Deficits in free recall were observed even under conditions where word repetition was not affected

Dificuldades na comunicação em normo-ouvintes: estudo comportamental e eletrofisiológico Communication disorders in subjects with normal hearing: a behavioral and electrophysiological study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Regueira Dias Prestes

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Olimiar auditivo nem sempre prediz o desempenho em ambientes com redundância extrínseca reduzida. OBJETIVO: Investigar o relato de dificuldades de comunicação de adultos com audiograma normal e verificar o quadro subjacente por meio de avaliações comportamental e eletrofisiológica. MÉTODO: Estudo caso-controle de indivíduos com limiares normais, distribuídos em dois grupos: grupo estudo, 10 adultos com queixas auditivas de comunicação e grupo controle, 10 adultos, sem queixas. Foi medida a frequência em que os participantes apresentam dificuldades de comunicação e realizados testes de fala no silêncio e no ruído, audiometria e potencial evocado auditivo de tronco encefálico. RESULTADOS: O grupo estudo se diferenciou estatisticamente do grupo controle apenas nos escores de dificuldades de comunicação. Foi constatada uma correlação positiva entre os limiares tonais e os escores no autorrelato de dificuldade. CONCLUSÃO: A presença de queixa auditiva na ausência de alterações no audiograma não esteve associada a diferença no desempenho no reconhecimento de fala no ruído, nem nas demais avaliações. Com base na análise de correlação, observou-se que, quanto mais elevados os limiares auditivos, maiores os escores no relato de dificuldades auditivas relacionadas às situações de comunicação, mesmo os limiares variando de 0 a 25 dB.Hearing thresholds are not always predictive of performance in environments with reduced extrinsic redundancy. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the communication disorders reported by adults with normal hearing, and to assess their underlying conditions through behavioral and electrophysiological testing. METHOD: This case control study enrolled 20 adults with normal hearing thresholds and divided them into two groups: a case group with 10 adults with hearing impairment-related communication disorders and a control group with 10 adults with normal hearing. The frequency of occurrence of

Modeling consonant perception in normal-hearing listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zaar, Johannes; Jørgensen, Søren; Dau, Torsten

2014-01-01

Speech perception is often studied in terms of natural meaningful speech, i.e., by measuring the in- telligibility of a given set of single words or full sentences. However, when trying to understand how background noise, various sorts of transmission channels (e.g., mobile phones) or hearing...... perception data: (i) an audibility-based approach, which corresponds to the Articu- lation Index (AI), and (ii) a modulation-masking based approach, as reflected in the speech-based Envelope Power Spectrum Model (sEPSM). For both models, the internal representations of the same stimuli as used...

Microscopic prediction of speech intelligibility in spatially distributed speech-shaped noise for normal-hearing listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Geravanchizadeh, Masoud; Fallah, Ali

2015-12-01

A binaural and psychoacoustically motivated intelligibility model, based on a well-known monaural microscopic model is proposed. This model simulates a phoneme recognition task in the presence of spatially distributed speech-shaped noise in anechoic scenarios. In the proposed model, binaural advantage effects are considered by generating a feature vector for a dynamic-time-warping speech recognizer. This vector consists of three subvectors incorporating two monaural subvectors to model the better-ear hearing, and a binaural subvector to simulate the binaural unmasking effect. The binaural unit of the model is based on equalization-cancellation theory. This model operates blindly, which means separate recordings of speech and noise are not required for the predictions. Speech intelligibility tests were conducted with 12 normal hearing listeners by collecting speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in the presence of single and multiple sources of speech-shaped noise. The comparison of the model predictions with the measured binaural SRTs, and with the predictions of a macroscopic binaural model called extended equalization-cancellation, shows that this approach predicts the intelligibility in anechoic scenarios with good precision. The square of the correlation coefficient (r(2)) and the mean-absolute error between the model predictions and the measurements are 0.98 and 0.62 dB, respectively.

Cochlear implant: Speech and language development in deaf and hard of hearing children following implantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ostojić Sanja

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Bacground/Aim. Almost 200 cochlear implantations were done in the four centers (two in Belgrade, per one in Novi Sad and Niš in Serbia from 2002 to 2009. Less than 10% of implantees were postlingually deaf adults. The vast majority, i.e. 90% were pre- and perilingually profoundly deaf children. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of improved auditory perception due to cochlear implantation on comprehension of abstract words in children as compared with hearing impaired children with conventional hearing aids and normal hearing children. Methods. Thirty children were enrolled in this study: 20 hearing impaired and 10 normal hearing. The vocabulary test was used. Results. The overall results for the whole test (100 words showed a significant difference in favor of the normal hearing as compared with hearing impaired children. The normal hearing children successfully described or defined 77.93% of a total of 100 words. Success rate for the cochlear implanted children was 26.87% and for the hearing impaired children with conventional hearing aids 20.32%. Conclusion. Testing for abstract words showed a statistically significant difference between the cochlear implanted and the hearing impaired children with hearing aids (Mann- Whitney U-test, p = 0.019 implying considerable advantage of cochlear implants over hearing aids regarding successful speech development in prelingually deaf children.

Management of non-organic hearing loss in children - A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Skarzynski, Piotr Henryk; Raj-Koziak, Danuta; Rajchel, Joanna Jadwiga; Skarzynski, Henryk

2017-06-01

A 10 year-old girl was admitted due to the claim of progressively developing hearing loss. The impedance audiometry showed no abnormalities but it was impossible to obtain reliable outcomes during pure tone audiometry assessment. The girl was additionally sent for speech audiometry, indicating a bilateral hearing loss and objective evaluations such as distortion product otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses, which results indicated a normal hearing. On the second day, repeated subjective audiometric tests showed also normal hearing, despite constantly reported hearing loss. After the psychological consultation and exclusion of neurologic pathology, the diagnosis of non-organic hearing loss was stated and the girl was scheduled for regular appointments with psychologist. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

13N-NH3 PET in the diagnosis of astrocytomas: preliminary result

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiangsong; He Zuoxiang; Tang Anwu

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of diagnosing the astrocytoma with 13N-NH3 PET imaging. Methods 13N-NH3 and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET imaging were performed in seven cases of astrocytomas including 3 anteoperative astrocytomas, 2 recurrent astrocytomas, 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy. The radioactivity ratios of the tumor and normal white matter (T/WM) were calculated. Results: The tumor lesions in 3 anteoperative astrocytomas and 2 recurrent astrocytomas all uptake 13N-NH3. The average T/WM on 13N-NH3 images was 1.82±0.21, and T/WM on 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG images were 1.98 and 0.97 for one case with grade 1 astrocytoma. 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG PET imaging both showed decreased uptake in 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy of astrocytomas. Conclusions: 13N-NH3 was uptaken in astrocytomas. 13N-NH3 can be useful in the diagnosis of astrocytoma, and potentially improve diagnostic accuracy of astrocytoma, especially in low-grade astrocytoma. (authors)

13N-NH3 PET in the diagnosis of astrocytomas: preliminary result

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xiangsong; He Zuoxiang; Tang Anwu

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of diagnosing the astrocytoma with 13N-NH3 PET imaging. Methods: 13N-NH3 and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET imaging were performed in seven cases of astrocytomas including 3 anteoperative astrocytomas, 2 recurrent astrocytomas, 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy. The radioactivity ratios of the tumor and normal white matter (T/WM) were calculated. Results: The tumor lesions in 3 anteoperative astrocytomas and 2 recurrent astrocytomas all uptake 13N-NH3 .The average T/WM on 13N-NH3 images was 1.82±0.21, and T/WM on 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG images were 1.98 and 0.97 for one case with grade 1 astrocytoma. 13N-NH3 and 18F-FDG PET imaging both showed decreased uptake in 2 brain injury or necrosis after the operation and radiotherapy of astrocytomas. Conclusions: 13N-NH3 was uptaken in astrocytomas. 13N-NH3 can be useful in the diagnosis of astrocytoma, and potentially improve diagnostic accuracy of astrocytoma, especially in low-grade astrocytoma. (authors)

Predicting hearing thresholds in occupational noise-induced hearing loss by auditory steady state responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Attias, Joseph; Karawani, Hanin; Shemesh, Rafi; Nageris, Ben

2014-01-01

Currently available behavioral tools for the assessment of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) depend on the reliable cooperation of the subject. Furthermore, in workers' compensation cases, there is considerable financial gain to be had from exaggerating symptoms, such that accurate assessment of true hearing threshold levels is essential. An alternative objective physiologic tool for assessing NIHL is the auditory steady state response (ASSR) test, which combines frequency specificity with a high level of auditory stimulation, making it applicable for the evaluation of subjects with a moderate to severe deficit. The primary aim of the study was to assess the value of the multifrequency ASSR test in predicting the behavioral warble-tone audiogram in a large sample of young subjects with NIHL of varying severity or with normal hearing. The secondary goal was to assess suprathreshold ASSR growth functions in these two groups. The study group included 157 subjects regularly exposed to high levels of occupational noise, who attended a university-associated audiological clinic for evaluation of NIHL from 2009 through 2011. All underwent a behavioral audiogram, and on the basis of the findings, were divided into those with NIHL (108 subjects, 216 ears) or normal hearing (49 subjects, 98 ears). The accuracy of the ASSR threshold estimations for frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz was compared between groups, and the specificity and sensitivity of the ASSR test in differentiating ears with or without NIHL was calculated using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Linear regression analysis was used to formulate an equation to predict the behavioral warble-tone audiogram at each test frequency using ASSR thresholds. Multifrequency ASSR amplitude growth as a function of stimulus intensity was compared between the NIHL and normal-hearing groups for 1000 Hz and 4000 Hz carrier frequencies. In the subjects with NIHL, ASSR thresholds to various frequencies were

Language Characteristics of Preschool Children with Hearing Loss in Tehran, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Younes Lotfi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Hearing impairment affects all aspect of individual life, specially language and communication skills. When hearing impairment is congenital or occurs early in life, the child’s ability to learn optimally through audition, will be affected. The aim of this study was to evaluate linguistic skills of preschool hearing impaired children and compare these skills with normal peers.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 38 preschool hearing impaired children that the main handicap was severe to profound hearing loss with ability to communicate orally and 28 normal children with the same cultural and social context. Twenty four non linguistic variables including age, gender, the age of entrance of preschool center, number of hearing aids, etc. were obtained by filling a questionnaire and fifteen linguistics variables including number of utterance, morphemes, correct utterance, noun phrase, ambiguous utterance, correct sentences, compound sentences, etc. were collected by some part of TOLD-P-3 test and three complementary questions. Then we compared the data from two groups.Results: There were significant differences between number of utterance, number of correct mean length utterance, number of well-formed sentences in normal and hearing impaired group (p0.05.Conclusion: This study showed a severe deficit in linguistic skills in preschool hearing impaired children.

Different transport behaviors of NH4 (+) and NH3 in transmembrane cyclic peptide nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mingming; Fan, Jianfen; Xu, Jian; Weng, Peipei; Lin, Huifang

2016-10-01

Two water-filled transmembrane cyclic peptide nanotubes (CPNTs) of 8×cyclo-(WL)n=4,5/POPE were chosen to investigate the dependences of the transport properties of the positive NH4 (+) and neutral NH3 on the channel radius. Molecular dynamic simulations revealed that molecular charge, size, ability to form H-bonds and channel radius all significantly influence the behaviors of NH4 (+) and NH3 in a CPNT. Higher electrostatic interactions, more H-bonds, and water-bridges were found in the NH4 (+) system, resulting in NH4 (+) meeting higher energy barriers, while NH3 can enter, exit and permeate the channels effortlessly. This work sheds a first light on the differences between the mechanisms of NH4 (+) and NH3 moving in a CPNT at an atomic level. Graphical Abstract Snapshot of the simulation system of NH4 (+)_octa-CPNT with an NH4 (+) initially positioned at one mouth of the tube, PMF profiles for single NH4 (+) ion and NH3 molecule moving through water-filled transmembrane CPNTs of 8×cyclo-(WL)n=4,5/POPE and sketch graphs of the possible H-bond forms of NH3 and NH4 (+) with the neighboring water.

Ophthalmic, Hearing, Speaking and School Readiness Outcomes in Low Birth Weight and Normal Birth Weight Primary School Children in Mashhad-Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashraf Mohammadzadeh

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Low Birth weight infants are at risk of many problems. Therefore their outcome must evaluate in different ages especially in school age. In this study we determined prevalence of ophthalmic, hearing, speaking and school readiness problems in children who were born low birth weight and compared them with normal birth weight children. In a cross-sectional and retrospective study, all Primary School children referred to special educational organization center for screening before entrance to school were elected in Mashhad, Iran. In this study 2400 children enrolled to study and were checked for ophthalmic, hearing, speaking and school readiness problems by valid instrument. Data were analyzed by SPSS 11.5. This study showed that 8.3% of our population had birth weight less than 2500 gram. Visual impairment in LBW (Low Birth Weight and NBW (Normal Birth Weight was 8.29% vs. 5.74% and there was statistically significant difference between them (P=0.015. Hearing problem in LBW and NBW was 2.1% vs. 1.3 and it was not statistically significant. Speaking problem in LBW and NBW was 2.6% vs. 2.2% and it was not statistically significant. School readiness problem in LBW and NBW was 12.4% vs. 5.8% and it was statistically significant (P<0.001. According to the results, neurological problems in our society is more than other society and pay attention to this problem is critical. We believe that in our country, it is necessary to provide a program to routinely evaluate LBW children.

Hearing speech in music.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekström, Seth-Reino; Borg, Erik

2011-01-01

The masking effect of a piano composition, played at different speeds and in different octaves, on speech-perception thresholds was investigated in 15 normal-hearing and 14 moderately-hearing-impaired subjects. Running speech (just follow conversation, JFC) testing and use of hearing aids increased the everyday validity of the findings. A comparison was made with standard audiometric noises [International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA) noise and speech spectrum-filtered noise (SPN)]. All masking sounds, music or noise, were presented at the same equivalent sound level (50 dBA). The results showed a significant effect of piano performance speed and octave (Ptempo had the largest effect; and high octave and slow tempo, the smallest. Music had a lower masking effect than did ICRA noise with two or six speakers at normal vocal effort (Pmusic offers an interesting opportunity for studying masking under realistic conditions, where spectral and temporal features can be varied independently. The results have implications for composing music with vocal parts, designing acoustic environments and creating a balance between speech perception and privacy in social settings.

Do Communication Disorders Extend to Musical Messages?: An Answer from Children with Hearing Loss or Autism Spectrum Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Whipple, Christina M.; Gfeller, Kate; Driscoll, Virginia; Oleson, Jacob; McGregor, Karla

2014-01-01

Background Effective musical communication requires conveyance of the intended message in a manner perceptible to the receiver. Communication disorders that impair transmitting or decoding of structural features of music (e.g., pitch, timbre) and/or symbolic representation may result in atypical musical communication, which can have a negative impact on music therapy interventions. Objective This study compared recognition of symbolic representation of emotions or movements in music by two groups of children with different communicative characteristics: severe to profound hearing loss (using cochlear implants [CI]) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their responses were compared to those of children with typical-development and normal hearing (TD-NH). Accuracy was examined as a function of communicative status, emotional or movement category, and individual characteristics. Methods Participants listened to recorded musical excerpts conveying emotions or movements and matched them with labels. Measures relevant to auditory and/or language function were also gathered. Results There was no significant difference between the ASD and TD-NH groups in identification of musical emotions or movements. However, the CI group was significantly less accurate than the other two groups in identification of both emotions and movements. Mixed effects logistic regression revealed different patterns of accuracy for specific emotions as a function of group. Conclusion Conveyance of emotions or movements through music may be decoded differently by persons with different types of communication disorders. Because music is the primary therapeutic tool in music therapy sessions, clinicians should consider these differential abilities when selecting music for clinical interventions focusing on emotions or movement. PMID:25691513

Investigation And Comparison of Fifth Grade Elementary Student’s Reading Skills with Severe Hearing Loss and Hearing in Tehran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Razaei

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: Since the written language is based on spoken language, hearing impairments may cause delays and defects in reading skills. This study is aimed to investigate reading problems in children with hearing loss and comparison of reading skills of fifth-grade elementary students’ reading skills suffering severe hearing loss. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study, 16 children with hearing loss were selected based on inclusion criteria from the whole fifth-grade elementary students with severe hearing loss in the Baghcheban schools and compared with 16 normal children matched upon the grade with sample group. To gather the data, Reading Test in elementary students was used as well as SPSS for data analysis. Results: Results showed children with hearing loss performed similarly as the control group on some skills, including naming speed skills (P=0.385, auditory-verbal sounds (reverse memory (P=0.345, visual-verbal pictures memory (P=1, phonological deletion (P=0.817 and nonword reading accuracy (P=0.633, however, they had poorer functions in the other domains. Conclusion: According to the result, it is concluded that auditory processing plays the key role in all prerequisite reading skills and children with hearing loss performed poorly on tasks based on auditory and language processing, whereas, the same perform on visual-processing-base tasks to normal children.

Perception Development of Complex Syntactic Construction in Children with Hearing Impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robab Teymouri

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Auditory perception or hearing ability is critical for children in acquisition of language and speech hence hearing loss has different effects on individuals’ linguistic perception, and also on their functions. It seems that deaf people suffer from language and speech impairments such as in perception of complex linguistic constructions. This research was aimed to study the perception of complex syntactic constructions in children with hearing-impairment. Methods: The study design was case-control. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, twenty children with severe to profound hearing impairment, aged 8-12 years and twenty normal-hearing children, aged 6-7 years were selected in a simple random sampling from exceptional schools for deaf people and from normal kindergartens and schools for normal cases. The perception of sentences was tested by using a researcher-made task called sentence-picture matching task. At first the content validity was determined and then the reliability was confirmed with Cronbach Alpha Test. Data were analyzed by statistical tests such as Independent Samples T-Test and Mann-Whitney U Test using SPSS. Results: Perception of the group with hearing-impairment was significantly lower than the normal control group. The hearing-impaired children failed to perceive complex syntactic structures. Linguistic function of the group with hearing-impairment on perception of sentences with simple word order was better than on complex sentences. Discussion: If rich linguistic inputs are not available for children during the critical period of the first language acquisition, the syntactic skill, especially in complex syntactic constructions, will not normally develop. In order to establish a foundation for a healthy perfect development of syntax, at the early years of life, children should be exposed to a natural language.

The impact of aging and hearing status on verbal short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhaegen, Clémence; Collette, Fabienne; Majerus, Steve

2014-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of hearing status on age-related decrease in verbal short-term memory (STM) performance. This was done by administering a battery of verbal STM tasks to elderly and young adult participants matched for hearing thresholds, as well as to young normal-hearing control participants. The matching procedure allowed us to assess the importance of hearing loss as an explanatory factor of age-related STM decline. We observed that elderly participants and hearing-matched young participants showed equal levels of performance in all verbal STM tasks, and performed overall lower than the normal-hearing young control participants. This study provides evidence for recent theoretical accounts considering reduced hearing level as an important explanatory factor of poor auditory-verbal STM performance in older adults.

Cataracts, radiculomegaly, septal heart defects and hearing loss in two unrelated adult females with normal intelligence and similar facial appearance : Confirmation of a syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aalfs, CM; Oosterwijk, JC; VanSchooneveld, MJ; Begeman, CJ; Wabeke, KB; Hennekam, RCM

Two unrelated, adult females with normal intelligence are described. They show a similar clinical picture with a long and narrow face, congenital cataract, microphthalmia, microcornea, a high nasal bridge, a short nose, a broad nasal tip, a long philtrum, bilateral hearing loss, persistent primary

Sensorineural Hearing Loss following Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph P. Pillion

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A case study is presented of a 17-year-old male who sustained an anoxic brain injury and sensorineural hearing loss secondary to carbon monoxide poisoning. Audiological data is presented showing a slightly asymmetrical hearing loss of sensorineural origin and mild-to-severe degree for both ears. Word recognition performance was fair to poor bilaterally for speech presented at normal conversational levels in quiet. Management considerations of the hearing loss are discussed.

STUDY OF HEARING OUTCOMES IN SUDDEN SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS TREATED WITH TISSUE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR (TPA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rama Krishna

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHNL is a clinical condition that requires immediate management. There are many treatment options, which may not always revert the hearing to normal. Not only recording the degree of hearing loss, but also establishing the concurrent dysfunction of saccule by VEMP has facilitated a new approach to treatment strategy. Recombinant tissue Plasminogen Activator ((rtPA proved its efficacy in stroke and subsequently considered an option in the management of ISSNHL. The curren t study, conducted at different centres, on 15 patients utilized rtPA. The results showed a promising trend when saccular pathology is also evident by VEMP in association with Hearing loss. We recommend use of rtPA as primary modality in cases of ISSNHL wi th Saccular involvement.

Evaluating the Performance of a Visually Guided Hearing Aid Using a Dynamic Auditory-Visual Word Congruence Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Roverud, Elin; Best, Virginia; Mason, Christine R; Streeter, Timothy; Kidd, Gerald

2017-12-15

The "visually guided hearing aid" (VGHA), consisting of a beamforming microphone array steered by eye gaze, is an experimental device being tested for effectiveness in laboratory settings. Previous studies have found that beamforming without visual steering can provide significant benefits (relative to natural binaural listening) for speech identification in spatialized speech or noise maskers when sound sources are fixed in location. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of the VGHA in listening conditions in which target speech could switch locations unpredictably, requiring visual steering of the beamforming. To address this aim, the present study tested an experimental simulation of the VGHA in a newly designed dynamic auditory-visual word congruence task. Ten young normal-hearing (NH) and 11 young hearing-impaired (HI) adults participated. On each trial, three simultaneous spoken words were presented from three source positions (-30, 0, and 30 azimuth). An auditory-visual word congruence task was used in which participants indicated whether there was a match between the word printed on a screen at a location corresponding to the target source and the spoken target word presented acoustically from that location. Performance was compared for a natural binaural condition (stimuli presented using impulse responses measured on KEMAR), a simulated VGHA condition (BEAM), and a hybrid condition that combined lowpass-filtered KEMAR and highpass-filtered BEAM information (BEAMAR). In some blocks, the target remained fixed at one location across trials, and in other blocks, the target could transition in location between one trial and the next with a fixed but low probability. Large individual variability in performance was observed. There were significant benefits for the hybrid BEAMAR condition relative to the KEMAR condition on average for both NH and HI groups when the targets were fixed. Although not apparent in the averaged data, some

Identifying hearing loss by means of iridology.

Science.gov (United States)

Stearn, Natalie; Swanepoel, De Wet

2006-11-13

Isolated reports of hearing loss presenting as markings on the iris exist, but to date the effectiveness of iridology to identify hearing loss has not been investigated. This study therefore aimed to determine the efficacy of iridological analysis in the identification of moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss in adolescents. A controlled trial was conducted with an iridologist, blind to the actual hearing status of participants, analyzing the irises of participants with and without hearing loss. Fifty hearing impaired and fifty normal hearing subjects, between the ages of 15 and 19 years, controlled for gender, participated in the study. An experienced iridologist analyzed the randomised set of participants' irises. A 70% correct identification of hearing status was obtained by iridological analyses with a false negative rate of 41% compared to a 19% false positive rate. The respective sensitivity and specificity rates therefore came to 59% and 81%. Iridological analysis of hearing status indicated a statistically significant relationship to actual hearing status (P iridology were not comparable to those of traditional audiological screening procedures.

Hearing assessment in pre-school children with speech delay.

Science.gov (United States)

Psillas, George; Psifidis, Anestis; Antoniadou-Hitoglou, Magda; Kouloulas, Athanasios

2006-09-01

The purpose of this study was to detect any underlying hearing loss among the healthy pre-school children with speech delay. 76 children, aged from 1 to 5 years, underwent a thorough audiological examination consisting of tympanometry, free field testing, otoacoustic emission recordings and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). If hearing was normal, then they were evaluated by a child neurologist-psychiatrist. According to our findings, the children were classified into 3 groups; those with normal hearing levels (group I, 52 children, 68.4%), sensorineural hearing loss (group II, 22 children, 28.9%) and conductive hearing loss (group III, 2 children, 2.6%). In group I, speech delay was attributed to pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), which represents high-functioning autistic children (37 cases). Other causes were specific language impairment (SLI)-expressive (3 cases), bilingualism (2 cases), and unknown etiology (10 cases). More than half (59%) of the children diagnosed with PDD evidenced significant language impairment limited to more than two words. Children with SLI-expressive and bilingualism used a maximum of two words. In group II, 13 children suffered from profound hearing loss in both ears, 3 from severe, 3 had profound hearing loss in one ear and severe in the other, 2 from moderate, and 1 had moderate in one ear and severe in the other. No child had mild sensorineural hearing loss. The children with profound hearing loss in at least one ear had total language impairment using no word at all (10 cases), or a maximum of two words (6 cases). When hearing loss was moderate to severe, then the speech vocabulary was confined to several words (more than two words-6 cases). Only two children suffering from conductive hearing loss both presented with complete lack of speech. A great number of healthy pre-school children with speech delay were found to have normal hearing. In this case, the otolaryngologist should be aware of the possible underlying clinical

Spatial selective auditory attention in the presence of reverberant energy: individual differences in normal-hearing listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruggles, Dorea; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2011-06-01

Listeners can selectively attend to a desired target by directing attention to known target source features, such as location or pitch. Reverberation, however, reduces the reliability of the cues that allow a target source to be segregated and selected from a sound mixture. Given this, it is likely that reverberant energy interferes with selective auditory attention. Anecdotal reports suggest that the ability to focus spatial auditory attention degrades even with early aging, yet there is little evidence that middle-aged listeners have behavioral deficits on tasks requiring selective auditory attention. The current study was designed to look for individual differences in selective attention ability and to see if any such differences correlate with age. Normal-hearing adults, ranging in age from 18 to 55 years, were asked to report a stream of digits located directly ahead in a simulated rectangular room. Simultaneous, competing masker digit streams were simulated at locations 15° left and right of center. The level of reverberation was varied to alter task difficulty by interfering with localization cues (increasing localization blur). Overall, performance was best in the anechoic condition and worst in the high-reverberation condition. Listeners nearly always reported a digit from one of the three competing streams, showing that reverberation did not render the digits unintelligible. Importantly, inter-subject differences were extremely large. These differences, however, were not significantly correlated with age, memory span, or hearing status. These results show that listeners with audiometrically normal pure tone thresholds differ in their ability to selectively attend to a desired source, a task important in everyday communication. Further work is necessary to determine if these differences arise from differences in peripheral auditory function or in more central function.

Detection threshold for sound distortion resulting from noise reduction in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brons, Inge; Dreschler, Wouter A.; Houben, Rolph

2014-01-01

Hearing-aid noise reduction should reduce background noise, but not disturb the target speech. This objective is difficult because noise reduction suffers from a trade-off between the amount of noise removed and signal distortion. It is unknown if this important trade-off differs between

Role of short-time acoustic temporal fine structure cues in sentence recognition for normal-hearing listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Limin; Xu, Li

2018-02-01

Short-time processing was employed to manipulate the amplitude, bandwidth, and temporal fine structure (TFS) in sentences. Fifty-two native-English-speaking, normal-hearing listeners participated in four sentence-recognition experiments. Results showed that recovered envelope (E) played an important role in speech recognition when the bandwidth was > 1 equivalent rectangular bandwidth. Removing TFS drastically reduced sentence recognition. Preserving TFS greatly improved sentence recognition when amplitude information was available at a rate ≥ 10 Hz (i.e., time segment ≤ 100 ms). Therefore, the short-time TFS facilitates speech perception together with the recovered E and works with the coarse amplitude cues to provide useful information for speech recognition.

Masking Release in Children and Adults with Hearing Loss When Using Amplification

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, Marc; McCreery, Ryan; Kopun, Judy; Lewis, Dawna; Alexander, Joshua; Stelmachowicz, Patricia

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study compared masking release for adults and children with normal hearing and hearing loss. For the participants with hearing loss, masking release using simulated hearing aid amplification with 2 different compression speeds (slow, fast) was compared. Method: Sentence recognition in unmodulated noise was compared with recognition…

Changes in auditory perceptions and cortex resulting from hearing recovery after extended congenital unilateral hearing loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jill B Firszt

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Monaural hearing induces auditory system reorganization. Imbalanced input also degrades time-intensity cues for sound localization and signal segregation for listening in noise. While there have been studies of bilateral auditory deprivation and later hearing restoration (e.g. cochlear implants, less is known about unilateral auditory deprivation and subsequent hearing improvement. We investigated effects of long-term congenital unilateral hearing loss on localization, speech understanding, and cortical organization following hearing recovery. Hearing in the congenitally affected ear of a 41 year old female improved significantly after stapedotomy and reconstruction. Pre-operative hearing threshold levels showed unilateral, mixed, moderately-severe to profound hearing loss. The contralateral ear had hearing threshold levels within normal limits. Testing was completed prior to, and three and nine months after surgery. Measurements were of sound localization with intensity-roved stimuli and speech recognition in various noise conditions. We also evoked magnetic resonance signals with monaural stimulation to the unaffected ear. Activation magnitudes were determined in core, belt, and parabelt auditory cortex regions via an interrupted single event design. Hearing improvement following 40 years of congenital unilateral hearing loss resulted in substantially improved sound localization and speech recognition in noise. Auditory cortex also reorganized. Contralateral auditory cortex responses were increased after hearing recovery and the extent of activated cortex was bilateral, including a greater portion of the posterior superior temporal plane. Thus, prolonged predominant monaural stimulation did not prevent auditory system changes consequent to restored binaural hearing. Results support future research of unilateral auditory deprivation effects and plasticity, with consideration for length of deprivation, age at hearing correction, degree and type

Modeling auditory perception of individual hearing-impaired listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jepsen, Morten Løve; Dau, Torsten

showed that, in most cases, the reduced or absent cochlear compression, associated with outer hair-cell loss, quantitatively accounts for broadened auditory filters, while a combination of reduced compression and reduced inner hair-cell function accounts for decreased sensitivity and slower recovery from...... selectivity. Three groups of listeners were considered: (a) normal hearing listeners; (b) listeners with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss; and (c) listeners with a severe sensorineural hearing loss. A fixed set of model parameters were derived for each hearing-impaired listener. The simulations...

NH3 and NH4+ permeability in aquaporin-expressing Xenopus oocytes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Lars M.; Jahn, Thomas Paul; Møller, Anders Laurell Blom

2005-01-01

We have shown recently, in a yeast expression system, that some aquaporins are permeable to ammonia. In the present study, we expressed the mammalian aquaporins AQP8, AQQP9, AQP3, AQP1 and a plant aquaporin TIP2;1 in Xenopus oocytes to study the transport of ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) under...... inwards currents carried by NH4+. This conductivity increased as a sigmoid function of external [NH3]: for AQP8 at a bath pH (pH(e)) of 6.5, the conductance was abolished, at pH(e) 7.4 it was half maximal and at pH(e) 7.8 it saturated. NY4+ influx was associated with oocyte swelling. In comparison, native...... oocytes as well as AQP1 and tip2;1-expressing oocytes showed small currents that were associated with small and even negative volume changes. We conclude that AQP8, AQP9, AQP3, and TIP2;1, apart from being water channels, also support significant fluxes of NH3. These aquaporins could support NH4...

Investigation of in-vehicle speech intelligibility metrics for normal hearing and hearing impaired listeners

Science.gov (United States)

Samardzic, Nikolina

The effectiveness of in-vehicle speech communication can be a good indicator of the perception of the overall vehicle quality and customer satisfaction. Currently available speech intelligibility metrics do not account in their procedures for essential parameters needed for a complete and accurate evaluation of in-vehicle speech intelligibility. These include the directivity and the distance of the talker with respect to the listener, binaural listening, hearing profile of the listener, vocal effort, and multisensory hearing. In the first part of this research the effectiveness of in-vehicle application of these metrics is investigated in a series of studies to reveal their shortcomings, including a wide range of scores resulting from each of the metrics for a given measurement configuration and vehicle operating condition. In addition, the nature of a possible correlation between the scores obtained from each metric is unknown. The metrics and the subjective perception of speech intelligibility using, for example, the same speech material have not been compared in literature. As a result, in the second part of this research, an alternative method for speech intelligibility evaluation is proposed for use in the automotive industry by utilizing a virtual reality driving environment for ultimately setting targets, including the associated statistical variability, for future in-vehicle speech intelligibility evaluation. The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) was evaluated at the sentence Speech Receptions Threshold (sSRT) for various listening situations and hearing profiles using acoustic perception jury testing and a variety of talker and listener configurations and background noise. In addition, the effect of individual sources and transfer paths of sound in an operating vehicle to the vehicle interior sound, specifically their effect on speech intelligibility was quantified, in the framework of the newly developed speech intelligibility evaluation method. Lastly

Filtered Music: A Hearing Test for Young Children | Waldman | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A group of 127 nursery school children were hearing-tested by means of filtered music audiometry; 18 failed to respond satisfactorily, and of these 11 were found to have previously unsuspected conductive hearing loss. Of the remaining 7 with normal hearing, 4 were subjected to language tests, and all 4 scored poorly.

Auditory-model based assessment of the effects of hearing loss and hearing-aid compression on spectral and temporal resolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kowalewski, Borys; MacDonald, Ewen; Strelcyk, Olaf

2016-01-01

. However, due to the complexity of speech and its robustness to spectral and temporal alterations, the effects of DRC on speech perception have been mixed and controversial. The goal of the present study was to obtain a clearer understanding of the interplay between hearing loss and DRC by means......Most state-of-the-art hearing aids apply multi-channel dynamic-range compression (DRC). Such designs have the potential to emulate, at least to some degree, the processing that takes place in the healthy auditory system. One way to assess hearing-aid performance is to measure speech intelligibility....... Outcomes were simulated using the auditory processing model of Jepsen et al. (2008) with the front end modified to include effects of hearing impairment and DRC. The results were compared to experimental data from normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners....

The relation of hearing loss degrees and oral stereognosis in 5-year-old children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyede Zohre Mousavi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Oral stereognosis is the ability to recognize the objects placed in the mouth; this plays a significant role in speech sounds production. Since the children with hearing loss have articulation disorders, this study aimed to clear the relation of hearing loss degrees and oral stereognosis in 5-year-old children.Methods: In this cross-sectional non-invasive study, 40 children of 5-year-old (30 children with different degrees of hearing loss and 10 normal children were involved. Oral steriognostic test was done for all of them and the Mann-Whitney U was used for statistical analysis.Results: There were significant differences between the mean of oral stereognostic ability between the normal children and the children with severe (p<0.01 or profound hearing loss (p=0.05. There was no significant difference between the mean of oral stereognostic ability among the children with moderate, severe and profound hearing loss compared with together. Besides, there was no significant difference between the mean of the time of diagnosis among all of hearing loss and normal children.Conclusion: The study shows that the children with moderate, severe and profound hearing loss have inefficient oral stereognosis in comparison with the normal children.

Is otolithic vertigo accompanied by hearing loss caused by sacculocochlear endolymphatic hydrops?

Science.gov (United States)

Murofushi, Toshihisa; Komiyama, Sakurako; Hayashi, Yushi; Yoshimura, Eriko

2016-01-01

Otolithic vertigo is sometimes accompanied by hearing loss. Otolithic vertigo accompanied by hearing loss seems to be caused by sacculocochlear endolymphatic hydrops. To clarify the lesion site and pathophysiology of otolithic vertigo (OV) accompanied by hearing loss. The clinical records of four patients (two men and two women) that had been diagnosed with OV accompanied by hearing loss according to pre-determined diagnostic criteria were reviewed. The patients' main symptoms involved a sensation of movement in the pitch plane. All of the patients had low frequency-dominant hearing loss and either exhibited decreased cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) or did not produce cVEMP. Two patients produced normal ocular VEMP (oVEMP). Caloric tests obtained normal results in all patients.

Neonatal Hearing screening in tafila

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashed, K.A.

2007-01-01

To measure the true prevalence of hearing impairment in neonates in Tafila, Jordan. This retrospective study was carried out at Prince Zeid Hospital, Taflia, Jordan through analysis of data of all births from January 2005 and January 2006. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) were measured via the application of echoprobe to both ears. There were two groups of births that were analysed statistically. Hearing impaired neonates were those with two fails or more in each ear. Normal ones were those with 3 pass or more. Of the 1788 babies in the study group, 1622 (90.7%) were enrolled in the study with 9.3% loss rate. 1512 babies were examined on the 2 day of birth, 2 of them had hearing impairment with a rate of 1.2/1000. 110 babies were screened on the day of discharge from the nursery, one of them with hearing defect with a rate of 5.9/1000. Thus, true prevalence of hearing impaiment or failure was 1.7/1000. We conclude that screening for hearing impairment in the neonatal period is easy, informative and the true prevalence of hearing impairment in Tafila is similar to that in different parts of the world. (author)

Children with minimal sensorineural hearing loss: prevalence, educational performance, and functional status.

Science.gov (United States)

Bess, F H; Dodd-Murphy, J; Parker, R A

1998-10-01

This study was designed to determine the prevalence of minimal sensorineural hearing loss (MSHL) in school-age children and to assess the relationship of MSHL to educational performance and functional status. To determine prevalence, a single-staged sampling frame of all schools in the district was created for 3rd, 6th, and 9th grades. Schools were selected with probability proportional to size in each grade group. The final study sample was 1218 children. To assess the association of MSHL with educational performance, children identified with MSHL were assigned as cases into a subsequent case-control study. Scores of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (4th Edition) (CTBS/4) then were compared between children with MSHL and children with normal hearing. School teachers completed the Screening Instrument for Targeting Education Risk (SIFTER) and the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist for a subsample of children with MSHL and their normally hearing counterparts. Finally, data on grade retention for a sample of children with MSHL were obtained from school records and compared with school district norm data. To assess the relationship between MSHL and functional status, test scores of all children with MSHL and all children with normal hearing in grades 6 and 9 were compared on the COOP Adolescent Chart Method (COOP), a screening tool for functional status. MSHL was exhibited by 5.4% of the study sample. The prevalence of all types of hearing impairment was 11.3%. Third grade children with MSHL exhibited significantly lower scores than normally hearing controls on a series of subtests of the CTBS/4; however, no differences were noted at the 6th and 9th grade levels. The SIFTER results revealed that children with MSHL scored poorer on the communication subtest than normal-hearing controls. Thirty-seven percent of the children with MSHL failed at least one grade. Finally, children with MSHL exhibited significantly greater dysfunction than children with normal hearing

44Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH2 in comparison to 68Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH2 in pre-clinical investigation. Is 44Sc a potential radionuclide for PET?

Science.gov (United States)

Koumarianou, E; Loktionova, N S; Fellner, M; Roesch, F; Thews, O; Pawlak, D; Archimandritis, S C; Mikolajczak, R

2012-12-01

In the present study we demonstrate the in vitro and in vivo comparison of the (44)Sc and (68)Ga labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2). (44)Sc is a positron emitter with a half life of 3.92 h. Hence it could be used for PET imaging with ligands requiring longer observation time than in the case of (68)Ga. The binding affinity of (nat)Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) and (nat)Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) to GRP receptors was studied in competition to [(125)I-Tyr(4)]-Bombesin in the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3. A preliminary biodistribution in normal rats was performed, while first microPET images were assessed in male Copenhagen rats bearing the androgen-independent Dunning R-3327-AT-1 prostate cancer tumor. The affinity to GRP receptors in the PC-3 cell line was higher for (nat)Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) (IC(50)(nM)=0.85 ± 0.06) than that of (nat)Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) (IC(50) (nM)=6.49 ± 0.13). The internalization rate of (68)Ga labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) was slower than that of (44)Sc, but their final internalization percents were comparable. (68)Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) was externalized faster than (44)Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2). The biodistribution of (44)Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) and (68)Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) in normal rats revealed a higher uptake in target organs and tissues of the first one while both excreted mainly through urinary tract. In microPET images both tracers were accumulated in the tumor with similar uptake patterns. Despite the differences in the receptor affinity both the (68)Ga- and the (44)Sc-labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH(2) tracers showed comparable distribution and similar time constants of uptake and elimination. Moreover no differences in tumor accumulation (neither in the overall uptake nor in the dynamics) were observed from the microPet imaging. From that perspective the use of either (44)Sc or (68)Ga for detecting tumors with GRP receptors is equivalent. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children using Cochlear Implants Capitalize on Acoustical Hearing for Music Perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Talar eHopyan

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Cochlear implants (CIs electrically stimulate the auditory nerve providing children who are deaf with access to speech and music. Because of device limitations, it was hypothesized that children using CIs develop abnormal perception of musical cues. Perception of pitch and rhythm as well as memory for music was measured by the children’s version of the Montreal Battery of Amusia (MBEA in 23 unilateral CI users and 22 age-matched children with normal hearing. Children with CIs were less accurate than their normal hearing peers (p<0.05. CI users were best able to discern rhythm changes (p < .01 and to remember musical pieces (p < .01. Contrary to expectations, abilities to hear cues in music improved as the age at implantation increased (p < .01. Further analyses revealed that this was because the children implanted at older ages also had better low frequency hearing prior to cochlear implantation and were able to use this hearing prior to cochlear implantation by wearing hearing aids. Access to early acoustical hearing in the lower frequency ranges appears to establish a base for music perception, which can be accessed with later electrical CI hearing.

Do communication disorders extend to musical messages? An answer from children with hearing loss or autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Whipple, Christina M; Gfeller, Kate; Driscoll, Virginia; Oleson, Jacob; McGregor, Karla

2015-01-01

Effective musical communication requires conveyance of the intended message in a manner perceptible to the receiver. Communication disorders that impair transmitting or decoding of structural features of music (e.g., pitch, timbre) and/or symbolic representation may result in atypical musical communication, which can have a negative impact on music therapy interventions. This study compared recognition of symbolic representation of emotions or movements in music by two groups of children with different communicative characteristics: severe to profound hearing loss (using cochlear implants [CI]) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Their responses were compared to those of children with typical-development and normal hearing (TD-NH). Accuracy was examined as a function of communicative status, emotional or movement category, and individual characteristics. Participants listened to recorded musical excerpts conveying emotions or movements and matched them with labels. Measures relevant to auditory and/or language function were also gathered. There was no significant difference between the ASD and TD-NH groups in identification of musical emotions or movements. However, the CI group was significantly less accurate than the other two groups in identification of both emotions and movements. Mixed effects logistic regression revealed different patterns of accuracy for specific emotions as a function of group. Conveyance of emotions or movements through music may be decoded differently by persons with different types of communication disorders. Because music is the primary therapeutic tool in music therapy sessions, clinicians should consider these differential abilities when selecting music for clinical interventions focusing on emotions or movement. © the American Music Therapy Association 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effects of dynamic-range compression on temporal acuity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiinberg, Alan; Jepsen, Morten Løve; Epp, Bastian

2016-01-01

Some of the challenges that hearing-aid listeners experience with speech perception in complex acoustic environments may originate from limitations in the temporal processing of sounds. To systematically investigate the influence of hearing impairment and hearing-aid signal processing on temporal...... processing, temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs) and “supra-threshold” modulation-depth discrimination (MDD) thresholds were obtained in normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners with and without wide-dynamic range compression (WDRC). The TMTFs were obtained using tonal carriers of 1...... with the physical compression of the modulation depth due to the WDRC. Indications of reduced temporal resolution in the HI listeners were observed in the TMTF patterns for the 5 kHz carrier. Significantly higher MDD thresholds were found for the HI group relative to the NH group. No relationship was found between...

Recent concepts and challenges in hearing research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dau, Torsten

In everyday life, the speech we listen to is often mixed with many other sound sources as well as reverberation. In such a situation, normal-hearing listeners are able to effortlessly segregate a single voice out of the background, which is commonly known as the 'cocktail party effect'. Conversely......, hearing-impaired people have great difficulty understanding speech when more than one person is talking, even when reduced audibility has been fully compensated for by a hearing aid. As with the hearing impaired, the performance of automatic speech recognition systems deteriorates dramatically...... with additional sound sources. The reasons for these difficulties are not well understood. Only by obtaining a clearer understanding of the auditory system’s coding strategies will it be possible to design intelligent compensation algorithms for hearing devices. This presentation highlights recent concepts...

Predicting hearing thresholds and occupational hearing loss with multiple-frequency auditory steady-state responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Ruey-Fen; Ho, Chi-Kung; Lu, Sheng-Nan; Chen, Shun-Sheng

2010-10-01

An objective investigation is needed to verify the existence and severity of hearing impairments resulting from work-related, noise-induced hearing loss in arbitration of medicolegal aspects. We investigated the accuracy of multiple-frequency auditory steady-state responses (Mf-ASSRs) between subjects with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with and without occupational noise exposure. Cross-sectional study. Tertiary referral medical centre. Pure-tone audiometry and Mf-ASSRs were recorded in 88 subjects (34 patients had occupational noise-induced hearing loss [NIHL], 36 patients had SNHL without noise exposure, and 18 volunteers were normal controls). Inter- and intragroup comparisons were made. A predicting equation was derived using multiple linear regression analysis. ASSRs and pure-tone thresholds (PTTs) showed a strong correlation for all subjects (r = .77 ≈ .94). The relationship is demonstrated by the equationThe differences between the ASSR and PTT were significantly higher for the NIHL group than for the subjects with non-noise-induced SNHL (p tool for objectively evaluating hearing thresholds. Predictive value may be lower in subjects with occupational hearing loss. Regardless of carrier frequencies, the severity of hearing loss affects the steady-state response. Moreover, the ASSR may assist in detecting noise-induced injury of the auditory pathway. A multiple linear regression equation to accurately predict thresholds was shown that takes into consideration all effect factors.

Decline of Low-Frequency Hearing in People With Ski-Slope Hearing Loss; Implications for Electrode Array Insertion.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuurbiers, Jasper; Dingemanse, Gertjan; Metselaar, Mick

2017-12-01

The decline of low-frequency hearing in people with ski-slope hearing loss varies and might depend on etiology. People with ski-sloping hearing loss might benefit from cochlear implantation with preservation of residual hearing. To reduce the risk of losing low-frequency hearing after implantation, the electrode-array can be inserted partially up to the desired frequency. That, however, obstructs electrical stimulation of lower frequencies. To decide between complete or partial insertion, knowledge regarding the natural decline of low-frequency hearing is helpful. Patients with at least two ski-slope audiograms over time were selected. We calculated progression at lower frequencies for 320 patients. Etiologies for hearing loss were retrieved from medical records. Progression of hearing loss was analyzed separately for patients with uni- and bilateral hearing losses. Relative progression of hearing loss was obtained by comparing progression to a reference group. Average progression of PTA was 1.73 dB/yr and was not significantly different in the bilateral and unilateral group. Etiologies that did not show significantly more progression compared with the reference group could be identified as single or short-lasting pathologic events, whereas long-lasting conditions had significant more progression of PTA. Patients with a ski-slope hearing loss that was caused by a single or short-lasting event have low progression rate and are viable for partial insertion to minimize the risk of damaging residual low-frequency hearing. In the absence of such an event, complete insertion should be considered because faster than normal deterioration of low-frequency hearing over time will probably limit the advantage of preservation of residual hearing.

Age-related changes in auditory and cognitive abilities in elderly persons with hearing aids fitted at the initial stages of hearing loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Obuchi

2011-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, we investigated the relation between the use of hearing aids at the initial stages of hearing loss and age-related changes in the auditory and cognitive abilities of elderly persons. 12 healthy elderly persons participated in an annual auditory and cognitive longitudinal examination for three years. According to their hearing level, they were divided into 3 subgroups - the normal hearing group, the hearing loss without hearing aids group, and the hearing loss with hearing aids group. All the subjects underwent 4 tests: pure-tone audiometry, syllable intelligibility test, dichotic listening test (DLT, and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R Short Forms. Comparison between the 3 groups revealed that the hearing loss without hearing aids group showed the lowest scores for the performance tasks, in contrast to the hearing level and intelligibility results. The other groups showed no significant difference in the WAIS-R subtests. This result indicates that prescription of a hearing aid during the early stages of hearing loss is related to the retention of cognitive abilities in such elderly people. However, there were no statistical significant correlations between the auditory and cognitive tasks.

Auditory Steady-State Response Thresholds in Adults With Conductive and Mild to Moderate Sensorineural Hearing Loss

OpenAIRE

Hosseinabadi, Reza; Jafarzadeh, Sadegh

2014-01-01

Background: The Auditory steady state response (ASSR) provides a frequency-specific and automatic assessment of hearing sensitivity and is used in infants and difficult-to-test adults. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the ASSR thresholds among various types (normal, conductive, and sensorineural), degree (normal, mild, and moderate), and configuration (flat and sloping) of hearing sensitivity, and measuring the cutoff point between normal condition and hearing loss for differe...

Abnormal Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR Findings in a Near-Normal Hearing Child with Noonan Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bahram Jalaei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Noonan syndrome (NS is a heterogeneous genetic disease that affects many parts of the body. It was named after Dr. Jacqueline Anne Noonan, a paediatric cardiologist.Case Report: We report audiological tests and auditory brainstem response (ABR findings in a 5-year old Malay boy with NS. Despite showing the marked signs of NS, the child could only produce a few meaningful words. Audiological tests found him to have bilateral mild conductive hearing loss at low frequencies. In ABR testing, despite having good waveform morphology, the results were atypical. Absolute latency of wave V was normal but interpeak latencies of wave’s I-V, I-II, II-III were prolonged. Interestingly, interpeak latency of waves III-V was abnormally shorter.Conclusion:Abnormal ABR results are possibly due to abnormal anatomical condition of brainstem and might contribute to speech delay.

[The discrimination of mono-syllable words in noise in listeners with normal hearing].

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, M; Sagara, T; Nagano, M; Korenaga, K; Makishima, K

1992-02-01

The discrimination of mono-syllable words (67S word-list) pronounced by a male and a female speaker was investigated in noise in 39 normal hearing subjects. The subjects listened to the test words at a constant level of 62 dB together with white or weighted noise in four S/N conditions. By processing the data with logit transformation, S/N-discrimination curves were presumed for each combination of a speech material and a noise. Regardless of the type of noise, the discrimination scores for the female voice started to decrease gradually at a S/N ratio of +10 dB, and reached 10 to 20% at-10 dB. For the male voice in white noise, the discrimination curve was similar to those for the female voice. On the contrary, the discrimination score for the male voice in weighted noise declined rapidly from a S/N ratio of +5 dB, and went below 10% at -5 dB. The discrimination curves seem to be shaped by the interrelations between the spectrum of the speech material and that of the noise.

Children with unilateral hearing loss may have lower intelligence quotient scores: A meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Purcell, Patricia L; Shinn, Justin R; Davis, Greg E; Sie, Kathleen C Y

2016-03-01

In this meta-analysis, we reviewed observational studies investigating differences in intelligence quotient (IQ) scores of children with unilateral hearing loss compared to children with normal hearing. PubMed Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, PsycINFO. A query identified all English-language studies related to pediatric unilateral hearing loss published between January 1980 and December 2014. Titles, abstracts, and articles were reviewed to identify observational studies reporting IQ scores. There were 261 unique titles, with 29 articles undergoing full review. Four articles were identified, which included 173 children with unilateral hearing loss and 202 children with normal hearing. Ages ranged from 6 to 18 years. Three studies were conducted in the United States and one in Mexico. All were of high quality. All studies reported full-scale IQ results; three reported verbal IQ results; and two reported performance IQ results. Children with unilateral hearing loss scored 6.3 points lower on full-scale IQ, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-9.1, -3.5], P value analysis suggests children with unilateral hearing loss have lower full-scale and performance IQ scores than children with normal hearing. There also may be disparity in verbal IQ scores. Laryngoscope, 126:746-754, 2016. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Grammatical Outcomes of 3- and 6-Year-Old Children Who Are Hard of

Science.gov (United States)

Koehlinger, Keegan M.; Van Horne, Amanda J. Owen; Moeller, Mary Pat

2013-01-01

Purpose: Spoken language skills of 3- and 6-year-old children who are hard of hearing (HH) were compared with those of children with normal hearing (NH). Method: Language skills were measured via mean length of utterance in words (MLUw) and percent correct use of finite verb morphology in obligatory contexts based on spontaneous conversational…

Role of NH3 and NH4+ transporters in renal acid-base transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiner, I David; Verlander, Jill W

2011-01-01

Renal ammonia excretion is the predominant component of renal net acid excretion. The majority of ammonia excretion is produced in the kidney and then undergoes regulated transport in a number of renal epithelial segments. Recent findings have substantially altered our understanding of renal ammonia transport. In particular, the classic model of passive, diffusive NH3 movement coupled with NH4+ "trapping" is being replaced by a model in which specific proteins mediate regulated transport of NH3 and NH4+ across plasma membranes. In the proximal tubule, the apical Na+/H+ exchanger, NHE-3, is a major mechanism of preferential NH4+ secretion. In the thick ascending limb of Henle's loop, the apical Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter, NKCC2, is a major contributor to ammonia reabsorption and the basolateral Na+/H+ exchanger, NHE-4, appears to be important for basolateral NH4+ exit. The collecting duct is a major site for renal ammonia secretion, involving parallel H+ secretion and NH3 secretion. The Rhesus glycoproteins, Rh B Glycoprotein (Rhbg) and Rh C Glycoprotein (Rhcg), are recently recognized ammonia transporters in the distal tubule and collecting duct. Rhcg is present in both the apical and basolateral plasma membrane, is expressed in parallel with renal ammonia excretion, and mediates a critical role in renal ammonia excretion and collecting duct ammonia transport. Rhbg is expressed specifically in the basolateral plasma membrane, and its role in renal acid-base homeostasis is controversial. In the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD), basolateral Na+-K+-ATPase enables active basolateral NH4+ uptake. In addition to these proteins, several other proteins also contribute to renal NH3/NH4+ transport. The role and mechanisms of these proteins are discussed in depth in this review.

Could Neonatal Hypernatremia Dehydration Influence Hearing Status?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Boskabadi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Neonatal hypernatremia dehydration (NHD is a dangerous condition in neonates, which is accompanied by acute complications (renal failure, cerebral edema, and cerebral hemorrhage and chronic complications (developmental delay. Children begin learning language from birth, and hearing impairment interferes with this process. We assessed the hearing status of infants with hypernatremia dehydration.   Materials and Methods: In a case-control study in 110 infants presenting at the Ghaem Hospital (Mashhad, Iran between 2007 and 2011, we examined the incidence of hearing impairment in infants suffering from hypernatremia dehydration (serum sodium >150 mEq/L in comparison with infants with normal sodium level (serum sodium ≤150 mEq/L.   Results: Three of 110 cases examined in the study group showed a transient hearing impairment. A mean serum sodium level of 173mg/dl was reported among hearing-impaired infants.   Conclusion:  Transient hearing impairment was higher in infants with hypernatremia; although this difference was not significant (P>0.05. Hearing impairment was observed in cases of severe hypernatremia.  

Effects of sensorineural hearing loss on visually guided attention in a multitalker environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Best, Virginia; Marrone, Nicole; Mason, Christine R; Kidd, Gerald; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G

2009-03-01

This study asked whether or not listeners with sensorineural hearing loss have an impaired ability to use top-down attention to enhance speech intelligibility in the presence of interfering talkers. Listeners were presented with a target string of spoken digits embedded in a mixture of five spatially separated speech streams. The benefit of providing simple visual cues indicating when and/or where the target would occur was measured in listeners with hearing loss, listeners with normal hearing, and a control group of listeners with normal hearing who were tested at a lower target-to-masker ratio to equate their baseline (no cue) performance with the hearing-loss group. All groups received robust benefits from the visual cues. The magnitude of the spatial-cue benefit, however, was significantly smaller in listeners with hearing loss. Results suggest that reduced utility of selective attention for resolving competition between simultaneous sounds contributes to the communication difficulties experienced by listeners with hearing loss in everyday listening situations.

Psycholinguistic abilities in cochlear implant and hearing impaired children

OpenAIRE

Hassan, Hatem Ezzeldin; Eldin, Sally Taher Kheir; Al Kasaby, Rasha Mohamed

2014-01-01

Background: Many congenitally sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) children and cochlear implant (CI) recipients develop near-normal language skills. However, there is a wide variation in individual outcomes following cochlear implantation, or using hearing aids. Some CI recipients or Hearing aids users never develop useable speech and oral language skills. The causes of this enormous variation in outcomes are only partly understood at the present time. So, the aim of this study was to assess th...

Perception of Cantonese Lexical Tones by Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Colleen M.; Lee, Kathy Y. S.; Dowell, Richard C.; Vogel, Adam P.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess Cantonese word recognition and the discrimination of Cantonese tones with manipulated contours by child and adolescent cochlear implant (CI) users and a group of peers with normal hearing (NH). It was hypothesized that the CI users would perform more poorly than their counterparts with NH in both…

Binaural hearing with electrical stimulation

Science.gov (United States)

Kan, Alan; Litovsky, Ruth Y.

2014-01-01

Bilateral cochlear implantation is becoming a standard of care in many clinics. While much benefit has been shown through bilateral implantation, patients who have bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) still do not perform as well as normal hearing listeners in sound localization and understanding speech in noisy environments. This difference in performance can arise from a number of different factors, including the areas of hardware and engineering, surgical precision and pathology of the auditory system in deaf persons. While surgical precision and individual pathology are factors that are beyond careful control, improvements can be made in the areas of clinical practice and the engineering of binaural speech processors. These improvements should be grounded in a good understanding of the sensitivities of bilateral CI patients to the acoustic binaural cues that are important to normal hearing listeners for sound localization and speech in noise understanding. To this end, we review the current state-of-the-art in the understanding of the sensitivities of bilateral CI patients to binaural cues in electric hearing, and highlight the important issues and challenges as they relate to clinical practice and the development of new binaural processing strategies. PMID:25193553

Newborn hearing screening and strategy for early detection of hearing loss in infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Jakubíková, Janka; Kabátová, Zuzana; Pavlovcinová, Gabriela; Profant, Milan

2009-04-01

More than 80% of permanent hearing losses (HL) in children are congenital. Newborn hearing screening (NHS) is the best method for early detection of suspected hearing loss. If the NHS is not universal more than 30% permanent hearing losses are not identified. There are various methods of NHS: otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE, DPOAE) and automatic auditory brainstem response (AABR). After hearing screening, and when hearing loss is suspected, tympanometry and audiological methods then used for determination of hearing threshold; these include ABR, ASSR or/and behavioral methods. The goal of this study is to evaluate the influence of UNHS on the early detection of hearing loss in children before and after the implementation of obligatory universal newborn hearing screening in Slovakia, and also on the etiologic evaluation of hearing impaired infants identified by screening. In Slovakia NHS started in 1998 and was provided in ENT departments. From May 1, 2006 UNHS has been mandatory in Slovakia, using two stages TEOAE in all newborn departments in Slovakia (64 newborn departments). In year 2005--42% of newborns in Slovakia were screened, in 2006--66% newborns and in 2007--94, 99% (three small newborn departments do not yet have equipment for OAE screening). For determination of hearing thresholds ASSR are used in two ENT departments and ABR in the other four ENT departments. Comparing the number of identified cases with bilateral severe permanent HL or deafness before and after UNHS, 22.8% more cases of PHL were identified in the first year of UNHS. Also the average age of diagnosis of PHL was lower. In the year 2007, 94% of newborns were screened. We found 0.947/1000 newborns with bilateral severe PHL (35.9%) more than before UNHS). After audiologic and etiologic assessment of the 76 infants who failed screening, 5 (6.58%) were found to have normal hearing, 16 (22.54%) had unilateral and 55 (77.46%) had bilateral SNHL. A non-syndromic genetic cause was present in 25

44Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH2 in comparison to 68Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH2 in pre-clinical investigation. Is 44Sc a potential radionuclide for PET?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koumarianou, E.; Loktionova, N.S.; Fellner, M.; Roesch, F.; Thews, O.; Pawlak, D.; Archimandritis, S.C.; Mikolajczak, R.

2012-01-01

Aim: In the present study we demonstrate the in vitro and in vivo comparison of the 44 Sc and 68 Ga labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 . 44 Sc is a positron emitter with a half life of 3.92 h. Hence it could be used for PET imaging with ligands requiring longer observation time than in the case of 68 Ga. Methods: The binding affinity of nat Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 and nat Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 to GRP receptors was studied in competition to [ 125 I-Tyr 4 ]-Bombesin in the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3. A preliminary biodistribution in normal rats was performed, while first microPET images were assessed in male Copenhagen rats bearing the androgen-independent Dunning R-3327-AT-1 prostate cancer tumor. Results: The affinity to GRP receptors in the PC-3 cell line was higher for nat Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 (IC 50 (nM)=0.85±0.06) than that of nat Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 (IC 50 (nM)=6.49±0.13). The internalization rate of 68 Ga labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 was slower than that of 44 Sc, but their final internalization percents were comparable. 68 Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 was externalized faster than 44 Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 . The biodistribution of 44 Sc-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 and 68 Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 in normal rats revealed a higher uptake in target organs and tissues of the first one while both excreted mainly through urinary tract. In microPET images both tracers were accumulated in the tumor with similar uptake patterns. Conclusions: Despite the differences in the receptor affinity both the 68 Ga- and the 44 Sc-labeled DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 tracers showed comparable distribution and similar time constants of uptake and elimination. Moreover no differences in tumor accumulation (neither in the overall uptake nor in the dynamics) were observed from the microPet imaging. From that perspective the use of either 44 Sc or 68 Ga for detecting tumors with GRP receptors is equivalent. - Highlights: ► In vitro and in vivo evaluation of 44 Sc- and 68 Ga-DOTA-BN[2-14]NH 2 in reference to published

Enhancing Auditory Selective Attention Using a Visually Guided Hearing Aid

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Purpose Listeners with hearing loss, as well as many listeners with clinically normal hearing, often experience great difficulty segregating talkers in a multiple-talker sound field and selectively attending to the desired “target” talker while ignoring the speech from unwanted “masker” talkers and other sources of sound. This listening situation forms the classic “cocktail party problem” described by Cherry (1953) that has received a great deal of study over the past few decades. In this article, a new approach to improving sound source segregation and enhancing auditory selective attention is described. The conceptual design, current implementation, and results obtained to date are reviewed and discussed in this article. Method This approach, embodied in a prototype “visually guided hearing aid” (VGHA) currently used for research, employs acoustic beamforming steered by eye gaze as a means for improving the ability of listeners to segregate and attend to one sound source in the presence of competing sound sources. Results The results from several studies demonstrate that listeners with normal hearing are able to use an attention-based “spatial filter” operating primarily on binaural cues to selectively attend to one source among competing spatially distributed sources. Furthermore, listeners with sensorineural hearing loss generally are less able to use this spatial filter as effectively as are listeners with normal hearing especially in conditions high in “informational masking.” The VGHA enhances auditory spatial attention for speech-on-speech masking and improves signal-to-noise ratio for conditions high in “energetic masking.” Visual steering of the beamformer supports the coordinated actions of vision and audition in selective attention and facilitates following sound source transitions in complex listening situations. Conclusions Both listeners with normal hearing and with sensorineural hearing loss may benefit from the acoustic

Rapid ammonia gas transport accounts for futile transmembrane cycling under NH3/NH4+ toxicity in plant roots.

Science.gov (United States)

Coskun, Devrim; Britto, Dev T; Li, Mingyuan; Becker, Alexander; Kronzucker, Herbert J

2013-12-01

Futile transmembrane NH3/NH4(+) cycling in plant root cells, characterized by extremely rapid fluxes and high efflux to influx ratios, has been successfully linked to NH3/NH4(+) toxicity. Surprisingly, the fundamental question of which species of the conjugate pair (NH3 or NH4(+)) participates in such fluxes is unresolved. Using flux analyses with the short-lived radioisotope (13)N and electrophysiological, respiratory, and histochemical measurements, we show that futile cycling in roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings is predominately of the gaseous NH3 species, rather than the NH4(+) ion. Influx of (13)NH3/(13)NH4(+), which exceeded 200 µmol g(-1) h(-1), was not commensurate with membrane depolarization or increases in root respiration, suggesting electroneutral NH3 transport. Influx followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics for NH3 (but not NH4(+)), as a function of external concentration (Km = 152 µm, Vmax = 205 µmol g(-1) h(-1)). Efflux of (13)NH3/(13)NH4(+) responded with a nearly identical Km. Pharmacological characterization of influx and efflux suggests mediation by aquaporins. Our study fundamentally revises the futile-cycling model by demonstrating that NH3 is the major permeating species across both plasmalemma and tonoplast of root cells under toxicity conditions.

Reading vocabulary in children with and without hearing loss: the roles of task and word type.

Science.gov (United States)

Coppens, Karien M; Tellings, Agnes; Verhoeven, Ludo; Schreuder, Robert

2013-04-01

To address the problem of low reading comprehension scores among children with hearing impairment, it is necessary to have a better understanding of their reading vocabulary. In this study, the authors investigated whether task and word type differentiate the reading vocabulary knowledge of children with and without severe hearing loss. Seventy-two children with hearing loss and 72 children with normal hearing performed a lexical and a use decision task. Both tasks contained the same 180 words divided over 7 clusters, each cluster containing words with a similar pattern of scores on 8 word properties (word class, frequency, morphological family size, length, age of acquisition, mode of acquisition, imageability, and familiarity). Whereas the children with normal hearing scored better on the 2 tasks than the children with hearing loss, the size of the difference varied depending on the type of task and word. Performance differences between the 2 groups increased as words and tasks became more complex. Despite delays, children with hearing loss showed a similar pattern of vocabulary acquisition as their peers with normal hearing. For the most precise assessment of reading vocabulary possible, a range of tasks and word types should be used.

Vestibular hearing and neural synchronization.

Science.gov (United States)

Emami, Seyede Faranak; Daneshi, Ahmad

2012-01-01

Objectives. Vestibular hearing as an auditory sensitivity of the saccule in the human ear is revealed by cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs). The range of the vestibular hearing lies in the low frequency. Also, the amplitude of an auditory brainstem response component depends on the amount of synchronized neural activity, and the auditory nerve fibers' responses have the best synchronization with the low frequency. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate correlation between vestibular hearing using cVEMPs and neural synchronization via slow wave Auditory Brainstem Responses (sABR). Study Design. This case-control survey was consisted of twenty-two dizzy patients, compared to twenty healthy controls. Methods. Intervention comprised of Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA), Impedance acoustic metry (IA), Videonystagmography (VNG), fast wave ABR (fABR), sABR, and cVEMPs. Results. The affected ears of the dizzy patients had the abnormal findings of cVEMPs (insecure vestibular hearing) and the abnormal findings of sABR (decreased neural synchronization). Comparison of the cVEMPs at affected ears versus unaffected ears and the normal persons revealed significant differences (P < 0.05). Conclusion. Safe vestibular hearing was effective in the improvement of the neural synchronization.

Binaural Interference and the Effects of Age and Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Mussoi, Bruna S S; Bentler, Ruth A

2017-01-01

The existence of binaural interference, defined here as poorer speech recognition with both ears than with the better ear alone, is well documented. Studies have suggested that its prevalence may be higher in the elderly population. However, no study to date has explored binaural interference in groups of younger and older adults in conditions that favor binaural processing (i.e., in spatially separated noise). Also, the effects of hearing loss have not been studied. To examine binaural interference through speech perception tests, in groups of younger adults with normal hearing, older adults with normal hearing for their age, and older adults with hearing loss. A cross-sectional study. Thirty-three participants with symmetric thresholds were recruited from the University of Iowa community. Participants were grouped as follows: younger with normal hearing (18-28 yr, n = 12), older with normal hearing for their age (73-87 yr, n = 9), and older with hearing loss (78-94 yr, n = 12). Prior noise exposure was ruled out. The Connected Speech Test (CST) and Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) were administered to all participants bilaterally, and to each ear separately. Test materials were presented in the sound field with speech at 0° azimuth and the noise at 180°. The Dichotic Digits Test (DDT) was administered to all participants through earphones. Hearing aids were not used during testing. Group results were compared with repeated measures and one-way analysis of variances, as appropriate. Within-subject analyses using pre-established critical differences for each test were also performed. The HINT revealed no effect of condition (individual ear versus bilateral presentation) using group analysis, although within-subject analysis showed that 27% of the participants had binaural interference (18% had binaural advantage). On the CST, there was significant binaural advantage across all groups with group data analysis, as well as for 12% of the participants at each of the two

Hearing Loss in Children With Otitis Media With Effusion: Actual and Simulated Effects on Speech Perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Ting; McPherson, Bradley; Li, Caiwei; Yang, Feng

2017-11-14

Conductive hearing loss simulations have attempted to estimate the speech-understanding difficulties of children with otitis media with effusion (OME). However, the validity of this approach has not been evaluated. The research aim of the present study was to investigate whether a simple, frequency-specific, attenuation-based simulation of OME-related hearing loss was able to reflect the actual effects of conductive hearing loss on speech perception. Forty-one school-age children with OME-related hearing loss were recruited. Each child with OME was matched with a same sex and age counterpart with normal hearing to make a participant pair. Pure-tone threshold differences at octave frequencies from 125 to 8000 Hz for every participant pair were used as the simulation attenuation levels for the normal-hearing children. Another group of 41 school-age otologically normal children were recruited as a control group without actual or simulated hearing loss. The Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test was utilized, and sentence recall accuracy at four signal to noise ratios (SNR) considered representative of classroom-listening conditions were derived, as well as reception thresholds for sentences (RTS) in quiet and in noise using adaptive protocols. The speech perception in quiet and in noise of children with simulated OME-related hearing loss was significantly poorer than that of otologically normal children. Analysis showed that RTS in quiet of children with OME-related hearing loss and of children with simulated OME-related hearing loss was significantly correlated and comparable. A repeated-measures analysis suggested that sentence recall accuracy obtained at 5-dB SNR, 0-dB SNR, and -5-dB SNR was similar between children with actual and simulated OME-related hearing loss. However, RTS in noise in children with OME was significantly better than that for children with simulated OME-related hearing loss. The present frequency-specific, attenuation-based simulation method reflected

Imaging a multidimensional multichannel potential energy surface: Photodetachment of H(-)(NH3) and NH4 (.).

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Qichi; Song, Hongwei; Johnson, Christopher J; Li, Jun; Guo, Hua; Continetti, Robert E

2016-06-28

Probes of the Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces governing polyatomic molecules often rely on spectroscopy for the bound regions or collision experiments in the continuum. A combined spectroscopic and half-collision approach to image nuclear dynamics in a multidimensional and multichannel system is reported here. The Rydberg radical NH4 and the double Rydberg anion NH4 (-) represent a polyatomic system for benchmarking electronic structure and nine-dimensional quantum dynamics calculations. Photodetachment of the H(-)(NH3) ion-dipole complex and the NH4 (-) DRA probes different regions on the neutral NH4 PES. Photoelectron energy and angular distributions at photon energies of 1.17, 1.60, and 2.33 eV compare well with quantum dynamics. Photoelectron-photofragment coincidence experiments indicate dissociation of the nascent NH4 Rydberg radical occurs to H + NH3 with a peak kinetic energy of 0.13 eV, showing the ground state of NH4 to be unstable, decaying by tunneling-induced dissociation on a time scale beyond the present scope of multidimensional quantum dynamics.

Predicting word-recognition performance in noise by young listeners with normal hearing using acoustic, phonetic, and lexical variables.

Science.gov (United States)

McArdle, Rachel; Wilson, Richard H

2008-06-01

To analyze the 50% correct recognition data that were from the Wilson et al (this issue) study and that were obtained from 24 listeners with normal hearing; also to examine whether acoustic, phonetic, or lexical variables can predict recognition performance for monosyllabic words presented in speech-spectrum noise. The specific variables are as follows: (a) acoustic variables (i.e., effective root-mean-square sound pressure level, duration), (b) phonetic variables (i.e., consonant features such as manner, place, and voicing for initial and final phonemes; vowel phonemes), and (c) lexical variables (i.e., word frequency, word familiarity, neighborhood density, neighborhood frequency). The descriptive, correlational study will examine the influence of acoustic, phonetic, and lexical variables on speech recognition in noise performance. Regression analysis demonstrated that 45% of the variance in the 50% point was accounted for by acoustic and phonetic variables whereas only 3% of the variance was accounted for by lexical variables. These findings suggest that monosyllabic word-recognition-in-noise is more dependent on bottom-up processing than on top-down processing. The results suggest that when speech-in-noise testing is used in a pre- and post-hearing-aid-fitting format, the use of monosyllabic words may be sensitive to changes in audibility resulting from amplification.

Auditory Verbal Working Memory as a Predictor of Speech Perception in Modulated Maskers in Listeners With Normal Hearing.

Science.gov (United States)

Millman, Rebecca E; Mattys, Sven L

2017-05-24

Background noise can interfere with our ability to understand speech. Working memory capacity (WMC) has been shown to contribute to the perception of speech in modulated noise maskers. WMC has been assessed with a variety of auditory and visual tests, often pertaining to different components of working memory. This study assessed the relationship between speech perception in modulated maskers and components of auditory verbal working memory (AVWM) over a range of signal-to-noise ratios. Speech perception in noise and AVWM were measured in 30 listeners (age range 31-67 years) with normal hearing. AVWM was estimated using forward digit recall, backward digit recall, and nonword repetition. After controlling for the effects of age and average pure-tone hearing threshold, speech perception in modulated maskers was related to individual differences in the phonological component of working memory (as assessed by nonword repetition) but only in the least favorable signal-to-noise ratio. The executive component of working memory (as assessed by backward digit) was not predictive of speech perception in any conditions. AVWM is predictive of the ability to benefit from temporal dips in modulated maskers: Listeners with greater phonological WMC are better able to correctly identify sentences in modulated noise backgrounds.

Online Personalization of Hearing Instruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bert de Vries

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Online personalization of hearing instruments refers to learning preferred tuning parameter values from user feedback through a control wheel (or remote control, during normal operation of the hearing aid. We perform hearing aid parameter steering by applying a linear map from acoustic features to tuning parameters. We formulate personalization of the steering parameters as the maximization of an expected utility function. A sparse Bayesian approach is then investigated for its suitability to find efficient feature representations. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated in an application to online personalization of a noise reduction algorithm. A patient trial indicates that the acoustic features chosen for learning noise control are meaningful, that environmental steering of noise reduction makes sense, and that our personalization algorithm learns proper values for tuning parameters.

Are open-fit hearing aids a possible alternative to bone-anchored hearing devices in patients with mild to severe hearing loss? A preliminary trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amberley V. Ostevik

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Open-fit hearing aids (OFHAs may be of benefit for some individuals with chronic outer and middle ear conditions for which boneanchored hearing devices (BAHDs are normally recommended. The purpose of this study was to compare performance between OFHAs and BAHDs. A Starkey Destiny 800 OFHA was fit on eight adult BAHD users and speech perception measures in quiet and in background noise were compared under two different test conditions: i BAHD only and ii OFHA only. Equivalent outcome measure performance between these two conditions suggests that the OFHA was able to provide sufficient amplification for mild to moderate degrees of hearing loss (pure-tone averages (PTAs less than 47 dB HL. The improved speech perception performances and increased loudness ratings observed for several of the participants with moderately-severe to severe degrees of hearing loss (PTAs of 47 dB HL or greater in the BAHD only condition suggest that the OFHA did not provide sufficient amplification for these individuals. Therefore, OFHAs may be a successful alternative to the BAHD for individuals with no more than a moderate conductive hearing loss who are unable or unwilling to undergo implant surgery or unable to wear conventional hearing aids due to allergies, irritation, or chronic infection associated with the ear being blocked with a shell or earmold.

Risk factors for hearing loss in elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly Vasconcelos Chaves Martins

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To identify risk factors related to sensorineural hearing loss in elderly. Methods: The sample consisted of 60 selected elderly, divided into two groups: the Case Group, composed by 30 individuals, 21 females and 9 males, aged at least 60 years, presenting sensorineural hearing loss, and the Control Group, composed by 30 individuals matched on gender and age, with normal hearing. The patients were submitted to audiological anamnesis and tonal audiometry. The hearing impairment was defined according to average threshold greater than 35dBNA, in the frequencies of 1,000; 2,000 and 4,000 Hz, in the best ear. Results: Statistically significant odds ratios were: a to audiological history: noise exposure and family history of deafness; b to situations involving hearing difficulty: television, church, telephone, silent environment, spatial location of sound, difficulty with voices and noisy environment; c to otologic history: tinnitus, otorrhea and nausea; and d to medical history: visual problems, smoke, alcohol, thyroid problems and kidney disease. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlighted, for sensorineural hearing loss, risk factors related to audiologic, otologic and medical history, and to situations involving hearing difficulty.

Consequences of Early Conductive Hearing Loss on Long-Term Binaural Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Graydon, Kelley; Rance, Gary; Dowell, Richard; Van Dun, Bram

The aim of the study was to investigate the long-term effects of early conductive hearing loss on binaural processing in school-age children. One hundred and eighteen children participated in the study, 82 children with a documented history of conductive hearing loss associated with otitis media and 36 controls who had documented histories showing no evidence of otitis media or conductive hearing loss. All children were demonstrated to have normal-hearing acuity and middle ear function at the time of assessment. The Listening in Spatialized Noise Sentence (LiSN-S) task and the masking level difference (MLD) task were used as the two different measures of binaural interaction ability. Children with a history of conductive hearing loss performed significantly poorer than controls on all LiSN-S conditions relying on binaural cues (DV90, p = binaural cues. Fifteen children with a conductive hearing loss history (18%) showed results consistent with a spatial processing disorder. No significant difference was observed between the conductive hearing loss group and the controls on the MLD task. Furthermore, no correlations were found between LiSN-S and MLD. Results show a relationship between early conductive hearing loss and listening deficits that persist once hearing has returned to normal. Results also suggest that the two binaural interaction tasks (LiSN-S and MLD) may be measuring binaural processing at different levels. Findings highlight the need for a screening measure of functional listening ability in children with a history of early otitis media.

Auditory Temporal-Organization Abilities in School-Age Children with Peripheral Hearing Loss

Science.gov (United States)

Koravand, Amineh; Jutras, Benoit

2013-01-01

Purpose: The objective was to assess auditory sequential organization (ASO) ability in children with and without hearing loss. Method: Forty children 9 to 12 years old participated in the study: 12 with sensory hearing loss (HL), 12 with central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), and 16 with normal hearing. They performed an ASO task in which…

Slight conductive hearing loss in children with narrowed maxilla and deep palatal vault.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiki, A; Kiliç, N; Oktay, H

2015-01-01

PROBLEM/OBJECTIVES: Maxillary constriction and high palatal arch are associated with increased risk of chronic eustachian tube dysfunction and conductive hearing loss (CHL) due to chronic effusion. However, this relationship has not been clearly demonstrated. This study assessed CHL in school children with a narrowed maxilla and deep palatal vault. Thirty-two children with maxillary constriction were randomly selected for the study group and 28 children with normal transverse maxillary development were selected for the control group. Pure-tone audiograms were obtained for all children, and hearing levels and air-bone gaps were measured. Air-bone gap measurements in the control group ranged from 5.50 to 14.50 decibels (dB), and in the study group they were between 5.00 and 24.00 dB. In the study group, 14 (43.8%) children had slight CHL, and the remaining 18 (56.2%) children had normal hearing levels. In the control group, all of the children had normal hearing levels. Hearing levels and air-bone gaps were greater in the study group than the control group. This study showed that children with a narrowed maxilla and deep palatal vault may have slight CHL. Therefore, the onset of CHL should be followed with hearing screening programs.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahin Yazdani

2008-12-01

Full Text Available

PURPOSE: To determine hearing thresholds at sound frequencies important for speech comprehension in subjects with ocular pseudoexfoliation (PXF and to compare them with that of controls without PXF. METHODS: Eighty-three subjects with ocular PXF and 83 age and sex matched controls without PXF were enrolled in this case-control study. Pure tone audiometry (bone conduction was performed at 1, 2 and 3 kilohertz (KHz in all subjects. Thresholds were compared to an age and sex stratified standard (ISO7029 and between study groups. Hearing loss was defined as sum of tested hearing thresholds (HTL-1,2,3 lower than the ISO7029 standard median. RESULTS: The study included 60 male and 23 female subjects in each group. Hearing loss was present in 147 of 166 (88.6% of examined ears in the case group vs 89 of 166 (53.6% in the control group (P < 0.001; odds ratio [OR] = 6.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.49-11.79. Overall 78 subjects (94.0% in the case group vs 58 subjects (69.9% in the control group had hearing loss in one or both ears (P < 0.001; OR=6.72; 95%CI, 2.42-18.62. Hearing thresholds at each of the examined frequencies and the HTL-1,2,3 were also significantly higher in individuals with PXF. Although glaucoma was significantly more common in subjects with PXF (51.8% vs 22.9%, P < 0.001, it was not associated with hearing

Optical monitoring of CH3NH3PbI3 thin films upon atmospheric exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghimire, Kiran; Zhao, Dewei; Cimaroli, Alex; Ke, Weijun; Yan, Yanfa; Podraza, Nikolas J

2016-01-01

CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite films of interest for photovoltaic (PV) devices have been prepared by (i) vapor deposition and (ii) solution processing. Complex dielectric function ( ε   =   ε 1   +  i ε 2 ) spectra and structural parameters of the films have been extracted using near infrared to ultraviolet spectroscopic ellipsometry. In situ real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) over a 48 h period has been performed on vapor deposited CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 after the deposition in normal atmospheric laboratory ambient conditions. Analysis of RTSE data for vapor deposited CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 film prepared under un-optimized conditions identifies phase segregated PbI 2 and CH 3 NH 3 I at the substrate/film interface and unreacted PbI 2 and CH 3 NH 3 I on the film surface. This analysis also provides the time dependence of the effective thicknesses of perovskite film, unreacted components, and phase segregated layers to track CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 decomposition. (paper)

Gambling among adolescents with and without hearing loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanna Geidne

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives This exploratory study investigates the prevalence of gambling, preferred types of gambling, and problem gambling in Swedish young people aged 15–18 years with and without hearing loss. Methods A cross-sectional health survey was conducted in Örebro County, Sweden in 2014. A standardized questionnaire was distributed to 4888 students, and 4329 filled it. There were 318 (8 % students with hearing loss. The response rate was 82 %. The 2-item Lie/Bet questionnaire (Johnson et al. in Psychol Rep 80:83–88, 1997 was used for measuring problem gambling. Results More students with hearing loss had gambled during their lifetime (35 % and in the past year (25 % than their hearing counterparts (lifetime: 24 %; past-year: 19 %. More students with hearing loss compared to normal hearing students were identified as problem gamblers (7.7 % compared to 4.3 %. Conclusion More research is needed on gambling among people with hearing loss as well as other disabilities.

Differences in Perception of Musical Stimuli among Acoustic, Electric, and Combined Modality Listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Prentiss, Sandra M; Friedland, David R; Nash, John J; Runge, Christina L

2015-05-01

Cochlear implants have shown vast improvements in speech understanding for those with severe to profound hearing loss; however, music perception remains a challenge for electric hearing. It is unclear whether the difficulties arise from limitations of sound processing, the nature of a damaged auditory system, or a combination of both. To examine music perception performance with different acoustic and electric hearing configurations. Chord discrimination and timbre perception were tested in subjects representing four daily-use listening configurations: unilateral cochlear implant (CI), contralateral bimodal (CIHA), bilateral hearing aid (HAHA) and normal-hearing (NH) listeners. A same-different task was used for discrimination of two chords played on piano. Timbre perception was assessed using a 10-instrument forced-choice identification task. Fourteen adults were included in each group, none of whom were professional musicians. The number of correct responses was divided by the total number of presentations to calculate scores in percent correct. Data analyses were performed with Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and linear regression. Chord discrimination showed a narrow range of performance across groups, with mean scores ranging between 72.5% (CI) and 88.9% (NH). Significant differences were seen between the NH and all hearing-impaired groups. Both the HAHA and CIHA groups performed significantly better than the CI groups, and no significant differences were observed between the HAHA and CIHA groups. Timbre perception was significantly poorer for the hearing-impaired groups (mean scores ranged from 50.3-73.9%) compared to NH (95.2%). Significantly better performance was observed in the HAHA group as compared to both groups with electric hearing (CI and CIHA). There was no significant difference in performance between the CIHA and CI groups. Timbre perception was a significantly more difficult task than chord discrimination for both the CI and CIHA

Auditory brainstem responses of CBA/J mice with neonatal conductive hearing losses and treatment with GM1 ganglioside.

Science.gov (United States)

Money, M K; Pippin, G W; Weaver, K E; Kirsch, J P; Webster, D B

1995-07-01

Exogenous administration of GM1 ganglioside to CBA/J mice with a neonatal conductive hearing loss ameliorates the atrophy of spiral ganglion neurons, ventral cochlear nucleus neurons, and ventral cochlear nucleus volume. The present investigation demonstrates the extent of a conductive loss caused by atresia and tests the hypothesis that GM1 ganglioside treatment will ameliorate the conductive hearing loss. Auditory brainstem responses were recorded from four groups of seven mice each: two groups received daily subcutaneous injections of saline (one group had normal hearing; the other had a conductive hearing loss); the other two groups received daily subcutaneous injections of GM1 ganglioside (one group had normal hearing; the other had a conductive hearing loss). In mice with a conductive loss, decreases in hearing sensitivity were greatest at high frequencies. The decreases were determined by comparing mean ABR thresholds of the conductive loss mice with those of normal hearing mice. The conductive hearing loss induced in the mice in this study was similar to that seen in humans with congenital aural atresias. GM1 ganglioside treatment had no significant effect on ABR wave I thresholds or latencies in either group.

Categorization of common sounds by cochlear implanted and normal hearing adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Collett, E; Marx, M; Gaillard, P; Roby, B; Fraysse, B; Deguine, O; Barone, P

2016-05-01

Auditory categorization involves grouping of acoustic events along one or more shared perceptual dimensions which can relate to both semantic and physical attributes. This process involves both high level cognitive processes (categorization) and low-level perceptual encoding of the acoustic signal, both of which are affected by the use of a cochlear implant (CI) device. The goal of this study was twofold: I) compare the categorization strategies of CI users and normal hearing listeners (NHL) II) investigate if any characteristics of the raw acoustic signal could explain the results. 16 experienced CI users and 20 NHL were tested using a Free-Sorting Task of 16 common sounds divided into 3 predefined categories of environmental, musical and vocal sounds. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Hierarchical Clustering based on Principal Components (HCPC) show that CI users followed a similar categorization strategy to that of NHL and were able to discriminate between the three different types of sounds. However results for CI users were more varied and showed less inter-participant agreement. Acoustic analysis also highlighted the average pitch salience and average autocorrelation peak as being important for the perception and categorization of the sounds. The results therefore show that on a broad level of categorization CI users may not have as many difficulties as previously thought in discriminating certain kinds of sound; however the perception of individual sounds remains challenging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language Outcomes in Young Children with Mild to Severe Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomblin, J Bruce; Harrison, Melody; Ambrose, Sophie E; Walker, Elizabeth A; Oleson, Jacob J; Moeller, Mary Pat

2015-01-01

This study examined the language outcomes of children with mild to severe hearing loss during the preschool years. The longitudinal design was leveraged to test whether language growth trajectories were associated with degree of hearing loss and whether aided hearing influenced language growth in a systematic manner. The study also explored the influence of the timing of hearing aid fitting and extent of use on children's language growth. Finally, the study tested the hypothesis that morphosyntax may be at particular risk due to the demands it places on the processing of fine details in the linguistic input. The full cohort of children in this study comprised 290 children who were hard of hearing (CHH) and 112 children with normal hearing who participated in the Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss (OCHL) study between the ages of 2 and 6 years. CHH had a mean better-ear pure-tone average of 47.66 dB HL (SD = 13.35). All children received a comprehensive battery of language measures at annual intervals, including standardized tests, parent-report measures, and spontaneous and elicited language samples. Principal components analysis supported the use of a single composite language score for each of the age levels (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 years). Measures of unaided (better-ear pure-tone average, speech intelligibility index) and aided (residualized speech intelligibility index) hearing were collected, along with parent-report measures of daily hearing aid use time. Mixed modeling procedures were applied to examine the rate of change (227 CHH; 94 children with normal hearing) in language ability over time in relation to (1) degree of hearing loss, (2) aided hearing, (3) age of hearing aid fit and duration of use, and (4) daily hearing aid use. Principal components analysis was also employed to examine factor loadings from spontaneous language samples and to test their correspondence with standardized measures. Multiple regression analysis was used to test for

Hearing Impairment and Incident Dementia: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Hilary R; Cadar, Dorina; Herbert, Annie; Orrell, Martin; Steptoe, Andrew

2017-09-01

To determine whether hearing loss is associated with incident physician-diagnosed dementia in a representative sample. Retrospective cohort study. English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Adults aged 50 and older. Cross-sectional associations between self-reported (n = 7,865) and objective hearing measures (n = 6,902) and dementia were examined using multinomial-logistic regression. The longitudinal association between self-reported hearing at Wave 2 (2004/05) and cumulative physician-diagnosed dementia up to Wave 7 (2014/15) was modelled using Cox proportional hazards regression. After adjustment for potential confounders, in cross-sectional analysis, participants who had self-reported or objective moderate and poor hearing were more likely to have a dementia diagnosis than those with normal hearing (self-reported: odds ratio OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1-2.4 moderate hearing; OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.7-3.9 poor hearing, objective: OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.0-2.8 moderate hearing; OR = 4.4, 95% CI = 1.9-9.9 poor hearing). Longitudinally, the hazard of developing dementia was 1.4 (95% CI = 1.0-1.9) times as high in individuals who reported moderate hearing and 1.6 (95% CI = 1.1-2.0) times as high in those who reported poor hearing. Older adults with hearing loss are at greater risk of dementia than those with normal hearing. These findings are consistent with the rationale that correction of hearing loss could help delay the onset of dementia, or that hearing loss itself could serve as a risk indicator for cognitive decline. © 2017, The Authors. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The American Geriatrics Society.

Early Detection of Hearing Impairment Among High Risk Neonates in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gurudutt Joshi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Hearing impairment has a devastating, detrimental and an invariably adverse impact on the development of the newborns and the psychological well-being of their families. It also adversely affects development of the central auditory nervous system, and can affect speech perception that interferes with growth in social, emotional, behavioural and cognitive spheres, academic achievement, vocational options, employment opportunities and economic selfsufficiency. Objectives: To find out incidence of hearing impairment in high risk neonates in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU, prevalence of hearing impairment with and without high risk factors in newborns and to correlate the risk factors with hearing impairment. Material and Methods: A cohort study was carried out at a tertiary care hospital of Surat, Gujarat, India consisting of 190 normal newborns and 163 newborns with high risk factors. These newborns underwent a systematized Transient Otoacoustic Emissions Examination (TOAE and Brain Stem Evoked Audiometry (BERA examination according to designed protocol and were followed up with repeated ear examinations. Data were recorded and analyzed statistically. Results: The incidence of hearing impairment in NICU, newborns were 3.6% and the prevalence of hearing impairment was 13%. Hearing impairment was statistically significant in newborns with high risk factors such as low birth weight, preterms 5 days when compared to normal newborns. Conclusion: Presence of risk factors in newborns predisposes them to hearing impairment more as compared to normal newborns and the more the number of risk factors they are exposed to, the more will be the chances of hearing impairment.

Binaural hearing with electrical stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kan, Alan; Litovsky, Ruth Y

2015-04-01

Bilateral cochlear implantation is becoming a standard of care in many clinics. While much benefit has been shown through bilateral implantation, patients who have bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) still do not perform as well as normal hearing listeners in sound localization and understanding speech in noisy environments. This difference in performance can arise from a number of different factors, including the areas of hardware and engineering, surgical precision and pathology of the auditory system in deaf persons. While surgical precision and individual pathology are factors that are beyond careful control, improvements can be made in the areas of clinical practice and the engineering of binaural speech processors. These improvements should be grounded in a good understanding of the sensitivities of bilateral CI patients to the acoustic binaural cues that are important to normal hearing listeners for sound localization and speech in noise understanding. To this end, we review the current state-of-the-art in the understanding of the sensitivities of bilateral CI patients to binaural cues in electric hearing, and highlight the important issues and challenges as they relate to clinical practice and the development of new binaural processing strategies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled . Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of hearing age and understanding verbal instructions in children with cochlear implants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đoković Sanja

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Hearing age is defined as a period of using any amplification. Most researches indicate that hearing age influences the developmental rate of auditory and speech-language abilities in deaf children, especially when cochlear implantation was performed before the age of three. This research is aimed at analyzing the influence of hearing age on understanding verbal instructions in children with cochlear implants. The sample consists of 23 children with cochlear implants and 21 children with normal hearing, aged between 4 and 10. Hearing age of children with cochlear implants was between 2 and 7 years. Token Test with toys, adapted for children with hearing impairments, was used to analyze understanding verbal instructions. The results indicate that there are statistically significant differences between children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing, aged between 4 and 7, on all subtests and the total score regardless of the hearing age (sub1 p<0.001, sub2 p<0.000, sub3 p<0.001, total score p<0.000. No statistically significant differences were determined on any of the subtests in children aged between 7.1 and 10, regardless of the hearing age. Comparative results analysis within the experimental group of children with different hearing age indicates that the difference in understanding verbal instructions between these two groups is not statistically significant.

Auditory preferences of young children with and without hearing loss for meaningful auditory-visual compound stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Zupan, Barbra; Sussman, Joan E

2009-01-01

Experiment 1 examined modality preferences in children and adults with normal hearing to combined auditory-visual stimuli. Experiment 2 compared modality preferences in children using cochlear implants participating in an auditory emphasized therapy approach to the children with normal hearing from Experiment 1. A second objective in both experiments was to evaluate the role of familiarity in these preferences. Participants were exposed to randomized blocks of photographs and sounds of ten familiar and ten unfamiliar animals in auditory-only, visual-only and auditory-visual trials. Results indicated an overall auditory preference in children, regardless of hearing status, and a visual preference in adults. Familiarity only affected modality preferences in adults who showed a strong visual preference to unfamiliar stimuli only. The similar degree of auditory responses in children with hearing loss to those from children with normal hearing is an original finding and lends support to an auditory emphasis for habilitation. Readers will be able to (1) Describe the pattern of modality preferences reported in young children without hearing loss; (2) Recognize that differences in communication mode may affect modality preferences in young children with hearing loss; and (3) Understand the role of familiarity in modality preferences in children with and without hearing loss.

Modeling DPOAE input/output function compression: comparisons with hearing thresholds.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhagat, Shaum P

2014-09-01

Basilar membrane input/output (I/O) functions in mammalian animal models are characterized by linear and compressed segments when measured near the location corresponding to the characteristic frequency. A method of studying basilar membrane compression indirectly in humans involves measuring distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) I/O functions. Previous research has linked compression estimates from behavioral growth-of-masking functions to hearing thresholds. The aim of this study was to compare compression estimates from DPOAE I/O functions and hearing thresholds at 1 and 2 kHz. A prospective correlational research design was performed. The relationship between DPOAE I/O function compression estimates and hearing thresholds was evaluated with Pearson product-moment correlations. Normal-hearing adults (n = 16) aged 22-42 yr were recruited. DPOAE I/O functions (L₂ = 45-70 dB SPL) and two-interval forced-choice hearing thresholds were measured in normal-hearing adults. A three-segment linear regression model applied to DPOAE I/O functions supplied estimates of compression thresholds, defined as breakpoints between linear and compressed segments and the slopes of the compressed segments. Pearson product-moment correlations between DPOAE compression estimates and hearing thresholds were evaluated. A high correlation between DPOAE compression thresholds and hearing thresholds was observed at 2 kHz, but not at 1 kHz. Compression slopes also correlated highly with hearing thresholds only at 2 kHz. The derivation of cochlear compression estimates from DPOAE I/O functions provides a means to characterize basilar membrane mechanics in humans and elucidates the role of compression in tone detection in the 1-2 kHz frequency range. American Academy of Audiology.

Enhancing Auditory Selective Attention Using a Visually Guided Hearing Aid

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, Gerald, Jr.

2017-01-01

Purpose: Listeners with hearing loss, as well as many listeners with clinically normal hearing, often experience great difficulty segregating talkers in a multiple-talker sound field and selectively attending to the desired "target" talker while ignoring the speech from unwanted "masker" talkers and other sources of sound. This…

Static and Dynamic Balance in Congenital Severe to Profound Hearing-Impaired Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farideh HajiHeydari

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Research conducted since the early 1900s has consistently identified differences between deaf and hearing children on performance of a wide variety of motor tasks, most notably balance. Our study was performed to test static and dynamic balance skills in congenital severe to profound hearing impaired children in comparison with normal age-matched children.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 30 severe to profound hearing impaired and 40 normal children with age 6 to 10 years old. Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency 2, balance subset with 9 parts was used for evaluation of balance skills.Results: Hearing-impaired children showed 16.7 to 100% fail results in 7 parts of the balance subset. In normal children fail result was revealed just in 3 parts of the balance subset from 2.5 to 57.5%, and differences between two groups were significant (p<0.0001. There was a significant difference between two groups in two static balance skills of standing on one leg on a line and standing on one leg on a balance beam with eyes closed (p<0.0001.conclusion: It seems that development of static balance skills are longer than dynamic ones. Because severe to profound hearing-impaired children showed more weakness than normal children in both static and dynamic balance abilities, functional tests of balance proficiency can help to identify balance disorders in these children.

Do Hearing Protectors Protect Hearing?

Science.gov (United States)

Groenewold, Matthew R.; Masterson, Elizabeth A.; Themann, Christa L.; Davis, Rickie R.

2015-01-01

Background We examined the association between self-reported hearing protection use at work and incidence of hearing shifts over a 5-year period. Methods Audiometric data from 19,911 workers were analyzed. Two hearing shift measures—OSHA standard threshold shift (OSTS) and high-frequency threshold shift (HFTS)—were used to identify incident shifts in hearing between workers’ 2005 and 2009 audiograms. Adjusted odds ratios were generated using multivariable logistic regression with multi-level modeling. Results The odds ratio for hearing shift for workers who reported never versus always wearing hearing protection was nonsignificant for OSTS (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92–1.64) and marginally significant for HFTS (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.00–1.59). A significant linear trend towards increased risk of HFTS with decreased use of hearing protection was observed (P = 0.02). Conclusion The study raises concern about the effectiveness of hearing protection as a substitute for noise control to prevent noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:1001–1010, 2014. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. PMID:24700499

Peripheral auditory processing and speech reception in impaired hearing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strelcyk, Olaf

One of the most common complaints of people with impaired hearing concerns their difficulty with understanding speech. Particularly in the presence of background noise, hearing-impaired people often encounter great difficulties with speech communication. In most cases, the problem persists even...... if reduced audibility has been compensated for by hearing aids. It has been hypothesized that part of the difficulty arises from changes in the perception of sounds that are well above hearing threshold, such as reduced frequency selectivity and deficits in the processing of temporal fine structure (TFS......) at the output of the inner-ear (cochlear) filters. The purpose of this work was to investigate these aspects in detail. One chapter studies relations between frequency selectivity, TFS processing, and speech reception in listeners with normal and impaired hearing, using behavioral listening experiments. While...

Assistive Technologies for Improving Communication of Hearing Impairment in the Higher Education in Panama

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lineth Alain

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The ability to communicate, specifically the gift of hearing, is a necessity often taken for granted. A lack of sense of hearing affects the intellectual and emotional development of the human being who suffers from it. It prevents the fluid exchange of knowledge, thoughts and ideas that allow personal growth and development. This article emerges due to an interest in providing assistive technologies that can be considered to improve communication among hearing impaired and normal hearing listeners in the class-room of a higher education level in the Republic of Panama. Information has been compiled from various primary and secondary sources highlighting the communication problem facing this group of disabled people. Information about the situation of hearing impairment, laws, organizations, the reality with the higher education system, and finally, we will talk about Information and Communication Technologies (TICs that will work as technology support in order to improve communication in the classroom in higher education among normal-hearing and deaf people.

Characteristics of children with unilateral hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth M; Al-Essa, Rakan S; Whittingham, JoAnne; Fitzpatrick, Jessica

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL), examine deterioration in hearing, and explore amplification decisions. Population-based data were collected prospectively from time of diagnosis. Serial audiograms and amplification details were retrospectively extracted from clinical charts to document the trajectory and management of hearing loss. The study included all children identified with UHL in one region of Canada over a 13-year period (2003-2015) after implementation of universal newborn hearing screening. Of 537 children with permanent hearing loss, 20.1% (108) presented with UHL at diagnosis. They were identified at a median age of 13.9 months (IQR: 2.8, 49.0). Children with congenital loss were identified at 2.8 months (IQR: 2.0, 3.6) and made up 47.2% (n = 51), reflecting that a substantial portion had late-onset, acquired or late-identified loss. A total of 42.4% (n = 39) showed deterioration in hearing, including 16 (17.4%) who developed bilateral loss. By study end, 73.1% (79/108) of children had received amplification recommendations. Up to 20% of children with permanent HL are first diagnosed with UHL. About 40% are at risk for deterioration in hearing either in the impaired ear and/or in the normal hearing ear.

NH4+-NH3 removal from simulated wastewater using UV-TiO2 photocatalysis: effect of co-pollutants and pH.

Science.gov (United States)

Vohra, M S; Selimuzzaman, S M; Al-Suwaiyan, M S

2010-05-01

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of titanium dioxide (TiO2) assisted photocatalytic degradation (PCD) process for the removal of ammonium-ammonia (NH4(+)-NH3) from the aqueous phase and in the presence of co-pollutants thiosulfate (S2O3(2-)) and p-cresol (C6H4CH3OH) under varying mixed conditions. For the NH4(+)-NH3 only PCD experiments, results showed higher NH4 -NH3 removal at pH 12 compared to pH 7 and 10. For the binary NH4(+)-NH3/S2O3(2-) studies the respective results indicated a significant lowering in NH4(+)-NH3 PCD in the presence of S2O32- at pH 7/12 whereas at pH 10 a marked increase in NH4(+)-NH3 removal transpired. A similar trend was noted for the p-cresol/NH4(+)-NH3 binary system. Comparing findings from the binary (NH4(+)-NH3/S2O3(2-) and p-cresol/NH4(+)-NH3) and tertiary (NH4(+)-NH3/S2O3(2-)/p-cresol) systems, at pH 10, showed fastest NH4(+)-NH3 removal transpiring for the tertiary system as compared to the binary systems, whereas both the binary systems indicated comparable NH4(+)-NH3 removal trends. The respective details have been discussed.

Rydberb bonding in (NH4)2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boldyrev, A.I.; Simons, J.

1992-01-01

Chemical binding of two monovalent Rydberg species to form a singlet-state Rydberg dimer molecule is predicted to be possible Ab initio electronic structure methods that include electron correlation (at levels up through QCISD(T)/6-31++G** MP2(full)/6-31++G** + ZPE) are shown to be essential to achieving a proper description of such bonding. The (NH 4 ) molecule, selected as the prototype for this study, is shown to be bound with respect to its Rydberg-species fragments, 2NH 4 by 7.5-9.7 kcal/mol, depending on the level of treatment of electron correlation, and to be electronically stable (by ca.4 eV) with respect to (NH 4 ) 2 + at the neutral's equilibrium geometry. The (NH 4 ) 2 Rydberg dimer is thermodynamically unstable with respect to 2NH 3 + H 2 by 86-89 kcal/mol mol yet possesses all real vibrational frequencies; it is thus a metastable molecular held together by a weak Rydberg bond. The dissociation energy of the (NH 4 ) 2 + cation to form NH 4 + + NH 4 is found to be larger than that of the neutral (NH 4 ) 2 . 12 refs., 4 figs., 9 tabs

A comparison of the effects of filtering and sensorineural hearing loss on patients of consonant confusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, M D; Reed, C M; Bilger, R C

1978-03-01

It has been found that listeners with sensorineural hearing loss who show similar patterns of consonant confusions also tend to have similar audiometric profiles. The present study determined whether normal listeners, presented with filtered speech, would produce consonant confusions similar to those previously reported for the hearing-impaired listener. Consonant confusion matrices were obtained from eight normal-hearing subjects for four sets of CV and VC nonsense syllables presented under six high-pass and six-low pass filtering conditions. Patterns of consonant confusion for each condition were described using phonological features in sequential information analysis. Severe low-pass filtering produced consonant confusions comparable to those of listeners with high-frequency hearing loss. Severe high-pass filtering gave a result comparable to that of patients with flat or rising audiograms. And, mild filtering resulted in confusion patterns comparable to those of listeners with essentially normal hearing. An explanation in terms of the spectrum, the level of speech, and the configuration of this individual listener's audiogram is given.

Increased intensity discrimination thresholds in tinnitus subjects with a normal audiogram

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Epp, Bastian; Hots, J.; Verhey, J. L.

2012-01-01

Recent auditory brain stem response measurements in tinnitus subjects with normal audiograms indicate the presence of hidden hearing loss that manifests as reduced neural output from the cochlea at high sound intensities, and results from mice suggest a link to deafferentation of auditory nerve...... fibers. As deafferentation would lead to deficits in hearing performance, the present study investigates whether tinnitus patients with normal hearing thresholds show impairment in intensity discrimination compared to an audiometrically matched control group. Intensity discrimination thresholds were...... significantly increased in the tinnitus frequency range, consistent with the hypothesis that auditory nerve fiber deafferentation is associated with tinnitus....

Binaural pitch perception in hearing-impaired listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien; Strelcyk, Olaf

2007-01-01

When two white noises differing only in phase in a particular frequency range are presented simultaneously each to one of our ears, a pitch sensation may be perceived inside the head. This phenomenon, called ’binaural pitch’ or ’dichotic pitch’, can be produced by frequency-dependent interaural...... phasedifference patterns. The evaluation of these interaural phase differences depends on the functionality of the binaural auditory system and the spectro-temporal information at its input. A melody recognition task was performed in the present study using pure-tone stimuli and six different types of noises...... that can generate a binaural pitch sensation. Normal-hearing listeners and hearing-impaired listeners with different kinds of hearing impairment participated in the experiment....

[Hearing loss and idoneity--the segnalation of noise-induced hearing loss hearing Loss].

Science.gov (United States)

Albera, Roberto; Dagna, Federico; Cassandro, Claudia; Canale, Andrea

2011-01-01

Work idoneity in hearing loss must be related to working ability and evolution risks. Working ability is referred to the difficulties found in speech comprehension and in signals perception. As regards hearing loss evolution it is necessary to define if the subject is affected by conductive or neurosensorial hearing loss. In conductive hearing loss it is necessary to evaluate entity and frequential distribution of the deficit. In neurosensorial hearing loss it is necessary to distinguish between noise-induced hearing loss and extraprofessional hearing loss. In noise-induced hearing loss the evolution risk is high if the noise exposure is less than 10-15 years or the actual noise exposure is louder than the former. In case of extraprofessional hearing loss the evolution risk is higher in presbycusis, endolymphatic hydrops and toxic hearing loss. The necessity to report the presence on professionale noise-induced hearing loss arises if audiometric threshold is more than 25 dB at 0.5-1-2-3-4 kHz and if it is verified the professional origine of hearing loss.

Relationship between conductive hearing loss and maxillary constriction.

Science.gov (United States)

Peyvandi, A A; Jamilian, A; Moradi, E

2014-09-01

To evaluate the relationship between conductive hearing loss and maxillary constriction. A total of 120 people, aged from 7 to 40 years, who were referred to an audiologist when taking out health insurance or for school pre-registration check-up, were selected for this study. A total of 60 participants who had hearing threshold levels greater than 15 dB in both ears were chosen as the conductive hearing loss group. The remaining 60, with normal hearing thresholds of less than 15 dB, were used as the control group. All participants were referred to an orthodontic clinic. Participants who had a posterior crossbite and high palatal vault were considered to suffer from maxillary constriction. There were no significant differences between the sex ratios and mean ages of the groups. However, participants with conductive hearing loss were 3.5 times more likely than controls to suffer from maxillary constriction. Patients who suffer from conductive hearing loss are likely to show a maxillary abnormality when examined by an orthodontist.

Auditory Preferences of Young Children with and without Hearing Loss for Meaningful Auditory-Visual Compound Stimuli

Science.gov (United States)

Zupan, Barbra; Sussman, Joan E.

2009-01-01

Experiment 1 examined modality preferences in children and adults with normal hearing to combined auditory-visual stimuli. Experiment 2 compared modality preferences in children using cochlear implants participating in an auditory emphasized therapy approach to the children with normal hearing from Experiment 1. A second objective in both…

The effect of different cochlear implant microphones on acoustic hearing individuals’ binaural benefits for speech perception in noise

Science.gov (United States)

Aronoff, Justin M.; Freed, Daniel J.; Fisher, Laurel M.; Pal, Ivan; Soli, Sigfrid D.

2011-01-01

Objectives Cochlear implant microphones differ in placement, frequency response, and other characteristics such as whether they are directional. Although normal hearing individuals are often used as controls in studies examining cochlear implant users’ binaural benefits, the considerable differences across cochlear implant microphones make such comparisons potentially misleading. The goal of this study was to examine binaural benefits for speech perception in noise for normal hearing individuals using stimuli processed by head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) based on the different cochlear implant microphones. Design HRTFs were created for different cochlear implant microphones and used to test participants on the Hearing in Noise Test. Experiment 1 tested cochlear implant users and normal hearing individuals with HRTF-processed stimuli and with sound field testing to determine whether the HRTFs adequately simulated sound field testing. Experiment 2 determined the measurement error and performance-intensity function for the Hearing in Noise Test with normal hearing individuals listening to stimuli processed with the various HRTFs. Experiment 3 compared normal hearing listeners’ performance across HRTFs to determine how the HRTFs affected performance. Experiment 4 evaluated binaural benefits for normal hearing listeners using the various HRTFs, including ones that were modified to investigate the contributions of interaural time and level cues. Results The results indicated that the HRTFs adequately simulated sound field testing for the Hearing in Noise Test. They also demonstrated that the test-retest reliability and performance-intensity function were consistent across HRTFs, and that the measurement error for the test was 1.3 dB, with a change in signal-to-noise ratio of 1 dB reflecting a 10% change in intelligibility. There were significant differences in performance when using the various HRTFs, with particularly good thresholds for the HRTF based on the

Evaluation of the Central Hearing Process in Parkinson Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santos, Rosane Sampaio

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Parkinson disease (PD is a degenerating disease with a deceitful character, impairing the central nervous system and causing biological, psychological and social changes. It shows motor signs and symptoms characterized by trembling, postural instability, rigidity and bradykinesia. Objective: To evaluate the central hearing function in PD patients. Method: A descriptive, prospect and transversal study, in which 10 individuals diagnosed of PD named study group (SG and 10 normally hearing individuals named control group (CG were evaluated, age average of 63.8 and (SD 5.96. Both groups went through otorhinolaryngological and ordinary audiological evaluations, and dichotic test of alternate disyllables (SSW. Results: In the quantitative analysis, CG showed 80% normality on competitive right-ear hearing (RC and 60% on the competitive left-ear hearing (LC in comparison with the SG that presented 70% on RC and 40% on LC. In the qualitative analysis, the biggest percentage of errors was evident in the SG in the order effect. The results showed a difficulty in identifying a sound when there is another competitive sound and in the memory ability. Conclusion: A qualitative and quantitative difference was observed in the SSW test between the evaluated groups, although statistical data does not show significant differences. The importance to evaluate the central hearing process is emphasized when contributing to the procedures to be taken at the therapeutic follow-up.

Music students: conventional hearing thresholds and at high frequencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Débora Lüders

2014-07-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Research has shown that hearing loss in musicians may cause difficulty in timbre recognition and tuning of instruments. AIM: To analyze the hearing thresholds from 250 Hz to 16,000 Hz in a group of music students and compare them to a non-musician group in order to determine whether high-frequency audiometry is a useful tool in the early detection of hearing impairment. METHODS: Study design was a retrospective observational cohort. Conventional and high-frequency audiometry was performed in 42 music students (Madsen Itera II audiometer and TDH39P headphones for conventional audiometry, and HDA 200 headphones for high-frequency audiometry. RESULTS: Of the 42 students, 38.1% were female students and 61.9% were male students, with a mean age of 26 years. At conventional audiometry, 92.85% had hearing thresholds within normal limits; but even within the normal limits, the worst results were observed in the left ear for all frequencies, except for 4000 Hz; compared to the non-musician group, the worst results occurred at 500 Hz in the left ear, and at 250 Hz, 6000 Hz, 9000 Hz, 10,000 Hz, and 11,200 Hz in both the ears. CONCLUSION: The periodic evaluation of high-frequency thresholds may be useful in the early detection of hearing loss in musicians.

Auditory perceptual learning in adults with and without age-related hearing loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanin eKarawani

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Speech recognition in adverse listening conditions becomes more difficult as we age, particularly for individuals with age-related hearing loss (ARHL. Whether these difficulties can be eased with training remains debated, because it is not clear whether the outcomes are sufficiently general to be of use outside of the training context. The aim of the current study was to compare training-induced learning and generalization between normal-hearing older adults and those with ARHL.Methods: 56 listeners (60-72 y/o, 35 participants with ARHL and 21 normal hearing adults participated in the study. The study design was a cross over design with three groups (immediate-training, delayed-training and no-training group. Trained participants received 13 sessions of home-based auditory training over the course of 4 weeks. Three adverse listening conditions were targeted: (1 Speech-in-noise (2 time compressed speech and (3 competing speakers, and the outcomes of training were compared between normal and ARHL groups. Pre- and post-test sessions were completed by all participants. Outcome measures included tests on all of the trained conditions as well as on a series of untrained conditions designed to assess the transfer of learning to other speech and non-speech conditions. Results: Significant improvements on all trained conditions were observed in both ARHL and normal-hearing groups over the course of training. Normal hearing participants learned more than participants with ARHL in the speech-in-noise condition, but showed similar patterns of learning in the other conditions. Greater pre- to post-test changes were observed in trained than in untrained listeners on all trained conditions. In addition, the ability of trained listeners from the ARHL group to discriminate minimally different pseudowords in noise also improved with training. Conclusions: ARHL did not preclude auditory perceptual learning but there was little generalization to

Is All Human Hearing Cochlear?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyede Faranak Emami

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the possibility that the saccule may contribute to human hearing. The forty participants included twenty healthy people and twenty other subjects selected from patients who presented with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo to Audiology Department of Hazrat Rasoul Akram hospital (Tehran, Iran. Assessments comprised of audiological evaluations, cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs, recognition of spoken phonemes in white noise (Rsp in wn, and auditory brainstem response to 500 Hz tone burst (ABR500 HZ. Twenty affected ears with decreased vestibular excitability as detected by abnormal cVEMPs revealed decreased scores of Rsp in wn and abnormal findings of ABR500 HZ. Both unaffected and normal ears had normal results. Multiple comparisons of mean values of cVEMPs and ABR500 HZ between three groups were significant (P<0.05, ANOVA. The correlation between RSP in wn and p13 latencies was significant. The peak-to-peak amplitudes showed significant correlation to RSP in wn. The correlation between RSP in wn and the latencies of n23 was significant. In high-level of noisy competing situations, healthy human saccular sensation can mediate the detection of low frequencies and possibly help in cochlear hearing for frequency and intensity discrimination. So, all human hearing is not cochlear.

Searching for sources of variance in speech recognition: Young adults with normal hearing

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Charles S.; Kidd, Gary R.

2005-04-01

In the present investigation, sensory-perceptual abilities of one thousand young adults with normal hearing are being evaluated with a range of auditory, visual, and cognitive measures. Four auditory measures were derived from factor-analytic analyses of previous studies with 18-20 speech and non-speech variables [G. R. Kidd et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108, 2641 (2000)]. Two measures of visual acuity are obtained to determine whether variation in sensory skills tends to exist primarily within or across sensory modalities. A working memory test, grade point average, and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores (Verbal and Quantitative) are also included. Preliminary multivariate analyses support previous studies of individual differences in auditory abilities (e.g., A. M. Surprenant and C. S. Watson, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 2085-2095 (2001)] which found that spectral and temporal resolving power obtained with pure tones and more complex unfamiliar stimuli have little or no correlation with measures of speech recognition under difficult listening conditions. The current findings show that visual acuity, working memory, and intellectual measures are also very poor predictors of speech recognition ability, supporting the independence of this processing skill. Remarkable performance by some exceptional listeners will be described. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research, Award No. N000140310644.

Effects of long-term non-traumatic noise exposure on the adult central auditory system. Hearing problems without hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Eggermont, Jos J

2017-09-01

It is known that hearing loss induces plastic changes in the brain, causing loudness recruitment and hyperacusis, increased spontaneous firing rates and neural synchrony, reorganizations of the cortical tonotopic maps, and tinnitus. Much less in known about the central effects of exposure to sounds that cause a temporary hearing loss, affect the ribbon synapses in the inner hair cells, and cause a loss of high-threshold auditory nerve fibers. In contrast there is a wealth of information about central effects of long-duration sound exposures at levels ≤80 dB SPL that do not even cause a temporary hearing loss. The central effects for these moderate level exposures described in this review include changes in central gain, increased spontaneous firing rates and neural synchrony, and reorganization of the cortical tonotopic map. A putative mechanism is outlined, and the effect of the acoustic environment during the recovery process is illustrated. Parallels are drawn with hearing problems in humans with long-duration exposures to occupational noise but with clinical normal hearing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new NH 3 orbital of the NH 3/Ni(110) surface observed by metastable quenching spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Lihwa; Arias, Jose; Hanrahan, Ciaran; Martin, Richard M.; Metiu, Horia

1986-01-01

By using metastable quenching spectroscopy we have found a new NH 3 filled orbital (in the language of one electron theory) for NH 3/Ni(110), located at the Fermi level of the surface. The orbital is not observed when NH 3 is adsorbed on Ni(110), but it is detected for NH 3 adsorbed on polycrystalline Al.

Clinical study on unilateral hearing loss in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masuda, Sawako; Usui, Satoko

2007-01-01

A series of 60 children was studied (aged 0 to 10 years, 32 boys, 28 girls) with severe unilateral sensorineural hearing loss of unknown etiology. There were two peaks, at 0 and 6 years. In 19 children, hearing loss was identified during a conservative general health checkup for school or preschool children. In 21 children aged 0 years, 16 were suspected of hearing loss by newborn hearing screening. Temporal bone computed tomography scans were examined in 51 patients. Sixteen ears (31.4%) with hearing loss had inner ear and/or internal auditory canal abnormalities. In one patient, the anomaly was the presence of a bony wall dividing the internal auditory canal into two separate compartments associated with severe inner ear hypoplasia. Two patients had a common cavity. In one of these patients, the anomaly was revealed because of severe bacterial meningitis, and another was detected by newborn hearing screening. Six patients had a narrow internal auditory canal, 4 had a narrow internal auditory canal and hypoplastic cochlea, and 1 had a narrow internal auditory canal and cystic vestibule, and lateral semicircular canal dysplasia. Two patients had a cystic vestibule and lateral semicircular canal dysplasia. One case showed fluctuation of the hearing level in the contralateral ear with normal hearing during the observation period at an average of 20 months. The number of children whose unilateral hearing loss is detected early by newborn hearing screening has enormously increased. Strategies for follow-up, early intervention, and support for families are necessary for young children with unilateral hearing impairment. (author)

Crystal structure of [UO2(NH35]NO3·NH3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Woidy

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Pentaammine dioxide uranium(V nitrate ammonia (1/1, [UO2(NH35]NO3·NH3, was obtained in the form of yellow crystals from the reaction of caesium uranyl nitrate, Cs[UO2(NO33], and uranium tetrafluoride, UF4, in dry liquid ammonia. The [UO2]+ cation is coordinated by five ammine ligands. The resulting [UO2(NH35] coordination polyhedron is best described as a pentagonal bipyramid with the O atoms forming the apices. In the crystal, numerous N—H...N and N—H...O hydrogen bonds are present between the cation, anion and solvent molecules, leading to a three-dimensional network.

Influence of hearing loss on children’s identification of spondee words in a speech-shaped noise or a two-talker masker

Science.gov (United States)

Leibold, Lori J.; Hillock-Dunn, Andrea; Duncan, Nicole; Roush, Patricia A.; Buss, Emily

2013-01-01

This study compared spondee identification performance in presence of speech-shaped noise or two competing talkers across children with hearing loss and age-matched children with normal hearing. The results showed a greater masking effect for children with hearing loss compared to children with normal hearing for both masker conditions. However, the magnitude of this group difference was significantly larger for the two-talker compared to the speech-shaped noise masker. These results support the hypothesis that hearing loss influences children’s perceptual processing abilities. PMID:23492919

Structural determinants of NH3 and NH4+ transport by mouse Rhbg, a renal Rh glycoprotein.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulnour-Nakhoul, Solange; Le, Trang; Rabon, Edd; Hamm, L Lee; Nakhoul, Nazih L

2016-12-01

Renal Rhbg is localized to the basolateral membrane of intercalated cells and is involved in NH 3 /NH 4 + transport. The structure of Rhbg is not yet resolved; however, a high-resolution crystal structure of AmtB, a bacterial homolog of Rh, has been determined. We aligned the sequence of Rhbg to that of AmtB and identified important sites of Rhbg that may affect transport. Our analysis positioned three conserved amino acids, histidine 183 (H183), histidine 342 (H342), and tryptophan 230 (W230), within the hydrophobic pore where they presumably serve to control NH 3 transport. A fourth residue, phenylalanine 128 (F128) was positioned at the upper vestibule, presumably contributing to recruitment of NH 4 + We generated three mutations each of H183, H342, W230, and F128 and expressed them in frog oocytes. Immunolabeling showed that W230 and F128 mutants were localized to the cell membrane, whereas H183 and H342 staining was diffuse and mostly intracellular. To determine function, we compared measurements of NH 3 /NH 4 + and methyl amine (MA)/methyl ammonium (MA + )-induced currents, intracellular pH, and surface pH (pHs) among oocytes expressing the mutants, Rhbg, or injected with H 2 O. In H183 and W230 mutants, NH 4 + -induced current and intracellular acidification were inhibited compared with that of Rhbg, and MA-induced intracellular alkalinization was completely absent. Expression of H183A or W230A mutants inhibited NH 3 /NH 4 + - and MA/MA + -induced decrease in pHs to the level observed in H 2 O-injected oocytes. Mutations of F128 did not significantly affect transport of NH 3 or NH 4 + These data demonstrated that mutating H183 or W230 caused loss of function but not F128. H183 and H342 may affect membrane expression of the transporter.

Crystal structure and characterization of the novel NH+⋯N hydrogen bonded polar crystal [NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wojtaś, M.; Gagor, A.; Czupiński, O.; Medycki, W.; Jakubas, R.

2012-01-01

Dielectric properties and phase transitions of the piperazinium tetrafluoroborate ([NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH][BF 4 ], abbreviated as PFB) crystal are related to the one-dimensional arrangement of the cations linked by the bistable NH + ⋯N hydrogen bonds and molecular motions of the [BF 4 ] − units. The crystal structure of [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH][BF 4 ] is monoclinic at room temperature with the polar space group Pn. The polar/acentric properties of the room temperature phase IV have been confirmed by the piezoelectric and pyroelectric measurements. DSC measurements show that the compound undergoes three first-order structural phase transitions: at 421/411 K (heating/cooling), at 386/372 K and at 364/349 K. 1 H and 19 F NMR measurements indicate the reorientational motions of [BF 4 ] − anions and piperazinium(+) cations as well as the proton motion in the hydrogen-bonded chains of piperazine along the [001] direction. Over the phase I the isotropic reorientational motions or even self-diffusion of the cations and anions are expected. The conductivity measurements in the vicinity of the II–I PT indicate a superionic phase over the phase I. - Graphical abstract: It must be emphasized that the titled compound represents the first organic–inorganic simple salt containing the single-protonated piperazinium cation which was studied by means of the wide variety of experimental techniques. A survey of Cambridge Structural Database (CSD version 5.32 (November 2010) and updates (May 2011)) for structure containing the piperazinium cations yields 248 compounds with the doubly protonated piperazinium(2+) cations and only eight compounds with the singly protonated piperazinium(+) cations. Among these structures only one is the hybrid organic–inorganic material. This is piperazinium nitrate characterized structurally. The crystal packing of [NH 2 (CH 2 ) 4 NH][BF 4 ], phase IV. The dashed lines stand for the hydrogen bonds. The hydrogen bonds to BF4 groups are not included for

Crystal structure and characterization of the novel NH+⋯N hydrogen bonded polar crystal [NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtaś, M.; Gaģor, A.; Czupiński, O.; Medycki, W.; Jakubas, R.

2012-03-01

Dielectric properties and phase transitions of the piperazinium tetrafluoroborate ([NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4], abbreviated as PFB) crystal are related to the one-dimensional arrangement of the cations linked by the bistable NH+⋯N hydrogen bonds and molecular motions of the [BF4]- units. The crystal structure of [NH2(CH2)4NH][BF4] is monoclinic at room temperature with the polar space group Pn. The polar/acentric properties of the room temperature phase IV have been confirmed by the piezoelectric and pyroelectric measurements. DSC measurements show that the compound undergoes three first-order structural phase transitions: at 421/411 K (heating/cooling), at 386/372 K and at 364/349 K. 1H and 19F NMR measurements indicate the reorientational motions of [BF4]- anions and piperazinium(+) cations as well as the proton motion in the hydrogen-bonded chains of piperazine along the [001] direction. Over the phase I the isotropic reorientational motions or even self-diffusion of the cations and anions are expected. The conductivity measurements in the vicinity of the II-I PT indicate a superionic phase over the phase I.

Communication: Equivalence between symmetric and antisymmetric stretching modes of NH3 in promoting H + NH3 → H2 + NH2 reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hongwei; Yang, Minghui; Guo, Hua

2016-10-01

Vibrational excitations of reactants sometimes promote reactions more effectively than the same amount of translational energy. Such mode specificity provides insights into the transition-state modulation of reactivity and might be used to control chemical reactions. We report here a state-of-the-art full-dimensional quantum dynamical study of the hydrogen abstraction reaction H + NH3 → H2 + NH2 on an accurate ab initio based global potential energy surface. This reaction serves as an ideal candidate to study the relative efficacies of symmetric and degenerate antisymmetric stretching modes. Strong mode specificity, particularly for the NH3 stretching modes, is demonstrated. It is further shown that nearly identical efficacies of the symmetric and antisymmetric stretching modes of NH3 in promoting the reaction can be understood in terms of local-mode stretching vibrations of the reactant molecule.

The missing link in language development of deaf and hard of hearing children: pragmatic language development.

Science.gov (United States)

Goberis, Dianne; Beams, Dinah; Dalpes, Molly; Abrisch, Amanda; Baca, Rosalinda; Yoshinaga-Itano, Christine

2012-11-01

This article will provide information about the Pragmatics Checklist, which consists of 45 items and is scored as: (1) not present, (2) present but preverbal, (3) present with one to three words, and (4) present with complex language. Information for both children who are deaf or hard of hearing and those with normal hearing are presented. Children who are deaf or hard of hearing are significantly older when demonstrating skill with complex language than their normal hearing peers. In general, even at the age of 7 years, there are several items that are not mastered by 75% of the deaf or hard of hearing children. Additionally, the article will provide some suggestions of strategies that can be considered as a means to facilitate the development of these pragmatic language skills for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Aquaporin 4 as a NH3 Channel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Assentoft, Mette; Kaptan, Shreyas; Schneider, Hans-Peter

2016-01-01

-brain-interface, participate in the exchange of ammonia, which is required to sustain the glutamate-glutamine cycle. Here we observe that AQP4-expressing Xenopus oocytes display a reflection coefficient NH4Cl at pH 8.0, at which pH an increased amount of the ammonia occurs in the form of NH3 Taken together with an NH4......Cl-mediated intracellular alkalization (or lesser acidification) of AQP4-expressing oocytes, these data suggest that NH3 is able to permeate the pore of AQP4. Exposure to NH4Cl increased the membrane currents to a similar extent in uninjected oocytes and in oocytes expressing AQP4, indicating...... that the ionic NH4 (+) did not permeate AQP4. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed partial pore permeation events of NH3 but not of NH4 (+) and a reduced energy barrier for NH3 permeation through AQP4 compared with that of a cholesterol-containing lipid bilayer, suggesting AQP4 as a favored transmembrane...

Heterogeneous reactions between ions NH3+and NH+andhydrocarbons adsorbed on a tungsten surface.Formation of HCN+in NH+-surface hydrocarbon collisions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Harnisch, M.; Scheier, P.; Herman, Zdeněk

2015-01-01

Roč. 392, DEC 2015 (2015), s. 139-144 ISSN 1387-3806 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : ion-surface collisions * NH3+ and NH+projectiles * surface hydrocarbons Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.183, year: 2015

Rapid Ammonia Gas Transport Accounts for Futile Transmembrane Cycling under NH3/NH4+ Toxicity in Plant Roots1[C][W

Science.gov (United States)

Coskun, Devrim; Britto, Dev T.; Li, Mingyuan; Becker, Alexander; Kronzucker, Herbert J.

2013-01-01

Futile transmembrane NH3/NH4+ cycling in plant root cells, characterized by extremely rapid fluxes and high efflux to influx ratios, has been successfully linked to NH3/NH4+ toxicity. Surprisingly, the fundamental question of which species of the conjugate pair (NH3 or NH4+) participates in such fluxes is unresolved. Using flux analyses with the short-lived radioisotope 13N and electrophysiological, respiratory, and histochemical measurements, we show that futile cycling in roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings is predominately of the gaseous NH3 species, rather than the NH4+ ion. Influx of 13NH3/13NH4+, which exceeded 200 µmol g–1 h–1, was not commensurate with membrane depolarization or increases in root respiration, suggesting electroneutral NH3 transport. Influx followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics for NH3 (but not NH4+), as a function of external concentration (Km = 152 µm, Vmax = 205 µmol g–1 h–1). Efflux of 13NH3/13NH4+ responded with a nearly identical Km. Pharmacological characterization of influx and efflux suggests mediation by aquaporins. Our study fundamentally revises the futile-cycling model by demonstrating that NH3 is the major permeating species across both plasmalemma and tonoplast of root cells under toxicity conditions. PMID:24134887

Classification of Hearing Loss Disorders Using Teoae-Based Descriptors

Science.gov (United States)

Hatzopoulos, Stavros Dimitris

Transiently Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE) are signals produced by the cochlea upon stimulation by an acoustic click. Within the context of this dissertation, it was hypothesized that the relationship between the TEOAEs and the functional status of the OHCs provided an opportunity for designing a TEOAE-based clinical procedure that could be used to assess cochlear function. To understand the nature of the TEOAE signals in the time and the frequency domain several different analyses were performed. Using normative Input-Output (IO) curves, short-time FFT analyses and cochlear computer simulations, it was found that for optimization of the hearing loss classification it is necessary to use a complete 20 ms TEOAE segment. It was also determined that various 2-D filtering methods (median and averaging filtering masks, LP-FFT) used to enhance of the TEOAE S/N offered minimal improvement (less than 6 dB per stimulus level). Higher S/N improvements resulted in TEOAE sequences that were over-smoothed. The final classification algorithm was based on a statistical analysis of raw FFT data and when applied to a sample set of clinically obtained TEOAE recordings (from 56 normal and 66 hearing-loss subjects) correctly identified 94.3% of the normal and 90% of the hearing loss subjects, at the 80 dB SPL stimulus level. To enhance the discrimination between the conductive and the sensorineural populations, data from the 68 dB SPL stimulus level were used, which yielded a normal classification of 90.2%, a hearing loss classification of 87.5% and a conductive-sensorineural classification of 87%. Among the hearing-loss populations the best discrimination was obtained in the group of otosclerosis and the worst in the group of acute acoustic trauma.

Interaction between diabetes mellitus and hypertension on risk of hearing loss in highly endogamous population.

Science.gov (United States)

Bener, Abdulbari; Al-Hamaq, Abdulla O A A; Abdulhadi, Khalid; Salahaldin, Ahmed H; Gansan, Loida

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hearing loss and its association with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a highly endogamous population. This is a cross-sectional study. The present study is carried out in Ear Nose Throat (ENT) and Endocrinology outpatient clinics of the Hamad General and Rumeilah Hospitals, Hamad Medical Corporation. All subjects aged between 20 and 59 years who visited the Endocrinology and ENT outpatient clinics of the Hamad Medical Corporation with hearing difficulty were included in this study during the period from January 2013 to July 2014. During the study period, prevalence, hearing, audiological test, family history and medical problems associated with hearing impairment in middle aged patients were recorded. Two audiometers Grason Stadler GSI 61 and Madsen Orbiter 922 were used to evaluate the hearing loss. Majority of the hearing loss observed at the age above 45 years old, (44.8% vs 51.7%, p=0.05). The prevalence of hearing impairment was higher in Qataris than in non-Qataris (59.7% vs 46.6%, pdiabetes onset duration (7.8±4.12years), sleeping disorder (5.81±1.29h), obese subjects (38% vs 27.4%); family history of diabetes (30.6 vs 23.1%) were higher among hearing impairment. The associated risk factors were significantly higher in T2DM with hearing loss, hypoglycemia (32.8% vs 27.4%), retinopathy (313% vs 18.5%), Nephropathy (17.9% vs 9.8%), Neuropathy (17.9% vs 10.2%), macro-vascular disease (11.9% vs 6.2%), diabetic foot ulcer (20.9% vs 12.6%), Tinnitus (68.7% vs 51.3%), and Vertigo (25.4% vs 16.9%) than in normal hearing diabetes. There was a statistically significant differences between hearing impairment and normal hearing among T2DM regarding hearing assessment frequency (p=0.041). There were statistically significant differences between hearing impairment versus normal hearing for vitamin D [18.91±7.65ng/mL vs 22.85±9.00ng/mL; pdiabetic patients. The current study results confirm previous reports

Analysis of army-wide hearing conservation database for hearing profiles related to crew-served and individual weapon systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William A Ahroon

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Damage-risk criteria (DRC for noise exposures are designed to protect 95% of the exposed populations from hearing injuries caused by those noise exposures. The current DRC used by the US military follows OSHA guidelines for continuous noise. The current military DRC for impulse exposures follows the recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council Committee on Hearing, Bioacoustics, and Biomechanics (CHABA and are contained in the current military standard, MIL-STD-1474D "Noise Limits." Suggesting that the MIL-STD for impulse exposure is too stringent, various individuals have proposed that the DRC for exposure to high-level impulses be relaxed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current hearing status of US Army Soldiers, some of whom can be, by their military occupational specialties (MOS, reasonably expected to be routinely exposed to high-level impulses from weapon systems. The Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System - Hearing Conservation (DOEHRS-HC was queried for the hearing status of enlisted Soldiers of 32 different MOSs. The results indicated that less than 95% of the Soldiers in the DOEHRS-HC database were classified as having normal hearing. In other words, the goal of the DRC used for limiting noise injuries (from continuous and impulse exposures was not stringent enough to prevent hearing injuries in all but the most susceptible Soldiers. These results suggest that the current military noise DRC should not be relaxed.

Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Spoken Language: Initial Findings From the Early Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Werfel, Krystal L

2017-10-05

The purpose of this study was to compare change in emergent literacy skills of preschool children with and without hearing loss over a 6-month period. Participants included 19 children with hearing loss and 14 children with normal hearing. Children with hearing loss used amplification and spoken language. Participants completed measures of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge twice at a 6-month interval. A series of repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare change across groups. Main effects of time were observed for all variables except phonological recoding. Main effects of group were observed for vocabulary, morphosyntax, phonological memory, and concepts of print. Interaction effects were observed for phonological awareness and concepts of print. Children with hearing loss performed more poorly than children with normal hearing on measures of oral language, phonological memory, and conceptual print knowledge. Two interaction effects were present. For phonological awareness and concepts of print, children with hearing loss demonstrated less positive change than children with normal hearing. Although children with hearing loss generally demonstrated a positive growth in emergent literacy skills, their initial performance was lower than that of children with normal hearing, and rates of change were not sufficient to catch up to the peers over time.

Hearing aid fitting in older persons with hearing impairment: the influence of cognitive function, age, and hearing loss on hearing aid benefit.

Science.gov (United States)

Meister, Hartmut; Rählmann, Sebastian; Walger, Martin; Margolf-Hackl, Sabine; Kießling, Jürgen

2015-01-01

To examine the association of cognitive function, age, and hearing loss with clinically assessed hearing aid benefit in older hearing-impaired persons. Hearing aid benefit was assessed using objective measures regarding speech recognition in quiet and noisy environments as well as a subjective measure reflecting everyday situations captured using a standardized questionnaire. A broad range of general cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and intelligence were determined using different neuropsychological tests. Linear regression analyses were conducted with the outcome of the neuropsychological tests as well as age and hearing loss as independent variables and the benefit measures as dependent variables. Thirty experienced older hearing aid users with typical age-related hearing impairment participated. Most of the benefit measures revealed that the participants obtained significant improvement with their hearing aids. Regression models showed a significant relationship between a fluid intelligence measure and objective hearing aid benefit. When individual hearing thresholds were considered as an additional independent variable, hearing loss was the only significant contributor to the benefit models. Lower cognitive capacity - as determined by the fluid intelligence measure - was significantly associated with greater hearing loss. Subjective benefit could not be predicted by any of the variables considered. The present study does not give evidence that hearing aid benefit is critically associated with cognitive function in experienced hearing aid users. However, it was found that lower fluid intelligence scores were related to higher hearing thresholds. Since greater hearing loss was associated with a greater objective benefit, these results strongly support the advice of using hearing aids regardless of age and cognitive function to counter hearing loss and the adverse effects of age-related hearing impairment. Still, individual cognitive capacity might

Speech perception benefits of internet versus conventional telephony for hearing-impaired individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantokoudis, Georgios; Dubach, Patrick; Pfiffner, Flurin; Kompis, Martin; Caversaccio, Marco; Senn, Pascal

2012-07-16

Telephone communication is a challenge for many hearing-impaired individuals. One important technical reason for this difficulty is the restricted frequency range (0.3-3.4 kHz) of conventional landline telephones. Internet telephony (voice over Internet protocol [VoIP]) is transmitted with a larger frequency range (0.1-8 kHz) and therefore includes more frequencies relevant to speech perception. According to a recently published, laboratory-based study, the theoretical advantage of ideal VoIP conditions over conventional telephone quality has translated into improved speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals. However, the speech perception benefits of nonideal VoIP network conditions, which may occur in daily life, have not been explored. VoIP use cannot be recommended to hearing-impaired individuals before its potential under more realistic conditions has been examined. To compare realistic VoIP network conditions, under which digital data packets may be lost, with ideal conventional telephone quality with respect to their impact on speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals. We assessed speech perception using standardized test material presented under simulated VoIP conditions with increasing digital data packet loss (from 0% to 20%) and compared with simulated ideal conventional telephone quality. We monaurally tested 10 adult users of cochlear implants, 10 adult users of hearing aids, and 10 normal-hearing adults in the free sound field, both in quiet and with background noise. Across all participant groups, mean speech perception scores using VoIP with 0%, 5%, and 10% packet loss were 15.2% (range 0%-53%), 10.6% (4%-46%), and 8.8% (7%-33%) higher, respectively, than with ideal conventional telephone quality. Speech perception did not differ between VoIP with 20% packet loss and conventional telephone quality. The maximum benefits were observed under ideal VoIP conditions without packet loss and were 36% (P = .001) for cochlear implant users, 18

Peripheral hearing loss reduces the ability of children to direct selective attention during multi-talker listening.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Emma; Kitterick, Padraig T; Summerfield, A Quentin

2017-07-01

Restoring normal hearing requires knowledge of how peripheral and central auditory processes are affected by hearing loss. Previous research has focussed primarily on peripheral changes following sensorineural hearing loss, whereas consequences for central auditory processing have received less attention. We examined the ability of hearing-impaired children to direct auditory attention to a voice of interest (based on the talker's spatial location or gender) in the presence of a common form of background noise: the voices of competing talkers (i.e. during multi-talker, or "Cocktail Party" listening). We measured brain activity using electro-encephalography (EEG) when children prepared to direct attention to the spatial location or gender of an upcoming target talker who spoke in a mixture of three talkers. Compared to normally-hearing children, hearing-impaired children showed significantly less evidence of preparatory brain activity when required to direct spatial attention. This finding is consistent with the idea that hearing-impaired children have a reduced ability to prepare spatial attention for an upcoming talker. Moreover, preparatory brain activity was not restored when hearing-impaired children listened with their acoustic hearing aids. An implication of these findings is that steps to improve auditory attention alongside acoustic hearing aids may be required to improve the ability of hearing-impaired children to understand speech in the presence of competing talkers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formal auditory training in adult hearing aid users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Gil

2010-01-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Individuals with sensorineural hearing loss are often able to regain some lost auditory function with the help of hearing aids. However, hearing aids are not able to overcome auditory distortions such as impaired frequency resolution and speech understanding in noisy environments. The coexistence of peripheral hearing loss and a central auditory deficit may contribute to patient dissatisfaction with amplification, even when audiological tests indicate nearly normal hearing thresholds. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to validate the effects of a formal auditory training program in adult hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. METHODS: Fourteen bilateral hearing aid users were divided into two groups: seven who received auditory training and seven who did not. The training program was designed to improve auditory closure, figure-to-ground for verbal and nonverbal sounds and temporal processing (frequency and duration of sounds. Pre- and post-training evaluations included measuring electrophysiological and behavioral auditory processing and administration of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB self-report scale. RESULTS: The post-training evaluation of the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in P3 latency, improved performance in some of the behavioral auditory processing tests and higher hearing aid benefit in noisy situations (p-value < 0,05. No changes were noted for the control group (p-value <0,05. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that auditory training in adult hearing aid users can lead to a reduction in P3 latency, improvements in sound localization, memory for nonverbal sounds in sequence, auditory closure, figure-to-ground for verbal sounds and greater benefits in reverberant and noisy environments.

Nonorganic hearing loss in children: audiometry, clinical characteristics, biographical history and recovery of hearing thresholds.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Claus-Michael; am Zehnhoff-Dinnesen, Antoinette; Matulat, Peter; Knief, Arne; Rosslau, Ken; Deuster, Dirk

2013-07-01

The term "nonorganic hearing loss" (NOHL) (pseudohypacusis, functional or psychogenic hearing loss) describes a hearing loss without a detectable corresponding pathology in the auditory system. It is characterized by a discrepancy between elevated pure tone audiometry thresholds and normal speech discrimination. The recommended audiological management of NOHL in children comprises history taking, diagnosis, and counseling. According to the literature, prognosis depends on the severity of the patient's school and/or personal problems. Routine referral to a child psychiatrist is discussed as being controversial. The clinical history of 34 children with NOHL was retrospectively evaluated. In 15 children, follow up audiometry was performed. Results of biographical history, subjective and objective audiometry, additional speech and language assessment, psychological investigations and follow up audiometry are presented and discussed. The prevalence of NOHL was 1.8% in children with suspected hearing loss. Mean age at diagnosis was 10.8 years. Girls were twice as often affected as boys. Patient history showed a high prevalence of emotional and school problems. Pre-existing organic hearing loss can be worsened by nonorganic causes. Children with a fast recovery of hearing thresholds (n=6) showed a high rate (4/6) of family, social and emotional problems. In children with continuous threshold elevation (n=9), biographical history showed no recognizable or obvious family, social or emotional problems; learning disability (4/9) was the most frequently presented characteristic. Due to advances in objective audiometry, the diagnosis of NOHL is less challenging than management and counseling. Considering the high frequency of personal and school problems, a multidisciplinary setting is helpful. On the basis of our results, drawing conclusions from hearing threshold recovery on the severity of underlying psychic problems seems inappropriate. As a consequence, a referral to a

Efficient estimates of cochlear hearing loss parameters in individual listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fereczkowski, Michal; Jepsen, Morten Løve; Dau, Torsten

2013-01-01

It has been suggested that the level corresponding to the knee-point of the basilar membrane (BM) input/output (I/O) function can be used to estimate the amount of inner- and outer hair-cell loss (IHL, OHL) in listeners with a moderate cochlear hearing impairment Plack et al. (2004). According...... to Jepsen and Dau (2011) IHL + OHL = HLT [dB], where HLT stands for total hearing loss. Hence having estimates of the total hearing loss and OHC loss, one can estimate the IHL. In the present study, results from forward masking experiments based on temporal masking curves (TMC; Nelson et al., 2001...... estimates of the knee-point level. Further, it is explored whether it is possible to estimate the compression ratio using only on-frequency TMCs. 10 normal-hearing and 10 hearing-impaired listeners (with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss) were tested at 1, 2 and 4 kHz. The results showed...

Music students: conventional hearing thresholds and at high frequencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lüders, Débora; Gonçalves, Cláudia Giglio de Oliveira; Lacerda, Adriana Bender de Moreira; Ribas, Ângela; Conto, Juliana de

2014-01-01

Research has shown that hearing loss in musicians may cause difficulty in timbre recognition and tuning of instruments. To analyze the hearing thresholds from 250 Hz to 16,000 Hz in a group of music students and compare them to a non-musician group in order to determine whether high-frequency audiometry is a useful tool in the early detection of hearing impairment. Study design was a retrospective observational cohort. Conventional and high-frequency audiometry was performed in 42 music students (Madsen Itera II audiometer and TDH39P headphones for conventional audiometry, and HDA 200 headphones for high-frequency audiometry). Of the 42 students, 38.1% were female students and 61.9% were male students, with a mean age of 26 years. At conventional audiometry, 92.85% had hearing thresholds within normal limits; but even within the normal limits, the worst results were observed in the left ear for all frequencies, except for 4000 Hz; compared to the non-musician group, the worst results occurred at 500 Hz in the left ear, and at 250 Hz, 6000 Hz, 9000 Hz, 10,000 Hz, and 11,200 Hz in both the ears. The periodic evaluation of high-frequency thresholds may be useful in the early detection of hearing loss in musicians. Copyright © 2014 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Audiovisual sentence repetition as a clinical criterion for auditory development in Persian-language children with hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Oryadi-Zanjani, Mohammad Majid; Vahab, Maryam; Rahimi, Zahra; Mayahi, Anis

2017-02-01

It is important for clinician such as speech-language pathologists and audiologists to develop more efficient procedures to assess the development of auditory, speech and language skills in children using hearing aid and/or cochlear implant compared to their peers with normal hearing. So, the aim of study was the comparison of the performance of 5-to-7-year-old Persian-language children with and without hearing loss in visual-only, auditory-only, and audiovisual presentation of sentence repetition task. The research was administered as a cross-sectional study. The sample size was 92 Persian 5-7 year old children including: 60 with normal hearing and 32 with hearing loss. The children with hearing loss were recruited from Soroush rehabilitation center for Persian-language children with hearing loss in Shiraz, Iran, through consecutive sampling method. All the children had unilateral cochlear implant or bilateral hearing aid. The assessment tool was the Sentence Repetition Test. The study included three computer-based experiments including visual-only, auditory-only, and audiovisual. The scores were compared within and among the three groups through statistical tests in α = 0.05. The score of sentence repetition task between V-only, A-only, and AV presentation was significantly different in the three groups; in other words, the highest to lowest scores belonged respectively to audiovisual, auditory-only, and visual-only format in the children with normal hearing (P audiovisual sentence repetition scores in all the 5-to-7-year-old children (r = 0.179, n = 92, P = 0.088), but audiovisual sentence repetition scores were found to be strongly correlated with auditory-only scores in all the 5-to-7-year-old children (r = 0.943, n = 92, P = 0.000). According to the study's findings, audiovisual integration occurs in the 5-to-7-year-old Persian children using hearing aid or cochlear implant during sentence repetition similar to their peers with normal hearing

Parallel Changes in Intracellular Water Volume and pH Induced by NH3/NH4+ Exposure in Single Neuroblastoma Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor M. Blanco

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Increased blood levels of ammonia (NH3 and ammonium (NH4+, i.e. hyperammonemia, leads to cellular brain edema in humans with acute liver failure. The pathophysiology of this edema is poorly understood. This is partly due to incomplete understanding of the osmotic effects of the pair NH3/NH4+ at the cellular and molecular levels. Cell exposure to solutions containing NH3/NH4+ elicits changes in intracellular pH (pHi, which can in turn affect cell water volume (CWV by activating transport mechanisms that produce net gain or loss of solutes and water. The occurrence of CWV changes caused by NH3/NH4+ has long been suspected, but the mechanisms, magnitude and kinetics of these changes remain unknown. Methods: Using fluorescence imaging microscopy we measured, in real time, parallel changes in pHi and CWV caused by brief exposure to NH3/NH4+ of single cells (N1E-115 neuroblastoma or NG-108 neuroblastoma X glioma loaded with the fluorescent indicator BCECF. Changes in CWV were measured by exciting BCECF at its intracellular isosbestic wavelength (∼438 nm, and pHi was measured ratiometrically. Results: Brief exposure to isosmotic solutions (i.e. having the same osmolality as that of control solutions containing NH4Cl (0.5- 30 mM resulted in a rapid, dose-dependent swelling, followed by isosmotic regulatory volume decrease (iRVD. NH4Cl solutions in which either extracellular [NH3] or [NH4+] was kept constant while the other was changed by varying the pH of the solution, demonstrated that [NH3]o rather than [NH4+]o is the main determinant of the NH4Cl-induced swelling. The iRVD response was sensitive to the anion channel blocker NPPB, and partly dependent on external Ca2+. Upon removal of NH4Cl, cells shrank and displayed isosmotic regulatory volume increase (iRVI. Regulatory volume responses could not be activated by comparable CWV changes produced by anisosmotic solutions, suggesting that membrane stretch or contraction by themselves are

Development and validation of a smartphone-based digits-in-noise hearing test in South African English.

Science.gov (United States)

Potgieter, Jenni-Marí; Swanepoel, De Wet; Myburgh, Hermanus Carel; Hopper, Thomas Christopher; Smits, Cas

2015-07-01

The objective of this study was to develop and validate a smartphone-based digits-in-noise hearing test for South African English. Single digits (0-9) were recorded and spoken by a first language English female speaker. Level corrections were applied to create a set of homogeneous digits with steep speech recognition functions. A smartphone application was created to utilize 120 digit-triplets in noise as test material. An adaptive test procedure determined the speech reception threshold (SRT). Experiments were performed to determine headphones effects on the SRT and to establish normative data. Participants consisted of 40 normal-hearing subjects with thresholds ≤15 dB across the frequency spectrum (250-8000 Hz) and 186 subjects with normal-hearing in both ears, or normal-hearing in the better ear. The results show steep speech recognition functions with a slope of 20%/dB for digit-triplets presented in noise using the smartphone application. The results of five headphone types indicate that the smartphone-based hearing test is reliable and can be conducted using standard Android smartphone headphones or clinical headphones. A digits-in-noise hearing test was developed and validated for South Africa. The mean SRT and speech recognition functions correspond to previous developed telephone-based digits-in-noise tests.

Hearing loss in children in Østfold county 2000-09.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Siri; Andersen, Ronny; Anderssen, Sven-Harald

2015-01-27

The Directorate of Health recommends hearing screening of all neonates with the aid of otoacoustic emissions (OAE). The goal is to achieve initiation of treatment before the child is six months old. Congenital hearing loss occurs in 1-3 per 1,000 newborns, and the purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence in a large Norwegian dataset. During the period 1 January 2000-31 December 2009, all children who were born in Østfold county, 29,485 neonates in total, were offered hearing screening with the aid of otoacoustic emissions. Those children in whom no emissions were detected were referred to the hearing centre. The dataset also includes children born during the same period who had normal emissions during their neonatal period, but later were diagnosed with hearing loss. The follow-up period of these children lasted until 31 December 2013. Altogether 568 children were referred to the hearing centre after screening. Of these, 73 children underwent brainstem response audiometry under anaesthesia, and 31 (0.11%) were diagnosed with hearing loss through absence of emissions at birth. Eleven (35%) of these received their diagnosis before the age of six months. The median age of diagnosis decreased from 13 (7-74) to 6 (3-23) months, while their number increased from nine to 22 from 2000-04 to 2005-09. Hearing loss after normal otoacoustic emissions at the neonatal stage was diagnosed in ten children (0.03%) and the median age of diagnosis among these was 36 (18-86) months. After the introduction of automated auditory brainstem response audiometry (AABR) during sleep, the use of auditory brainstem response audiometry (ABR) under narcosis fell by half. The prevalence of hearing loss is equal to other Norwegian and international figures. The age of diagnosis decreased during the period. Otoacoustic emissions appear to be an effective screening method in paediatric wards. The use of automated auditory brainstem response audiometry reduces the need for testing under

Synthesis, Resistivity, and Thermal Properties of the Cubic Perovskite NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3and Related Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mitzi, D. B.; Liang, K.

1997-12-01

Combining concentrated hydriodic acid solutions of tin(II) iodide and formamidine acetate in an inert atmosphere results in the precipitation of a new conducting organic-inorganic compound, NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3, which at room temperature adopts a cubic perovskite structure. The lattice constant for NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3is found to be a=6.316(1) Å, which is approximately 1.2% larger than that for the isostructural compound CH 3NH 3SnI 3. The electrical resistivity of a pressed pellet of the new compound exhibits semimetallic temperature dependence from 10 to 300 K, with evidence of a structural transition at approximately 75 K. NH 2CH=NH 2SnI 3begins to slowly decompose in an inert atmosphere at temperatures as low as 200°C, with bulk decomposition/melting occurring above 300°C. The properties of the formamidinium-based perovskite are compared with those of the related cubic (at room temperature) perovskite CH 3NH 3SnI 3and the mixed-cation system (CH 3NH 3) 1- x(NH 2CH=NH 2) xSnI 3.

Real-time observation of formation and relaxation dynamics of NH4 in (CH3OH)m(NH3)n clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Yuji; Nishino, Yoko; Fujihara, Akimasa; Ishikawa, Haruki; Fuke, Kiyokazu

2009-03-26

The formation and relaxation dynamics of NH4(CH3OH)m(NH3)n clusters produced by photolysis of ammonia-methanol mixed clusters has been observed by a time-resolved pump-probe method with femtosecond pulse lasers. From the detailed analysis of the time evolutions of the protonated cluster ions, NH4(+)(CH3OH)m(NH3)n, the kinetic model has been constructed, which consists of sequential three-step reaction: ultrafast hydrogen-atom transfer producing the radical pair (NH4-NH2)*, the relaxation process of radical-pair clusters, and dissociation of the solvated NH4 clusters. The initial hydrogen transfer hardly occurs between ammonia and methanol, implying the unfavorable formation of radical pair, (CH3OH2-NH2)*. The remarkable dependence of the time constants in each step on the number and composition of solvents has been explained by the following factors: hydrogen delocalization within the clusters, the internal conversion of the excited-state radical pair, and the stabilization of NH4 by solvation. The dependence of the time profiles on the probe wavelength is attributed to the different ionization efficiency of the NH4(CH3OH)m(NH3)n clusters.

Attributes for MRB_E2RF1 Catchments by Major River Basins in the Conterminous United States: Normalized Atmospheric Deposition for 2002, Ammonium (NH4)

Science.gov (United States)

Wieczorek, Michael; LaMotte, Andrew E.

2010-01-01

This tabular data set represents the average normalized (wet) deposition, in kilograms per square kilometer multiplied by 100, of ammonium (NH4) for the year 2002 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of the Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). Estimates of NH4 deposition are based on National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) measurements (B. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey, written. commun., 2007). De-trending methods applied to the year 2002 are described in Alexander and others, 2001. NADP site selection met the following criteria: stations must have records from 1995 to 2002 and have a minimum of 30 observations. The MRB_E2RF1 catchments are based on a modified version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) ERF1_2 and include enhancements to support national and regional-scale surface-water quality modeling (Nolan and others, 2002; Brakebill and others, 2011). Data were compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment for the conterminous United States covering New England and Mid-Atlantic (MRB1), South Atlantic-Gulf and Tennessee (MRB2), the Great Lakes, Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Souris-Red-Rainy (MRB3), the Missouri (MRB4), the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf (MRB5), the Rio Grande, Colorado, and the Great basin (MRB6), the Pacific Northwest (MRB7) river basins, and California (MRB8).

45 CFR 509.6 - Hearings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... contention that a more favorable decision should be rendered. Claimants will normally be limited to fifteen... upon not less than fifteen days' notice of the time and place thereof. (b) The hearings will be open to... request of the claimant or upon the discretion of the Commission. A claimant making such a request must...

Using singing to nurture children's hearing? A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, Graham F; Saunders, Jo; Edwards, Sian; Palmer, Zoe; Himonides, Evangelos; Knight, Julian; Mahon, Merle; Griffin, Susanna; Vickers, Deborah A

2015-09-01

This article reports a pilot study of the potential benefits of a sustained programme of singing activities on the musical behaviours and hearing acuity of young children with hearing impairment (HI). Twenty-nine children (n=12 HI and n=17 NH) aged between 5 and 7 years from an inner-city primary school in London participated, following appropriate ethical approval. The predominantly classroom-based programme was designed by colleagues from the UCL Institute of Education and UCL Ear Institute in collaboration with a multi-arts charity Creative Futures and delivered by an experienced early years music specialist weekly across two school terms. There was a particular emphasis on building a repertoire of simple songs with actions and allied vocal exploration. Musical learning was also supported by activities that drew on visual imagery for sound and that included simple notation and physical gesture. An overall impact assessment of the pilot programme embraced pre- and post-intervention measures of pitch discrimination, speech perception in noise and singing competency. Subsequent statistical data analyses suggest that the programme had a positive impact on participant children's singing range, particularly (but not only) for HI children with hearing aids, and also in their singing skills. HI children's pitch perception also improved measurably over time. Findings imply that all children, including those with HI, can benefit from regular and sustained access to age-appropriate musical activities.

Spatial Release From Masking in Simulated Cochlear Implant Users With and Without Access to Low-Frequency Acoustic Hearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben Williges

2015-12-01

Full Text Available For normal-hearing listeners, speech intelligibility improves if speech and noise are spatially separated. While this spatial release from masking has already been quantified in normal-hearing listeners in many studies, it is less clear how spatial release from masking changes in cochlear implant listeners with and without access to low-frequency acoustic hearing. Spatial release from masking depends on differences in access to speech cues due to hearing status and hearing device. To investigate the influence of these factors on speech intelligibility, the present study measured speech reception thresholds in spatially separated speech and noise for 10 different listener types. A vocoder was used to simulate cochlear implant processing and low-frequency filtering was used to simulate residual low-frequency hearing. These forms of processing were combined to simulate cochlear implant listening, listening based on low-frequency residual hearing, and combinations thereof. Simulated cochlear implant users with additional low-frequency acoustic hearing showed better speech intelligibility in noise than simulated cochlear implant users without acoustic hearing and had access to more spatial speech cues (e.g., higher binaural squelch. Cochlear implant listener types showed higher spatial release from masking with bilateral access to low-frequency acoustic hearing than without. A binaural speech intelligibility model with normal binaural processing showed overall good agreement with measured speech reception thresholds, spatial release from masking, and spatial speech cues. This indicates that differences in speech cues available to listener types are sufficient to explain the changes of spatial release from masking across these simulated listener types.

Subcortical amplitude modulation encoding deficits suggest evidence of cochlear synaptopathy in normal-hearing 18-19 year olds with higher lifetime noise exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Brandon T; Waheed, Sajal; Bruce, Ian C; Roberts, Larry E

2017-11-01

Noise exposure and aging can damage cochlear synapses required for suprathreshold listening, even when cochlear structures needed for hearing at threshold remain unaffected. To control for effects of aging, behavioral amplitude modulation (AM) detection and subcortical envelope following responses (EFRs) to AM tones in 25 age-restricted (18-19 years) participants with normal thresholds, but different self-reported noise exposure histories were studied. Participants with more noise exposure had smaller EFRs and tended to have poorer AM detection than less-exposed individuals. Simulations of the EFR using a well-established cochlear model were consistent with more synaptopathy in participants reporting greater noise exposure.

Hearing loss

Science.gov (United States)

Decreased hearing; Deafness; Loss of hearing; Conductive hearing loss; Sensorineural hearing loss; Presbycusis ... Symptoms of hearing loss may include: Certain sounds seeming too loud Difficulty following conversations when two or more people are talking ...

About Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

... Info to Go » Hearing-Related » About Hearing About Hearing Each child who is deaf or hard of ... the ear to the brain. Implications: When the hearing mechanism is not functioning Hearing may be impacted ...

Effects of cochlear compression and frequency selectivity on pitch discrimination of complex tones with unresolved harmonics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Zaar, Johannes

2015-01-01

Physiological studies have shown that noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) enhances the amplitude of envelope coding in auditory-nerve fibers. As pitch coding of unresolved complex tones is assumed to rely on temporal envelope coding mechanisms, this study investigated...... for the RP condition. Overall, these findings suggest that both reduced cochlear compression and auditory filter broadening alter the envelope representation of unresolved complex tones, leading to changes in pitch-discrimination performance....... pitchdiscrimination performance in listeners with SNHL. Pitch-discrimination thresholds were obtained in 14 normal-hearing (NH) and 10 hearingimpaired (HI) listeners for sine-phase (SP) and random-phase (RP) unresolved complex tones. The HI listeners performed, on average, similarly as the NH listeners in the SP...

Effects of Simulated Conductive Hearing Loss on Dichotic Listening Performance for Digits.

Science.gov (United States)

Niccum, Nancy; And Others

1987-01-01

Conductive hearing losses were simulated in 12 subjects aged 19-35 and performance was compared with normal hearing performance. Digit dichotic performance was affected when test intensities were within 8 dB of the "knees" (95 percent correct point) of monotic performance intensity functions, but not when test intensities were 12 dB…

Case report: Unilateral conduction hearing loss due to central venous occlusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, Phillip; Patel, Swetal; Qazi, Rizwan A

2016-05-07

Central venous stenosis is a well-known complication in patients with vascular access for hemodialysis. We report two cases involving patients on hemodialysis with arteriovenous fistulas who developed reversible unilateral conductive hearing loss secondary to critical stenosis of central veins draining the arteriovenous dialysis access. A proposed mechanism for the patients' reversible unilateral hearing loss is pterygoid venous plexus congestion leading to decreased Eustachian tube patency. Endovascular therapy was conducted to treat the stenosis and the hearing loss of both patients was returned to near normal after successful central venous angioplasty.

The relationship between high-frequency pure-tone hearing loss, hearing in noise test (HINT) thresholds, and the articulation index.

Science.gov (United States)

Vermiglio, Andrew J; Soli, Sigfrid D; Freed, Daniel J; Fisher, Laurel M

2012-01-01

Speech recognition in noise testing has been conducted at least since the 1940s (Dickson et al, 1946). The ability to recognize speech in noise is a distinct function of the auditory system (Plomp, 1978). According to Kochkin (2002), difficulty recognizing speech in noise is the primary complaint of hearing aid users. However, speech recognition in noise testing has not found widespread use in the field of audiology (Mueller, 2003; Strom, 2003; Tannenbaum and Rosenfeld, 1996). The audiogram has been used as the "gold standard" for hearing ability. However, the audiogram is a poor indicator of speech recognition in noise ability. This study investigates the relationship between pure-tone thresholds, the articulation index, and the ability to recognize speech in quiet and in noise. Pure-tone thresholds were measured for audiometric frequencies 250-6000 Hz. Pure-tone threshold groups were created. These included a normal threshold group and slight, mild, severe, and profound high-frequency pure-tone threshold groups. Speech recognition thresholds in quiet and in noise were obtained using the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) (Nilsson et al, 1994; Vermiglio, 2008). The articulation index was determined by using Pavlovic's method with pure-tone thresholds (Pavlovic, 1989, 1991). Two hundred seventy-eight participants were tested. All participants were native speakers of American English. Sixty-three of the original participants were removed in order to create groups of participants with normal low-frequency pure-tone thresholds and relatively symmetrical high-frequency pure-tone threshold groups. The final set of 215 participants had a mean age of 33 yr with a range of 17-59 yr. Pure-tone threshold data were collected using the Hughson-Weslake procedure. Speech recognition data were collected using a Windows-based HINT software system. Statistical analyses were conducted using descriptive, correlational, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) statistics. The

Conductive hearing loss and middle ear pathology in young infants referred through a newborn universal hearing screening program in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Aithal, Sreedevi; Aithal, Venkatesh; Kei, Joseph; Driscoll, Carlie

2012-10-01

Although newborn hearing screening programs have been introduced in most states in Australia, the prevalence of conductive hearing loss and middle ear pathology in the infants referred through these programs is not known. This study was designed to (1) evaluate the prevalence of conductive hearing loss and middle ear pathology in infants referred by a newborn hearing screening program in north Queensland, (2) compare prevalence rates of conductive hearing loss and middle ear pathology in indigenous and nonindigenous infants, and (3) review the outcomes of those infants diagnosed with conductive hearing loss and middle ear pathology. Retrospective chart review of infants referred to the Audiology Department of The Townsville Hospital was conducted. Chart review of 234 infants referred for one or both ears from a newborn hearing screening program in north Queensland was conducted. A total of 211 infants attended the diagnostic appointment. Review appointments to monitor hearing status were completed for 46 infants with middle ear pathology or conductive hearing loss. Diagnosis of hearing impairment was made using an age-appropriate battery of audiological tests. Results were analyzed for both initial and review appointments. Mean age at initial diagnostic assessment was 47.5 days (SD = 31.3). Of the 69 infants with middle ear pathology during initial diagnostic assessment, 18 had middle ear pathology with normal hearing, 47 had conductive hearing loss, and 4 had mixed hearing loss. Prevalence of conductive hearing loss in the newborns was 2.97 per 1,000 while prevalence of middle ear pathology (with or without conductive hearing loss) was 4.36 per 1,000. Indigenous Australians or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) infants had a significantly higher prevalence of conductive hearing loss and middle ear pathology than non-ATSI infants (35.19 and 44.45% vs 17.83 and 28.66%, respectively). ATSI infants also showed poor resolution of conductive hearing loss

Effects of hearing loss on speech recognition under distracting conditions and working memory in the elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Wondo; Kim, Gibbeum; Kim, Gungu; Han, Woojae; Kim, Jinsook

2017-01-01

The current study aimed to evaluate hearing-related changes in terms of speech-in-noise processing, fast-rate speech processing, and working memory; and to identify which of these three factors is significantly affected by age-related hearing loss. One hundred subjects aged 65-84 years participated in the study. They were classified into four groups ranging from normal hearing to moderate-to-severe hearing loss. All the participants were tested for speech perception in quiet and noisy conditions and for speech perception with time alteration in quiet conditions. Forward- and backward-digit span tests were also conducted to measure the participants' working memory. 1) As the level of background noise increased, speech perception scores systematically decreased in all the groups. This pattern was more noticeable in the three hearing-impaired groups than in the normal hearing group. 2) As the speech rate increased faster, speech perception scores decreased. A significant interaction was found between speed of speech and hearing loss. In particular, 30% of compressed sentences revealed a clear differentiation between moderate hearing loss and moderate-to-severe hearing loss. 3) Although all the groups showed a longer span on the forward-digit span test than the backward-digit span test, there was no significant difference as a function of hearing loss. The degree of hearing loss strongly affects the speech recognition of babble-masked and time-compressed speech in the elderly but does not affect the working memory. We expect these results to be applied to appropriate rehabilitation strategies for hearing-impaired elderly who experience difficulty in communication.

Speech Perception Benefits of Internet Versus Conventional Telephony for Hearing-Impaired Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Dubach, Patrick; Pfiffner, Flurin; Kompis, Martin; Caversaccio, Marco

2012-01-01

Background Telephone communication is a challenge for many hearing-impaired individuals. One important technical reason for this difficulty is the restricted frequency range (0.3–3.4 kHz) of conventional landline telephones. Internet telephony (voice over Internet protocol [VoIP]) is transmitted with a larger frequency range (0.1–8 kHz) and therefore includes more frequencies relevant to speech perception. According to a recently published, laboratory-based study, the theoretical advantage of ideal VoIP conditions over conventional telephone quality has translated into improved speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals. However, the speech perception benefits of nonideal VoIP network conditions, which may occur in daily life, have not been explored. VoIP use cannot be recommended to hearing-impaired individuals before its potential under more realistic conditions has been examined. Objective To compare realistic VoIP network conditions, under which digital data packets may be lost, with ideal conventional telephone quality with respect to their impact on speech perception by hearing-impaired individuals. Methods We assessed speech perception using standardized test material presented under simulated VoIP conditions with increasing digital data packet loss (from 0% to 20%) and compared with simulated ideal conventional telephone quality. We monaurally tested 10 adult users of cochlear implants, 10 adult users of hearing aids, and 10 normal-hearing adults in the free sound field, both in quiet and with background noise. Results Across all participant groups, mean speech perception scores using VoIP with 0%, 5%, and 10% packet loss were 15.2% (range 0%–53%), 10.6% (4%–46%), and 8.8% (7%–33%) higher, respectively, than with ideal conventional telephone quality. Speech perception did not differ between VoIP with 20% packet loss and conventional telephone quality. The maximum benefits were observed under ideal VoIP conditions without packet loss and

A Study of Relationship between the Acoustic Sensitivity of Vestibular System and the Ability to Trigger Sound-Evoked Muscle Reflex of the Middle Ear in Adults with Normal Hearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)