Ear and Hearing. 31(1):1, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181cbc79a
Donahue, Amy; Dubno, Judy R.; Beck, Lucille
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):2-6, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181cbc783
Earl, Brian R.; Chertoff, Mark E.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):7-21, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181ba748c
Recent advances in hair-cell regeneration, neural regeneration, and genetic therapy prompt the need for diagnostic tests that can accurately identify the appropriate target within the cochlea and auditory nerve for delivery of therapeutic agents. Specifying the pathophysiology may also help individualize amplification and cochlear implant algorithms. Morphological analysis of the compound action potential (CAP) in an animal model with auditory nerve lesions revealed that CAP amplitude and CAP oscillation frequency were directly related to histological measures of normal nerve area, suggesting that they may be effective predictors of auditory nerve survival in hearing-impaired individuals.
Wu, Yu-Hsiang; Bentler, Ruth A.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):22-34, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bc767e
The benefits provided by directional (DIR) microphone hearing aids have been found to vary between results observed in the laboratory and those obtained in the real world. In this study, 24 participants compared microphone success with and without concomitant use of visual cues to determine whether visual cues could explain this laboratory-field discrepancy. The laboratory results indicated that, when visual cues were available, the DIR benefit was reduced and DIR processing was less often preferred, especially by listeners with superior lipreading skills. Furthermore, DIR benefit measured when accompanied by visual cues could not be predicted by that measured in the absence of visual cues. These results suggest the importance of incorporating visual cues in the evaluation of DIR microphone effectiveness.
Wu, Yu-Hsiang; Bentler, Ruth A.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):35-46, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bc769b
The aim of this study was to determine if visual cues could explain the limited benefit afforded by directional microphone hearing aids in the real world. Data gathered from field trials did not show evidence of the effect of visual cues on the users' preference for directional processing. However, laboratory audio-visual testing was found to better predict real-world outcomes than audio-only testing, demonstrating the role of visual cues and the importance of considering their effects in laboratory testing. The field data also suggested that real-world microphone preference was dominated by factors other than directional benefit, such as loudness and a hearing aid's internal noise.
Johnson, Jani A.; Cox, Robyn M.; Alexander, Genevieve C.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):47-55, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181b8397c
This study investigated the potential effects of improved hearing aid technology on responses to the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit. Responses by users of new wide-dynamic range compression-capable hearing aids were compared with responses by users of older linear devices worn when the original norms were obtained. Results revealed that, despite improvements in technology, hearing aids capable of wide-dynamic range compression processing, as they are currently fitted, have not resulted in perceived overall improvements in benefit for speech communication. However, negative reactions to amplified sounds have decreased. In addition, a larger percentage of hearing aid users were judged to have made a successful adjustment to amplification. New normative data are presented.
Mlot, Stefan; Buss, Emily; Hall, Joseph W. III
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):56-62, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181ba746b
Previous studies have shown that adult listeners are more adept than child listeners at identifying spectrally degraded speech. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of age on the bandwidth necessary to achieve a low-criterion level of speech recognition for two frequency regions and on the subsequent ability to combine this speech information. Results showed that, although children require more bandwidth to achieve criterion performance, both children and adults show large improvements in speech recognition when presented with two bands simultaneously. These results suggest that children are adept at integrating speech information across frequency regions.
Zhang, Ting; Dorman, Michael F.; Spahr, Anthony J.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):63-69, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181b7190c
Information from F0 and the associated amplitude envelope accounts for the majority of the speech-perception benefit when acoustic stimulation is added to electric stimulation. We propose that, in quiet, low-frequency acoustic information leads to improved representation of voicing and manner, which in turn, leads to a reduction in word candidates in the lexicon. In noise, the robust representation of voicing allows access to low-frequency acoustic landmarks that mark syllable structure and word boundaries. These landmarks can bootstrap word and sentence recognition.
Cullington, Helen E.; Zeng, Fan-Gang
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):70-73, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bc7722
This single-subject study assessed electroacoustic benefit for speech recognition with a competing talker. Using a cochlear implant subject with normal hearing in the contralateral ear, the contribution of low-pass and high-pass natural sound to speech recognition was systematically measured. High-frequency sound did not improve performance, but low-frequency sound did, even when unintelligible and limited to below 150 Hz. The fundamental frequency cue in the low-frequency sound assists separation of the two talkers. Extrapolating this finding to regular cochlear implant users may suggest that using a hearing aid on the contralateral ear will improve performance, even with limited residual hearing.
Johnson, Tiffany A.; Neely, Stephen T.; Kopun, Judy G.; Dierking, Darcia M.; Tan, Hongyang; Gorga, Michael P.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):74-83, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181b71924
This study evaluated the influence of newly developed stimuli on the accuracy with which distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) identify auditory status and predict behavioral threshold. When compared to traditional stimulus parameters, there was no evidence that the new stimuli increase the accuracy with which auditory status is identified. Furthermore, using the new stimuli had only a small positive impact on the accuracy of threshold prediction; however, the results suggest that using the entire DPOAE I/O function results in a more accurate prediction of behavioral threshold than Did predictions made from a single stimulus level.
Maes, Leen; Dhooge, Ingeborg; D'haenens, Wendy; Bockstael, Annelies; Keppler, Hannah; Philips, Birgit; Swinnen, Freya; Vinck, Bart M.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):84-94, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181b9640e
The goal of this study was to examine age-related changes in multiple vestibular function tests. Eighty subjects (18-80 years) were subjected to an extensive test battery, consisting of sinusoidal harmonic acceleration tests (SHAT), pseudorandom rotation tests (PRRT), velocity step tests (VST), caloric tests, and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP). No significant age trends could be demonstrated with the SHAT and VST, compared to subtle gain decreases with increasing age for the PRRT. Increasing slow component velocity values were measured with the caloric test. Largest age changes were detected with the VEMP, where decreasing amplitudes, increasing thresholds and decreasing N1 latencies were most prominent.
McCreery, Ryan; Ito, Rindy; Spratford, Merry; Lewis, Dawna; Hoover, Brenda; Stelmachowicz, Patricia G.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):95-101, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bc7702
The Computer Aided Speech Perception Assessment (CASPA) is a speech perception test that has been validated with adults. CASPA uses twenty lists of ten consonant-vowel-consonant words to construct PI functions. CASPA was originally designed for adults, however, and has not been evaluated with children. Results were obtained for normal-hearing children (5-12 yrs) and adults at five signal-to-noise ratios. Differences in performance were observed between adults and children when results were scored based on the number of words correct, but significant differences were not observed for phoneme scoring. Implications for clinical speech recognition are discussed.
Krull, Vidya; Choi, Sangsook; Kirk, Karen Iler; Prusick, Lindsay; French, Brian
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):102-114, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181b7892f
This paper outlines the development of a theoretically-motivated sentence recognition test for children. Previous sentence tests such as the Lexical Neighborhood Test and the Multisyllabic Lexical Neighborhood Test examined lexical effects on children's recognition of words. In previous studies related to their test development, lexical characteristics were confounded. This study examines independent effects of word frequency and lexical density on a new test of spoken word recognition in children. Results show that word frequency and lexical density influence word recognition both independently, and in combination. Lexical density appears to be more heavily weighted than word frequency in children.
Feng, Yanmei; Yin, Shankai; Kiefte, Michael; Wang, Jian
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):115-125, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bb69be
Potential off-channel impact of high-frequency hearing loss of cochlear origin on the deterioration in temporal acuity was evaluated in AM- and Gap-detection tasks of low frequency region and the role of this deterioration on speech perception deficit in noise was evaluated in HINTs of varied time compression. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss deteriorates the temporal processing ability of low-frequency auditory channels. This deterioration may be related to the speech perception deficit in noisy background experienced by these subjects.
Ross, Danielle S.; Visser, Susanna N.; Holstrum, W June; Qin, Tielin; Kenneson, Aileen
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):126-133, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bb69db
This study demonstrates that population-based estimates of the prevalence of unilateral hearing loss (UHL) in school-age children 6–19 years of age differ considerably when various yet commonly accepted case definitions are applied to population-based survey data. The present analysis characterizes the magnitude of change attributed to case definition differences in threshold levels and frequencies included in pure tone averages. Demographic variables and risk factors related to UHL were also examined in this study. Important factors contributing to UHL prevalence magnitude included specific features of the case definition, demographic risk factors and tympanometry status, in particular.
Alvarez, Isaac; de la Torre, Angel; Sainz, Manuel; Roldán, Cristina; Schoesser, Hansjoerg; Spitzer, Philipp
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):134-145, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181bdb88f
This paper analyzes the relationship between the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) and the fitting of the Tempo+ cochlear implant speech processor in patients implanted with the Med-El Pulsar CI100 device. Twenty one post-lingually and twenty eight pre-lingually deafened patients participated in this study. From results presented in this paper, a protocol is proposed to fit this cochlear implant system. This protocol facilitates appropriate cochlear implant fitting, particularly for children or uncooperative patients.
Munro, Kevin J.; Howlin, Elaine M.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):146-150, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181b8399b
The high inter-subject variability associated with real-ear to coupler difference (RECD) values means that it is advisable to measure these from each patient. Although the test time is usually brief in cooperative patients, it is not known if it is necessary to obtain the measurement from each ear. The similarity between the RECD values from the right and left ear was examined in 44 hearing aid users. The results show that the mean difference is close to 0 dB with a right/left difference less than 3 dB in most patients. This suggests that it may be sufficient to measure the RECD from only one ear.
Ear and Hearing. 31(1):151-154, February 2010.
doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181c4041e
Four new texts on diverse subjects are reviewed in this issue. Moe Bergman describes Audiology in the USA (by J. Jerger) as a remarkably well-documented account of the growth of the profession of audiology. According to Maris Appelbaum, Hearing Loss in Musicians (edited by M. Chasin) is an excellent source for audiologists who work with musicians. Colleen O'Rourke reports that Pure-Tone Audiometry and Masking, (by M. Valente) provides a concise review of the concepts and protocols needed to master these aspects of practice. Finally, William Yost reports that Introduction to Normal Auditory Perception (by F. Loven) presents basic information about a number of topics in psychoacoustics with a strong emphasis on classical studies published prior to the 1960s.
|
|