December 2003 - Volume 24 - Issue 6 : Ear and Hearing

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December 2003 - Volume 24 - Issue 6

pp: 463-544

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Article

Maturation of Mismatch Negativity: A Scalp Current Density Analysis

Martin, Brett A.; Shafer, Valerie L.; Morr, Mara L.; More

Martin, Brett A.; Shafer, Valerie L.; Morr, Mara L.; Kreuzer, Judith A.; Kurtzberg, Diane Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):463-471, December 2003.

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Although infants and young children are able to behaviorally discriminate frequency changes in simple tones, it is not clear whether the neural processes underlying frequency discrimination, as indicated by mismatch negativity (MMN), show maturational changes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are maturational changes in the topography of MMN in response to tone sequences that contained an occasional change in frequency. Subjects were children, ages 4 to 11 years, and adults. Scalp current density analysis was used to examine topography. Results indicated the presence of significant maturational changes in MMN topography over frontal and left lateral sites. Results indicate that MMN topography matures with age and that the neural processes underlying frequency discrimination are not yet mature by 11 years of age.

Distance and Reverberation Effects on Directional Benefit

Ricketts, Todd A.; Hornsby, Benjamin W. Y.

Ricketts, Todd A.; Hornsby, Benjamin W. Y. Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):472-484, December 2003.

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This study examined how speaker-to-listener distance affected directional benefit. A single room, modified to exhibit either low (RT60 = 0.3 seconds) or moderate (RT60 = 0.9 seconds) levels of reverberation, served as the test environment. Sentence recognition was measured for three different speech loudspeaker-to-listener distances (1.2 m, 2.4 m, and 4.8 m) in the presence of four uncorrelated noise sources placed near the listeners. As expected, a decrease in directional benefit was measured with increasing distance in the moderate reverberation condition. Despite this decrease, significant directional benefit still was obtained by listeners for speech sources placed beyond “effective” critical distance. In these cases, directional benefit was attributed to the reduction of the direct sound energy from the noise sources. Speech transmission index (STI) measures made through the hearing aids in the test environments agreed well with the pattern of speech recognition results.

Activity-Dependent Developmental Plasticity of the Auditory Brain Stem in Children Who Use Cochlear Implants

Gordon, Karen A.; Papsin, Blake C.; Harrison, Robert V.

Gordon, Karen A.; Papsin, Blake C.; Harrison, Robert V. Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):485-500, December 2003.

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In children with pre- or peri-lingual deafness, a period of auditory deprivation occurs during potentially sensitive times in development. In the present study, we aimed to determine the effect of early-onset deafness on auditory nerve and brainstem activity, the potential for plasticity in the human auditory system, and whether a sensitive or critical period exists in auditory brainstem development. Electrically evoked potentials of the auditory nerve and brainstem response were recorded repeatedly during the first year of cochlear implant use in each of 50 children ranging in age from 12 months to 17 years. Auditory brainstem potentials evoked by acute stimulation from a cochlear implant in children were not influenced by any period of auditory deprivation. With ongoing cochlear implant use, evoked potential data suggested that auditory brainstem development proceeds and is not limited by a critical period during childhood. Cochlear implantation effectively promotes developmental changes in children irrespective of age at implant.

Risk Factors for Tinnitus in a Population of Older Adults: The Blue Mountains Hearing Study

Sindhusake, Doungkamol; Golding, Maryanne; Newall, Philip; More

Sindhusake, Doungkamol; Golding, Maryanne; Newall, Philip; Rubin, George; Jakobsen, Kirsten; Mitchell, Paul Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):501-507, December 2003.

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Worldwide to date, there have been relatively few epidemiological studies of tinnitus in large, older populations that have comprehensively assessed its risk factors. Even fewer have used objective measures in hearing examinations. The Blue Mountains Hearing Study (BMHS), conducted from 1997 to 1999, examined 2015 participants aged 55 years or older living in a defined area, west of Sydney, Australia, and has assessed risk factors for tinnitus. In a multivariate model, factors that significantly increased the risk of tinnitus were poorer hearing and cochlear function, self-reported work-related noise exposure, and a history of middle ear or sinus infections, severe neck injury, or migraine. It is possible that timely health interventions to reduce or limit these exposures and the development of age-related hearing loss could decrease tinnitus risk.

Audiologic Manifestations of Patients with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

Shotland, Lawrence I.; Mastrioanni, Mary Ann; Choo, Daniel L.; More

Shotland, Lawrence I.; Mastrioanni, Mary Ann; Choo, Daniel L.; Szymko-Bennett, Yvonne M.; Dally, Leonard G.; Pikus, Anita T.; Sledjeski, Kathryn; Marques, Adriana Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):508-517, December 2003.

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As part of a comprehensive effort to study post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), this article describes the auditory responses on a cohort of PTLDS patients. Eighteen patients underwent comprehensive audiologic evaluations, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with gadolinium, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis. They were compared with 33 age- and sex-matched healthy controls and with a published database. Of the 18 patients, 41% showed non-specific white matter lesions on MRI; 44% had subtle pure-tone abnormalities exceeding the 95% percentile; and 31% had reduced loudness tolerance levels. The reduced loudness tolerance in the presence of either normal or minimally impaired hearing appears to be part of PTLDS. Whereas other articles have reported hearing loss in Lyme disease patients, definitions of hearing loss are inconsistent among studies. In contrast to the more traditional approach of identification according to clinical hearing loss, the approach used in the present study appears to be more sensitive for the purpose of identifying disease-related abnormalities.

Detection of Pseudohypacusis: A Prospective, Randomized Study of the Use of Otoacoustic Emissions

Balatsouras, Dimitrios G.; Kaberos, Antonis; Korres, Stavros; More

Balatsouras, Dimitrios G.; Kaberos, Antonis; Korres, Stavros; Kandiloros, Dimitrios; Ferekidis, Eleftherios; Economou, Constantinos Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):518-527, December 2003.

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This prospective study of 72 adults suspected of pseudohypacusis assigned subjects randomly to a treatment group or a control group. The treatment group underwent a four-stage protocol that included 1) standard speech and pure-tone audiometry, 2) transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and tympanometry, 3) repeat modified pure-tone audiometry, and 4) auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiometry. The control group underwent an identical protocol, with the exclusion of Stage 2 (TEOAEs and tympanometry). The main outcome measure was the mean exaggeration level defined as the difference in mean pure-tone average (PTA) between the initial and the repeat session (mean PTAinitial minus mean PTArepeat). The mean exaggeration level was significantly greater for the treatment group (35.2 dB HL) than for the control group (11.0 dB HL). In addition, there was a significant difference between the mean PTArepeat and the mean click-evoked ABR threshold for the control group but not for the treatment group. Thus, the inclusion of TEOAEs and tympanometry in an audiological protocol resulted in a significantly greater threshold improvement on repeat modified pure-tone audiometry.

The Reception of Environmental Sounds Through Wearable Tactual Aids

Reed, Charlotte M.; Delhorne, Lorraine A.

Reed, Charlotte M.; Delhorne, Lorraine A. Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):528-538, December 2003.

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Tactual aids are designed to provide information about acoustic signals to persons with profound hearing impairment by translating sounds into patterns of vibration on the skin. Such devices have been developed primarily as aids to speech communication; however, they also convey information about non-speech acoustical signals in the environment. The current study was concerned with evaluating the ability of experienced deaf users of a wearable tactual aid to identify environmental sounds. We developed an environmental-sound test with four different closed sets of 10 sounds each (each set representing a different environmental situation in which the stimuli might be encountered). After training, performance averaged roughly 60% correct on each of the four sets. Temporal cues appeared to play a larger role in the identification of the sounds than spectral or intensive cues. Further research is warranted on the development of improved tactual displays of environmental stimuli, which may be useful to a broad class of deaf persons, including those with little or no interest in speech.

Residual Speech Perception and Cochlear Implant Performance in Postlingually Deafened Adults

Gomaa, Nahla A.; Rubinstein, Jay T.; Lowder, Mary W.; More

Gomaa, Nahla A.; Rubinstein, Jay T.; Lowder, Mary W.; Tyler, Richard S.; Gantz, Bruce J. Less

Ear and Hearing. 24(6):539-544, December 2003.

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In a previous study, we demonstrated that both duration of deafness and residual speech perception were predictors of speech perception outcome with cochlear implants. We now have tested the previous predictive index on a subsequent cohort of patients and found it to be valid a priori. Postoperative speech perception scores of this subsequent cohort reliably fell within the range predicted by the preoperative index. The lower 95% confidence interval for the index appears to be a valid basis for implantation of ears with short durations of deafness and higher levels of residual speech perception.

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Article

Maturation of Mismatch Negativity: A Scalp Current Density Analysis

In Brief:

Distance and Reverberation Effects on Directional Benefit

In Brief:

Activity-Dependent Developmental Plasticity of the Auditory Brain Stem in Children Who Use Cochlear Implants

In Brief:

Risk Factors for Tinnitus in a Population of Older Adults: The Blue Mountains Hearing Study

In Brief:

Audiologic Manifestations of Patients with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

In Brief:

Detection of Pseudohypacusis: A Prospective, Randomized Study of the Use of Otoacoustic Emissions

In Brief:

The Reception of Environmental Sounds Through Wearable Tactual Aids

In Brief:

Residual Speech Perception and Cochlear Implant Performance in Postlingually Deafened Adults

In Brief: