Trends in Hearing最新文献

{"title":"Visual Gestures of the Head and Eyebrows Support Prosody Perception for Individuals with Cochlear Implants.","authors":"Justin T Fleming, Harley J Wheeler, Matthew B Winn","doi":"10.1177/23312165261437901","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261437901","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Visual gestures, especially head movements and eyebrow raises, are time-locked to acoustic cues during the expression of spoken prosody. The present study examined the role these visual cues play in prosody perception, particularly for individuals with cochlear implants (CIs), who often experience challenges understanding prosody due to reduced access to pitch cues. A vocal mimicry paradigm was used to obtain granular, objective measures of prosody perception through acoustic analysis of mimicked sentences. Stimuli consisted of audio-visual recordings from one talker that captured naturally occurring variability in the expression of auditory and visual cues to word focus. Participants mimicked these natural recordings, as well as prosody-transplanted stimuli that allowed us to isolate the influence of auditory or visual prosody cues while holding the other modality at a neutral level (broad focus). Participants converted visual prosody cues into acoustic correlates of prosody in their mimicry, repeating acoustically unfocused words with higher F0 and intensity when those words were paired with video containing head and eyebrow gestures. This visual influence was stronger for participants with CIs than an age-matched group of typical-hearing listeners. CI participants who were less successful at acoustic mimicry tended to be more influenced by visual cues. These results indicate that CI listeners compensate for degraded auditory cues by integrating visual gestures into their perception of spoken prosody, potentially highlighting new targets for multisensory counseling or training.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261437901"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13039648/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147581924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interaural Time and Level Differences Contribute Differently to Source Segregation and Spatial Selection.","authors":"Benjamin N Richardson, Sahil Luthra, Jana M Kainerstorfer, Barbara G Shinn-Cunningham, Christopher A Brown","doi":"10.1177/23312165261464723","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261464723","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Interaural time and level differences are crucial in sound localization, yet their contributions to sound source segregation and spatial selection remain underspecified. Here, participants completed a spatial auditory selective attention task while we measured hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants listened to a target sound stream and a simultaneous spatially separated speech stream or white noise masker. Sound streams were spatialized with either 50 μs interaural time differences (ITDs), 500 μs ITDs, naturally occurring interaural level differences (ILDs) from a non-individualized head-related transfer function (HRTF), or broadband 10 dB ILDs. Behavioral results revealed a stronger effect of spatial cues when the masker was speech. Error patterns differed in the two difficult conditions, small ITDs and natural ILDs: Small ITDs produced lower hit rates, while naturally occurring ILDs produced higher false alarm rates. Small ITDs led to greater activity in prefrontal cortex and activity in superior temporal gyrus that was lateralized, greater in the hemisphere contralateral to attentional focus, consistent with previous reports. These results suggest that natural ILDs alone support source segregation even if they are insufficient to cause large shifts in perceived lateralization, explaining high false alarm rates (confusions between target and distractor words). In contrast, small ITDs alone may be insufficient to segregate competing sources, leading to low hit and false alarm rates. Together, these results reveal differences in how ITDs and ILDs contribute to auditory scene analysis and spatial attention.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261464723"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13365698/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148431290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hearing Loss Is Reflected in Conversational Pupil Responses.","authors":"Benjamin Masters, Martha Shiell, Dorothea Wendt, Ewen N MacDonald","doi":"10.1177/23312165261485567","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261485567","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pupillometry has been shown to be a correlate for expected mental workload in a variety of cognitively demanding tasks, including those related to listening. Recent work has extended the application of pupillometry to interactive conversation by measuring how the pupil responds around turn-taking. This study furthers the application of pupillometry to conversation by evaluating differences in pupil responses during conversations taking place between individuals with and without hearing loss. Pairs of older Danish talkers (in which one had hearing loss, and one did not) held conversations in a variety of acoustic conditions, and their pupil responses were recorded throughout. Our findings show that both background noise and hearing loss modulate pupil responses during conversation, and further show correspondence between pupil dilation responses and measures of turn-taking behavior which have been suggested to be indicative of increased difficulty.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261485567"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13535054/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148866159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hearing Aids Reshape Neural Processing of Emotional Speech Without Improving Emotion Perception.","authors":"Carmen Dang, Gurjit Singh, Frank A Russo","doi":"10.1177/23312165261465515","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261465515","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hearing aids have improved speech intelligibility but not speech emotion perception in older adults with hearing loss. Hearing loss has also been linked to altered brain responses to emotional non-speech sounds, potentially contributing to the speech emotion perception deficits even under aided listening. While fMRI requires hearing aid removal due to metal incompatibility, fNIRS is silent and hearing-aid compatible, creating a novel opportunity to identify neural processes during aided listening. We leveraged fNIRS to examine how hearing aids affect brain function in experienced hearing-aid users during speech emotion perception. Older adults (17 normal hearing, 14 hearing-aid users) judged vocal-emotion changes in speech while fNIRS recorded hemodynamic activity. Hearing-aid users completed the task under aided and unaided listening. Behaviorally, hearing aids did not improve speech emotion perception, replicating prior research. In cortical responses, individuals with hearing loss showed increased planum temporale activity, regardless of hearing-aid use. Unaided listening showed additional frontal recruitment, including increased medial superior frontal gyrus activity and stronger functional connectivity between inferior frontal and superior temporal gyri. Conversely, aided listening increased inferior parietal lobe activity, but reduced connectivity between inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe. Together, findings indicate that hearing aids partially modify cortical processing of emotional speech. They reduced reliance on frontal compensatory control systems and increased engagement of a higher-order parietal region, consistent with partial restoration of bottom-up auditory information during aided listening. Persistent abnormalities in early auditory processing and incomplete sensorimotor integration may explain why hearing aids fail to normalize speech emotion perception.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261465515"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13329022/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148370356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cognitive Shifting Ability Does Not Predict Self-Perceived Hearing Difficulties in Adult Hearing-Aid Users.","authors":"Francesca Molinari Luccini, Henrik Danielsson, Victoria Stenbäck, Elaine Hoi Ning Ng, Emil Holmer","doi":"10.1177/23312165261433705","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261433705","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) often leads to hearing difficulties, impacting communication and daily functioning even among hearing-aid users. While hearing loss and cognitive functions, such as cognitive shifting ability, have been proposed as predictors of hearing difficulties, their specific contributions remain unclear. This study investigated whether hearing loss and cognitive shifting ability predict self-reported hearing difficulties across the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale questionnaire (SSQ) subscales in adults with ARHL who use hearing aids, and whether sex moderates these associations, while controlling for age and level of education. A total of 215 adults underwent audiometry, completed a cognitive flexibility task, and answered the SSQ questionnaire, of which 203 (89 females) were included in our analysis. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that less hearing loss predicted lower levels of hearing difficulties in the three subscales of the SSQ, and higher education level was a significant predictor of less reported difficulties in the Speech and Spatial subscales. Contrary to our expectations, cognitive shifting ability was not associated with hearing difficulties in any subscale, nor did sex moderate the associations between cognitive shifting ability, degree of hearing loss and hearing difficulties. The findings highlight the influence of hearing loss and education on self-reported hearing difficulties and suggest that cognitive shifting ability does not play a significant role. Future studies should explore other cognitive and demographic factors that might contribute to hearing difficulties in hearing-aid users.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261433705"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13009968/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147469852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Benefits of Bilateral Bone Conduction Device Use Including Osia Devices in Children and Adolescents With Bilateral Atresia.","authors":"Robel Z Alemu, Alan Blakeman, Jaina Negandhi, Blake C Papsin, Sharon L Cushing, Karen A Gordon","doi":"10.1177/23312165261422955","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261422955","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to characterize effects of bilateral bone conduction devices (BCD) including the Cochlear™ Osia^® (Osia) and the Cochlear™ percutaneous Baha^® Connect System (Baha) on localization of stationary and moving sound in children and adolescents with bilateral atresia. Participants were 11 listeners with BCDs [<i>M</i>_Age(SD) = 14.7(3.5) years] and 11 age-matched controls [<i>M</i>_Age(SD) = 14.9(1.9) years]. Outcomes were word recognition in quiet and noise, spatial release from masking (SRM) [spondee-word recognition thresholds in noise at co-located/0° or separated (90° left/right) positions], self-reported hearing using the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ), and localization of stationary and moving sound with tracking of real-time unrestricted head movements. BCD users had reduced speech perception accuracy in noise during unilateral listening (<i>p</i> < .001) and higher speech recognition thresholds than controls (<i>p</i> = .001). BCD users had higher errors than controls during stationary (<i>p</i> < .001) and moving (<i>p</i> < .001) sound localization consistent with self-reported spatial hearing challenges. BCD users had significantly reduced errors during bilateral use compared to unilateral use for stationary (<i>p</i> < .01) but not always for moving (right unilateral: <i>p</i> < .01; left unilateral: <i>p</i> = .46) sound localization. BCD users spent less time moving their heads in the correct direction compared to controls for stationary and moving sound localization (<i>p</i> < .01). Results indicate that children and adolescents with BCDs demonstrate improved localization of stationary but not moving sound-sources, with bilateral device use compared to unilateral use. This finding provides evidence for some access to binaural cues and mitigation of head shadow despite transcranial attenuation, but ineffective use of head movements.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261422955"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12921180/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146221675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-Auditory Participant Characteristics Influence Digit-Perception Performance: Evidence From Tasks Varying in Masker Type and Spatial Cues.","authors":"Hannah Guest, Antje Heinrich, Kevin J Munro, Garreth Prendergast, Rebecca E Millman, Karolina Kluk, Christopher J Plack","doi":"10.1177/23312165261468222","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261468222","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Digit-perception tasks are widely used to assess auditory function in clinical and research settings, but performance may also be shaped by non-auditory participant characteristics. This study examined whether educational attainment, forward digit span, socioeconomic deprivation, and musical experience predicted performance on three digit-perception tasks that differed in masker type and spatial demands: digits in speech-shaped noise (SSN), digits in spatially separated babble, and a spatial-selective-attention task in which digit streams were separated by 15°. Participants were 220 young adults (aged 16-17 years at baseline) with bilaterally normal audiometric thresholds, each tested twice. The narrow age range and normal hearing constrained variation in peripheral auditory function, increasing sensitivity to non-auditory influences. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine single-predictor and multivariate associations between the predictors and each outcome. Digits-in-SSN performance was unrelated to all predictors. Digits-in-babble thresholds showed modest associations with deprivation and educational attainment in single-predictor models, but neither survived multivariate adjustment. By contrast, spatial-selective-attention performance showed robust independent associations with educational attainment, deprivation, and musical experience after mutual adjustment. Forward digit span was not a significant predictor of any task. These findings indicate that spatially demanding digit-perception tasks are vulnerable to non-auditory confounds, and that controlling for short-term memory may be insufficient to address this problem. A secondary analysis examined whether the association between musical experience and spatial selective attention might reflect confounding rather than auditory training. The musician advantage was attenuated by approximately one third after adjustment for sociodemographic factors, consistent with a substantial contribution of confounding.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261468222"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13554597/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148913811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence for a Transient State of Auditory Hypersensitivity During Initial Onset of Tinnitus: IDAEP Changes Between Acute and Chronic Tinnitus.","authors":"Abishek Umashankar, Kai Alter, Phillip E Gander, William Sedley","doi":"10.1177/23312165261464722","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261464722","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Once persistent for around a month, tinnitus typically persists permanently. This transition from acute to chronic tinnitus is thought to reflect dynamic neurophysiological changes and plasticity within central auditory and non-auditory networks, but empirical evidence has been lacking. We hypothesized that, bottom-up neural mechanisms linked to tinnitus initiation, such as central gain and neural synchrony, are maximal around the time of its initiation, but subsequently return towards baseline as central plastic changes develop. We evaluated part of this hypothesis by measuring central auditory reactivity through the Intensity Dependence of Auditory Evoked Potential (IDAEP), a non-invasive index of higher-order inhibitory processing within the auditory system. A steeper IDAEP slope is associated with heightened sensory reactivity (higher sensitivity to changes in auditory stimuli), indicative of reduced central inhibition, whereas a shallower slope reflects greater inhibitory control. Studying a group with acute tinnitus (onset within past six weeks), with a repeated assessment after six months from onset, we found a significant longitudinal reduction in the IDAEP slope following initial tinnitus onset, and non-significantly higher IDAEP slope in Acute and Chronic tinnitus groups compared to matched controls. These findings support our hypothesis, indicating that IDAEP may serve as an objective marker of auditory reactivity for characterising the time course of certain tinnitus mechanisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261464722"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13310338/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148340758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Auditory Motion Perception by Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users With a Sound Coding Strategy that Synchronizes Peak-Picking Across the Ears.","authors":"Stephen R Dennison, Lingkai Harry Zhao, Alan Kan, Ruth Y Litovsky","doi":"10.1177/23312165261465510","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261465510","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bilateral cochlear implant (BiCI) users do not perform as well as typical hearing listeners when discriminating the direction of sound motion. This is likely due to the lack of synchronization between two independently operating sound processors. The use of bilaterally linked processors can improve the timing of electrical stimulation across the ears. However, these improvements are potentially counteracted by spectral peak-picking in sound coding strategies that may activate different electrodes across the ears, thereby reducing the fidelity of the binaural cues that BiCI users rely on for sound localization. To improve interaural synchrony, a bilateral peak-picking strategy that guarantees coordinated stimulation across the ears was developed and tested using the CCi-MOBILE, a bilaterally linked research processor. The auditory motion tracking abilities of nine BiCI users were measured using the bilateral peak-picking strategy and compared to performance with commercially available, unsynchronized processors. Results showed no effect of bilateral peak-picking. However, a small benefit was observed when tracking the range of motion of a sound when listening with bilateral synchronization which appears to be due to reduced interaural level difference changes with auditory motion. These findings suggest that dynamic auditory perception with BiCI may likely need bilaterally-synchronized hardware.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261465510"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13351239/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148413409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Task-Irrelevant Talker Identity and Continuity on Spatial Selective Attention Under Interruption.","authors":"Wusheng Liang, Abigail L Noyce, Christopher A Brown, Barbara G Shinn-Cunningham","doi":"10.1177/23312165261459421","DOIUrl":"10.1177/23312165261459421","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Task-irrelevant features can impact formation of auditory objects and influence the effectiveness of selective attention, including the buildup of attention over time. Using a previously established paradigm exploring the effects of random interruptions on spatial selective attention, this study explores how the task-irrelevant feature of talker identity impacts the buildup of spatial attention and whether it alters the impact of interruptions. Participants performed a sequence recall task in which participants were presented with two competing syllable sequences coming from different spatial directions and were asked to report the syllable sequence coming from the target direction. On half of the trials, an unpredictable, novel interrupting sound occurred, disrupting attentional focus. Two experiments explored how talker identity influenced performance, specifically, whether 1) making the two streams come from different talkers facilitates task performance and reduces the impact of interruption compared to when the streams are spoken by the same talker, and 2) talker discontinuity interferes with attention buildup and harms syllable recall performance compared to when the talker is the same from one syllable to the next. Our results showed that distinct talker features, though task-irrelevant in this spatial task, significantly improved syllable recall performance and reduced the impact of interrupters. Further, irrelevant talker discontinuities damaged attention buildup and reduced syllable recall performance. Post hoc analysis also revealed that repeating syllables in sequence substantially improved recall performance, which should be accounted for in future studies using similar paradigms.</p>","PeriodicalId":48678,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Hearing","volume":"30 ","pages":"23312165261459421"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13263595/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148228869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}