Ear and Hearing最新文献

{"title":"Investigating the Role of Working Patterns in Tinnitus: Results From a Large UK Population.","authors":"Yao Song, Wendu Pang, Xiaohong Yan, Yaxin Luo, Yufang Rao, Ke Qiu, Minzi Mao, Di Deng, Junhong Li, Danni Cheng, Wei Xu, Jianjun Ren, Yu Zhao","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001654","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aimed to examine the association of different working patterns and tinnitus.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This cross-sectional study (2006-2010, n = 91,089) was a secondary analysis of existing data from the UK Biobank. It exploratorily evaluated the association between various working patterns, including shift work (day workers/sometimes/frequent), night shift work (day workers/rarely/sometimes/frequent), heavy work (never/sometimes/usually/always), work satisfaction (very happy/moderately happy/moderately unhappy/very unhappy), standing work (never/sometimes/usually/always) and workplace noise (no/exposing <1 year/1 to 5 years/>5 years) and the occurrence (yes/no), frequency (constant/transient) and severity (troublesome/not troublesome) of tinnitus. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis models were conducted. Sub-analysis was performed to estimate the effects of age, sex, and different working factors on tinnitus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study results showed that occasional shift and night shift were associated with an increased risk of tinnitus, while frequent shift/night shift showed no such association. This risk was further exacerbated by increased heavy work, prolonged standing work, lower job satisfaction, and extended exposure to noisy workplaces. Specifically, being occasionally engaged in shift/night shift, increasing workload, and short-term noise exposure (<1 year) were correlated with \"transient tinnitus,\" while long-time noise exposure (>5 years) was identified as a significant risk factor for \"constant tinnitus.\" Lower work satisfaction and noise exposure for more than 1 year were positively associated with \"troublesome tinnitus.\"</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Irregular working shifts, increasing physical workload, lower work satisfaction, and longer noise exposure were related to the occurrence, frequency, and severity of tinnitus in the UK Biobank cohort. Therefore, targeted interventions aimed at improving working patterns may help prevent tinnitus.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143765613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Social Predictors of Hearing Aid Purchase: Do Stigma, Social Network Composition, Social Support, and Loneliness Matter?","authors":"Gurjit Singh, Huiwen Goy, Kay Wright-Whyte, Alison L Chasteen, M Kathleen Pichora-Fuller","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001656","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001656","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which four different social factors (stigma, social network composition, social support, and loneliness) predict the purchase of hearing aids in a sample of older adults with impaired hearing who had not previously tried hearing aids and visited a hearing care clinic for the first time.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Data collection took place across 130 different hearing care clinics (Connect Hearing) in Canada. A total of 4630 participants were recruited for the study from notices in the waiting rooms of the clinics or by advertising in local newspapers. The final sample consisted of 753 adults (mean age = 69.2 years; SD = 9.0; 57.4% male) who were all recommended to try hearing aids. Clinical records were tracked for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 15 months after the appointment to determine if they obtained hearing aids. Participants completed a 56-item questionnaire before their appointment and then experienced standard care at the clinic (i.e., hearing evaluation, hearing rehabilitation if desired, etc.). Key factors assessed by the questionnaire included stigma related to age, stigma related to hearing aids, social network composition, perceived levels of social support, loneliness, self-reported hearing disability, and demographic information.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Data were analyzed using two methods, a penalized logistic regression and a classification tree analysis, to identify statistical predictors and meaningful clinical cutoff scores, respectively. Both models found that hearing aid adoption was best predicted by being older and having greater self-reported hearing disability. Hearing aid uptake was also predicted by social factors, but these predictors were less robust than age and self-reported hearing disability. Participants were more likely to adopt hearing aids if they reported less hearing aid stigma and had a social network that included at least 1 person with a suspected hearing loss. Loneliness and social support did not predict hearing aid adoption. Some model-specific variables also emerged.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Using a prospective research design, the study provides novel quantitative evidence of the role of different social factors regarding the uptake of hearing aids. The research findings may be used to better identify individuals more and less likely to obtain hearing aids, inform hearing rehabilitation, and motivate the use of interventions designed to lessen the impact of stigma on hearing rehabilitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143733299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relationships Between Subjective and Objective Measures of Listening Accuracy and Effort in an Online Speech-in-Noise Study.","authors":"Ian M Wiggins, Jemaine E Stacey, Graham Naylor, Gabrielle H Saunders","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001662","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Speech-in-noise performance is of paramount importance to daily function, and there exists a bewildering array of outcome measures to capture the many dimensions of this concept. The aim of the present study was to provide insight into how different speech-in-noise outcome measures relate to one another, how they behave under different test conditions, and how researchers or practitioners might go about selecting an outcome measure (or measures) depending on the context and focus of their enquiry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;An online speech-in-noise study was conducted using the Labvanced experimental platform. A total of 67 participants (42 who reported having normal hearing, 25 who said they had some degree of hearing loss) completed the Effort Assessment Scale (a self-reported measure of daily-life listening effort), followed by a sentence recognition task in which BKB sentences were presented in speech-shaped noise at signal to noise ratios (SNRs) of -8, -4, 0, +4, +8, and +20 dB. Participants were instructed to listen to each sentence and then repeat aloud what they heard. Responses were recorded through participants' webcams and later independently scored by 2 research assistants. Several outcome measures were used to tap into both accuracy and listening effort. Specifically, we examined: (1) objective intelligibility (percentage of keywords correctly repeated); (2) subjective intelligibility; (3) subjective listening effort; (4) subjective tendency to give up listening; and (5) verbal response time (VRT) extracted from the audio recordings. Data were analyzed using Bayesian statistical methods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Hearing loss and age were associated with speech-in-noise outcomes. Specifically, we observed lower intelligibility (objective and subjective), higher subjective listening effort, and longer VRT (time to verbal response onset) in hearing-impaired compared with normal-hearing listeners, and reduced objective intelligibility and longer VRT in older compared with younger listeners. When moving from highly favorable to more adverse listening conditions, subjective listening effort was the first measure to show sensitivity to worsening SNR, followed by subjective intelligibility, objective intelligibility, subjective tendency to give up listening, and, finally, VRT. Participants, especially those with normal hearing, consistently underestimated their own performance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The present findings offer useful insight into how different subjective and objective measures of listening accuracy and effort respond to variation in hearing status, age, and SNR. Although speech intelligibility remains a measure of primary importance, it is a sensitive measure only under adverse listening conditions, which may not be representative of everyday listening. Under more ecologically relevant listening conditions (generally speaking, at moderate, positive SNRs), listening eff","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143675000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Variant Reclassification in Underrepresented Minority Children With Sensorineural Hearing Loss.","authors":"Sonia M Scaria, Jacqueline Harris, Noura Ismail Mohamad, Emily Taketa, Yesai Park, Dylan K Chan","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001653","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Underrepresented minority (URM, comprising Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and Native American) children with sensorineural hearing loss have fivefold lower odds of receiving a genetic diagnosis after undergoing hearing loss gene-panel testing. Using hearing loss-specific American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG)/Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) guidelines applied to a URM-specific cohort demonstrates the utility of these guidelines in reducing the disparity in diagnostic efficacy of genetic testing for URM populations.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A total of 2740 variants from 715 patients with sensorineural hearing loss (1275 variants from 348 URM patients) were queried. ACMG variant interpretation guidelines with hearing loss expert specification were used to attempt reclassification of multihit (≥2 occurrences) variants of uncertain significances (VUSs), focusing on case-control analysis relative to ancestry-matched controls and computational prediction.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Before curation, only 198 of the 1275 variants (15.52%) in the URM population were classified as likely pathogenic. Sixty-one multihit VUSs, including variants in OTOG, TJP2, COL11A2, and 34 other genes, were probed using hearing loss-specific ACMG/AMP guidelines, resulting in reclassification of 19 variants. For the remaining 42 VUSs, reclassification would require parental testing and segregation analysis. In addition to these VUSs that appeared at least twice in our dataset, many additional VUSs appeared only once, but were extremely rare or absent from ancestry-matched databases and could be reclassified with additional information.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study demonstrates the utility of the application of HL-specific ACMG/AMP classification to specifically URM variants and the dramatic effects it can have on clarifying pathogenicity of VUSs, thus contributing to clinicians' ability to improve the standard of care for URM patients with improved genetic testing accuracy and subsequent early intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143607250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Concurrent Compensation for Auditory and Visual Processing in Individuals With Single-Sided Deafness.","authors":"Yufei Qiao, Jiayan Yang, Min Zhu, Qiaoyu Liu, Yuanshun Long, Hepeng Ke, Chang Cai, Yingying Shang","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001658","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Auditory deprivation results in functional enhancement of the remaining intact visual modality, and the underlying mechanisms include cross-modal recruitment of additional resources from the auditory cortex and compensatory reorganization of the visual network in bilateral deafness. However, how resources are allocated between hearing and vision has not been determined in patients with partial auditory deprivation. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between functional plasticity of the visual and auditory pathways in patients with congenital single-sided deafness (SSD), a typical partial deprivation condition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;The cross-sectional cohort was comprised of 25 patients with congenital SSD (mean age ± SD = 31.6 ± 5.2 years, 13 males) and 25 normal hearing (NH) controls (mean age ± SD = 30.9 ± 7.5 years, 13 males). Both visual-evoked potentials (VEPs) and auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) were assessed for all participants. For assessment of AEPs, auditory stimuli were presented unilaterally through the hearing ear in the SSD group, while the auditory stimuli were presented unilaterally (left and right) and bilaterally in the NH group. Event-related potential analyses focused on the differences in latency and amplitude of VEPs and AEPs between groups. Dipole source analyses of VEPs and AEPs were implemented to measure the dipole strengths and latencies of the bilateral primary visual and auditory cortex and comparisons were made both within and between groups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;For VEPs, SSD patients exhibited a greater amplitude and a shorter latency than NH controls. For dipole source analysis of VEPs, no interhemispheric asymmetry or between-group difference was observed. For AEPs, the amplitude of SSD patients was greater than that of NH controls under the monaural condition but did not exceed that evoked by binaural stimuli in NH controls. For dipole source analysis of AEPs, interhemispheric strength asymmetry was observed in NH controls in response to monaural stimuli but was less clear in SSD subjects. Considering the side of deafness, interhemispheric strength asymmetry was hardly observed in left SSD (LSSD) patients, and was also weakened in right SSD (RSSD) patients. The interhemispheric difference index of dipole strength in LSSD patients was significantly lower than that in NH controls in response to right monaural stimuli. Furthermore, the dipole strength of the ipsilateral hemisphere in both LSSD and RSSD patients was greater than that in NH controls in response to monaural stimuli.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Neural activity and efficiency in the early stage of cortical visual processing in SSD patients were enhanced. The monaural responses of the auditory pathway have lost the typical contralateral organization, becoming more symmetric due to the increased ipsilateral pathways. These findings suggest concurrent compensation for auditory an","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143598551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early Intervention Influences 9-Year Speech, Language, Cognitive, and Quality-of-Life Outcomes in Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Children.","authors":"Teresa Y C Ching, Linda Cupples, Mark Seeto, Vicky Zhang, Sanna Hou, Angela Wong, Christopher Flynn, Vivienne Marnane, Greg Leigh, Harvey Dillon","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001657","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001657","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Early identification of congenital deafness enables early intervention, but evidence on the influence of age at fitting of hearing aids (HAs) or cochlear implants (CIs) on outcomes in school-aged children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) is limited. This study (1) described developmental outcomes and health-related quality of life in DHH children; and (2) examined the relationships among demographic factors, including age at fitting of HAs or CIs, and outcomes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;This prospective cohort study included participants in a population-based study who were followed up at 9 years of age. Children who are DHH and who first received hearing habilitation services before 3 years of age from the government-funded national hearing service provider in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, and Southern Queensland in Australia were invited to enroll in the study. At 9 years of age, enrolled children were assessed using standardized measures of language, cognitive abilities, and speech perception. The children also completed questionnaire ratings on their quality of life. Parents provided demographic information about their child, family, and education; and completed ratings on their child's quality of life. Audiological data were retrieved from the client database of the hearing service provider and records held at CI centers. Descriptive statistics were used to report quantitative outcomes. The relationships among demographic characteristics, including age at fitting of HAs or CIs, and children's outcomes were examined using structural equation modeling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;A total of 367 children, 178 (48.5%) girls, completed assessments at age 9.4 (SD = 0.3) years. On average, performance was within 1 SD of the normative mean for language, cognitive functioning, and health-related quality of life; but much below norms for speech perception. The modeling result is consistent with verbal short-term memory having a mediating effect on multiple outcomes. Better verbal short-term memory is significantly associated with no additional disabilities, earlier age at CI activation, use of an oral communication mode in early intervention, and higher maternal education. In turn, verbal short-term memory directly and positively affects speech perception, language, and health-related quality of life. Maternal education directly and positively affects language outcomes, and indirectly via its effects on nonverbal I.Q. and verbal short-term memory. Better language is directly associated with a better quality of life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;This study found evidence consistent with early hearing intervention having a positive effect on speech perception and language via its effect on verbal short-term memory. Children who had better language also had better quality of life. The importance of early hearing for cognitive development lends support to early detection and early hearing int","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of LS CE-Chirp and Click Stimuli in Auditory Brainstem Responses in High-Frequency Hearing Loss.","authors":"Uğur Belet, Ateş Mehmet Akşit, Ebru Kösemihal","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001586","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001586","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is an evoked potential used to estimate the hearing thresholds and identify potential auditory pathologies. Although a click stimulus is generally used as an auditory stimulus in diagnostics, recent reports show that the Level-Specific CE-Chirp (LS CE-Chirp) stimulus can also be used for clinical diagnosis. In this study, we compared the auditory brainstem test outcomes of the LS CE-Chirp stimulus and the click stimulus in individuals with high-frequency hearing loss (HFHL).</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Patients with HFHL (n = 30) and individuals with normal hearing (n = 30) were included in the study. Audiometric pure-tone thresholds were determined for all subjects at 250 to 8000 Hz. For individuals with normal hearing, the pure-tone thresholds were required to be ≤20 dB HL for all frequencies. HFHL cases were selected from people with at least 5 years of hunting experience. All subjects were tested with ABR at 80 and 60 dB nHL. The ABR test was performed using click and LS CE-Chirp stimuli at a rate of 11.1/sec. ABR wave I, III, and V peak latencies and I to V interpeak latency values were compared within and among the groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Longer latency values were obtained with the LS CE-Chirp stimulus at 80 dB nHL intensity and 11.1/sec stimulus frequency than with the click stimulus in the control group. No significant difference was detected between the LS CE-Chirp and click stimuli at the 80 dB nHL intensity level in the HFHL group ( p > 0.005). When the HFHL patients were classified according to the 4000 Hz threshold, the click stimulus was found to be more compatible with the behavioral 4000 Hz threshold.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The wave latency values obtained with the LS CE-Chirp stimulus in the HFHL group, unlike with the click stimulation, were less affected by the level of hearing loss in the HFHL group. For this difference to have a diagnostic value, further studies would be needed on patients with different pathologies and hearing loss configurations.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"347-352"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142711579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations Between Vestibular Perception and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Adults.","authors":"Megan J Kobel, Andrew R Wagner, Daniel M Merfeld","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001598","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001598","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>A growing body of evidence has linked vestibular function to the higher-order cognitive ability in aging individuals. Past evidence has suggested unique links between vestibular function and cognition on the basis of end-organ involvement (i.e., otoliths versus canals). However, past studies have only assessed vestibular reflexes despite the diversity of vestibular pathways. Thus, this exploratory study aimed to assess associations between vestibular perception and cognition in aging adults to determine potential relationships.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Fifty adults (21 to 84 years; mean = 52.9, SD = 19.8) were included in this cross-sectional study. All participants completed a vestibular perceptual threshold test battery designed to target perception predominantly mediated by each end-organ pair and intra-vestibular integration: 1 Hz y -translation (utricle), 1 Hz z -translation (saccule), 2 Hz yaw rotation (horizontal canals), 2 Hz right anterior, left posterior (RALP), and left anterior, right posterior (LARP) tilts (vertical canals), and 0.5 Hz roll tilt (canal-otolith integration). Participants also completed standard assessments of cognition and path integration: Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Trail Making Test (TMT), and the Gait Disorientation Test (GDT). Associations were assessed using Spearman rank correlation, and multivariable regression analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>For correlation analyses, DSST correlated to RALP/LARP tilt, roll tilt, and z -translation. TMT-A only correlated to z -translation, and TMT-B correlated to roll tilt and z -translation after correcting for multiple comparisons. GDT correlated to RALP/LARP tilt and y -translation. In age-adjusted regression analyses, DSST and TMT-B were associated with z -translation thresholds and GDT was associated with y -translation thresholds.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this cross-sectional study, we identified associations between vestibular perceptual thresholds with otolith contributions and standard measures of cognition. These results are in line with past results suggesting unique associations between otolith function and cognitive performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"461-473"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11832344/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142592399","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":"Masking Effects Caused by Contralateral Distractors in Participants With Versus Without Listening Difficulties.","authors":"Tetsuaki Kawase, Chie Obuchi, Jun Suzuki, Yukio Katori, Shuichi Sakamoto","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001591","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001591","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To examine the effects of distractor sounds presented to the contralateral ear on speech intelligibility in patients with listening difficulties without apparent peripheral pathology and in control participants.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This study examined and analyzed 15 control participants (age range, 22 to 30 years) without any complaints of listening difficulties and 15 patients (age range, 15 to 33 years) diagnosed as having listening difficulties without apparent peripheral pathology in the outpatient clinic of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Hospital. Speech intelligibility for 50 Japanese monosyllables presented to the right ear was examined under the following three different conditions: \"without contralateral sound,\" \"with continuous white noise in the contralateral ear,\" and \"with music stimuli in the contralateral ear.\"</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results indicated the following: (1) speech intelligibility was significantly worse in the patient group with contralateral music stimuli and noise stimuli; (2) speech intelligibility was significantly worse with contralateral music stimuli than with contralateral noise stimuli in the patient group; (3) there was no significant difference in speech intelligibility among three contralateral masking conditions (without contra-stimuli, with contra-noise, and with contra-music) in the control group, although average and median values of speech intelligibility tended to be worse with contralateral music stimuli than without contralateral stimuli.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Significantly larger masking effects due to a contralateral distractor sound observed in patients with listening difficulties without apparent peripheral pathology may suggest the possible involvement of masking mechanisms other than the energetic masking mechanism occurring in the periphery in these patients. In addition, it was also shown that the masking effect is more pronounced with real environmental sounds, that is, music with lyrics, than with continuous steady noise, which is often used as a masker for speech-in-noise testing in clinical trials. In other words, it should be noted that a speech-in-noise test using such steady noise may underestimate the degree of listening problems of patients with listening difficulties in their daily lives, and a speech-in-noise test using a masker such as music and/or speech sounds could make listening problems more obvious in patients with listening difficulties.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"393-400"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142395460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relationships Between Hearing Status, Cognitive Abilities, and Reliance on Visual and Contextual Cues.","authors":"Andreea Micula, Emil Holmer, Ruijing Ning, Henrik Danielsson","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001596","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001596","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Visual and contextual cues facilitate speech recognition in suboptimal listening conditions (e.g., background noise, hearing loss, hearing aid signal processing). Moreover, successful speech recognition in challenging listening conditions is linked to cognitive abilities such as working memory and fluid intelligence. However, it is unclear which cognitive abilities facilitate the use of visual and contextual cues in individuals with normal hearing and hearing aid users. The first aim was to investigate whether individuals with hearing aid users rely on visual and contextual cues to a higher degree than individuals with normal hearing in a speech-in-noise recognition task. The second aim was to investigate whether working memory and fluid intelligence are associated with the use of visual and contextual cues in these groups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Groups of participants with normal hearing and hearing aid users with bilateral, symmetrical mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss were included (n = 169 per group). The Samuelsson and Rönnberg task was administered to measure speech recognition in speech-shaped noise. The task consists of an equal number of sentences administered in the auditory and audiovisual modalities, as well as without and with contextual cues (visually presented word preceding the sentence, e.g.,: \"Restaurant\"). The signal to noise ratio was individually set to 1 dB below the level obtained for 50% correct speech recognition in the hearing-in-noise test administered in the auditory modality. The Reading Span test was used to measure working memory capacity and the Raven test was used to measure fluid intelligence. The data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects modeling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Both groups exhibited significantly higher speech recognition performance when visual and contextual cues were available. Although the hearing aid users performed significantly worse compared to those with normal hearing in the auditory modality, both groups reached similar performance levels in the audiovisual modality. In addition, a significant positive relationship was found between the Raven test score and speech recognition performance only for the hearing aid users in the audiovisual modality. There was no significant relationship between Reading Span test score and performance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Both participants with normal hearing and hearing aid users benefitted from contextual cues, regardless of cognitive abilities. The hearing aid users relied on visual cues to compensate for the perceptual difficulties, reaching a similar performance level as the participants with normal hearing when visual cues were available, despite worse performance in the auditory modality. It is important to note that the hearing aid users who had higher fluid intelligence were able to capitalize on visual cues more successfully than those with poorer fluid intelligence, resulting ","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"433-443"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11825487/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142301424","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}