Ear and Hearing最新文献

{"title":"Network Analysis of the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale for Adults.","authors":"Cynthia R Hunter, Michael S Vitevitch","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001768","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001768","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The mathematical tools of network science were used to examine the English version of the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale for Adults with Hearing Loss (VFS-A) to illustrate one way in which this approach could be used in the speech, language, and hearing sciences.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Nodes represented items in the scale, and connections between nodes represented the correlation in the responses to those items, forming a fully connected, web-like network. Various measures of network structure at the microlevel (i.e., node strength), and at the mesolevel (i.e., communities and subsets of nodes based on node strength) revealed information about individual nodes/items and groups of items, respectively, that could not be observed using more conventional analysis techniques.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Specifically, average node strength distinguished between the pattern of VFS-A responses among listeners with no/slight hearing loss and listeners with mild hearing loss, even though listening-related fatigue, as measured using conventional summed scores, was not statistically different between these groups. This highlights the importance of the relationship between items and not just the item score itself. Although the communities that were detected did not replicate the four subscales in the VFS-A, our analysis of subsets of nodes based on node strength illustrates how the network approach might be used to reduce the number of items in a large scale to a more focused set of nodes/items that might be useful for evaluating treatment effects.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We discuss other ways the network approach could be useful to researchers and clinicians, and can advance the speech, language, and hearing sciences.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"726-736"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145679669","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":"Auditory Temporal Resolution After Exposure to the Acoustic Stimuli Used for Vestibular-Evoked Myogenic Potential: A Preliminary Investigation.","authors":"Rajesh Kumar Raveendran, Niraj Kumar Singh, Nilesh J Washnik, Ishan Sunilkumar Bhatt, Arivudai Nambi Pitchaimuthu","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001762","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001762","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) are elicited using high-intensity signals, often 125 dB peSPL or higher. Evidence from human experiments documenting cochlear hypofunction after VEMP test using stimulus intensities of 133 and 130 dB peSPL is concerning. However, recent reports found 125 dB peSPL safe as it caused no significant change in pure-tone thresholds and otoacoustic emissions. Nonetheless, previous studies have reported that loud sounds can affect several auditory processes, including temporal resolution, despite no significant change in pure-tone thresholds or otoacoustic emissions. However, all the studies to date investigating the effects of VEMP-eliciting stimuli have used pure-tone audiometry and/or otoacoustic emission. The possibility of a post-VEMP change in temporal resolution remains unexplored. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the potential effects of VEMP-eliciting stimuli on temporal resolution by evaluating gap detection thresholds (GDT).</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>In an experimental time-series research design, 30 young adults underwent a 500-Hz tone burst evoked cervical and ocular VEMP testing. They also underwent GDT testing just before the VEMP test and at 4 other time points (5 min, 1 hr, 24 hr, and 2 wk) after it. In cases of a persistently higher GDT than the baseline, the participants were re-evaluated after 2 mo.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A significant change in GDT at the post-VEMP measurement points of 5 min and 2 wk ( p < 0.008, α -corrected, Wilcoxon signed-rank test after Friedman test) was observed. Nearly 23% of VEMP ears had significantly worse GDT at 5 min after exposure; however, everyone recovered to the pre-exposure GDT level by the end of the experimental paradigm.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Acoustic stimuli presented at an intensity of 125 dB peSPL to elicit VEMP can potentially influence the auditory system temporarily. Nevertheless, comparing the potential benefits of the VEMP test to its temporary ill effects weighs the odds in favor of the VEMP test, especially given that cVEMP is the only possible assessment tool for the saccular function.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"678-688"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145656460","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":"Differences in Intracochlear Electrocochleography Signal Characteristics of Meniere's Disease, Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.","authors":"William G Shute, Aaron M Collins, Christo Bester, Stephen J O'Leary","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001775","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001775","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To perform a detailed analysis of intracochlear electrocochleography (IC ECochG) traces in subjects with one of three specific etiologies of hearing loss (Meniere's disease, noise-induced hearing loss [NIHL], and sudden sensorineural hearing loss) undergoing cochlear implantation (CI), to gain new insights into the site of dysfunction in each.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We conducted a retrospective clinical cohort study examining IC ECochG traces in 27 adult and pediatric cochlear implant recipients with a diagnosis of either NIHL, Meniere's disease, or sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). We analyzed the IC ECochG waveforms of cochlear microphonic (CM), auditory nerve neurophonic (ANN), summating potential (SP), and compound action potential in response to a 500 Hz pure-tone stimulus. The ECochG responses were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed across 11 intracochlear recording electrodes, and comparisons between groups made by Kruskal-Wallis comparison of mean ranks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The CM amplitude in subjects with NIHL was significantly larger (27.6 μV) than in subjects with Meniere's disease (7.2 μV) and sudden sensorineural hearing loss (9.0 μV) ( p = 0.0092). Compared with Meniere's disease and SSNHL, the NIHL group also demonstrated preservation of the expected intracochlear tonotopic relationship, with larger amplitude microphonics recorded from more deeply inserted electrodes. Likewise, this group demonstrated large, positive SPs with progressive enlargement approaching the cochleotopic place. Taken together, these results are suggestive of a surviving population of apical hair cells in this group. In contrast with the SP in the NIHL group, subjects with Meniere's disease and SSNHL had smaller SPs ( p = 0.0014). SPs in these groups also demonstrated negative polarities with loss of the expected cochleotopic distribution. To estimate the function of the auditory nerve relative to the hair cells, the ANN/CM ratio was explored. Herein, significant differences arise between the Meniere's disease group (average ANN:CM = 0.36) and the sudden sensorineural hearing loss group (average ANN:CM = 1.08) ( p = 0.0301) suggesting relative neural function is better in the SSNHL than the Meniere's group, and that the drivers of a negative polarity SP in this group may be related to inner hair cell dysfunction.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>IC ECochG is an effective tool for investigating residual function in the cochlea following cochlear implantation. Our results reveal significant differences in the function of cochlear generators between subjects with Meniere's disease, SSNHL, and NIHL, which may reflect differing lesion sites.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"813-824"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146020882","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":"Importance of Vowel Harmonic Phase and Fundamental Frequency for Envelope Following Responses.","authors":"Mackenzie G Horne, Vijayalakshmi Easwar, Steven J Aiken, Krystal Beh, David W Purcell","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001767","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001767","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;The envelope following response (EFR) is a scalp-recorded potential that is phase-locked to envelope periodicities in auditory stimuli such as vowels. Vowel-evoked EFRs are influenced by stimulus characteristics; the most well-studied parameter is the fundamental frequency (f0). Many studies use lower f0 stimuli because they generally elicit larger response amplitudes. Comparatively, the influence of other stimulus characteristics, such as harmonic phase and amplitude spectra, is still poorly understood. The present study emphasizes the investigation of the potential influence of harmonic phase spectra using vowel stimuli. It is hypothesized that the alignment of beating envelopes, which are presumed to be generated by adjacent pairs of vowel harmonics, is a factor contributing to EFR amplitude.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Three experiments investigated the effects of varying stimulus parameters on EFRs using vowel tokens derived from 1 male talker with a lower f0 (107.9 Hz) and 1 female talker with a higher f0 (211.6 Hz). A total of 92 adults with normal hearing participated. A single channel was used to record EFRs between the vertex and nape with monaural stimuli. Experiment 1 progressively reduced f0 from the higher f0 to match that of the lower f0 to investigate whether control of f0 alone was sufficient to elicit equivalent amplitude EFRs. Experiment 2 mostly manipulated the phases of stimulus vowel harmonics while matching f0 to study their influence on EFR amplitude. Experiment 3 compared EFR amplitude for vowels with harmonic phases designed with a cochlear model to maximize or minimize EFR amplitude through alignment or opposition of beating envelopes presumed to be generated by adjacent pairs of vowel harmonics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;In experiment 1, EFR amplitudes increased as f0 of the female talker was reduced. However, even when f0 was close to the male f0, the EFR amplitude remained lower than that obtained with the male f0. Experiment 2 showed that EFR amplitude changes as harmonic phase spectra are varied while using matched f0 tracks. Furthermore, results suggested that synthesized vowels can elicit EFRs with amplitudes equivalent to a natural utterance by matching f0 and harmonic amplitude and phase spectra. Experiment 3 showed significantly smaller EFR amplitudes for vowels with alternating beating envelopes that encouraged destructive interference. With a lower f0, the alignment of vowel beating envelopes significantly increased EFR amplitude.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The results of experiment 1 support that, in addition to f0, other stimulus factors affect EFR amplitude. Experiment 2 supports that harmonic phase spectra are an important stimulus characteristic for EFR amplitude and that EFRs elicited by natural vowels can be simulated adequately by modeling f0 and harmonic amplitude and phase spectra. Results of experiment 3 support that alignment of stimulus beating e","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"762-776"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145710222","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":"An Electrophysiological Version of the Audible Contrast Threshold Test.","authors":"Lisbeth Birkelund Simonsen, Jaime A Undurraga, Abigail Anne Kressner, Torsten Dau, Søren Laugesen","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001756","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001756","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The audible contrast threshold (ACT) test is a behavioral spectro-temporal modulation detection test used to approximate speech-in-noise performance. This study focused on the clinical reliability and validity of an electrophysiological version of the ACT test (E-ACT). The primary objectives were to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the E-ACT and explore its relationship with the behavioral ACT test and aided speech-in-noise performance. Since the E-ACT employs stimuli based on a tonal carrier while the ACT uses a noise carrier, a secondary objective was to investigate the behavioral correlation between performance with noise-carrier and tonal-carrier stimuli. We hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship between the E-ACT and the behavioral ACT.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>The E-ACT utilizes the auditory change complex, a cortical response to suprathreshold sound changes, elicited here by changes between spectro-temporal modulated targets and non-modulated references. The 4-Hz temporal and two-cycles/octave spectral modulation rates were identical to those used in the ACT test. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the E-ACT: The first experiment (experiment A) was conducted in a university setting with 18 adult participants. The second experiment (experiment B) was conducted in a hospital setting with 47 hearing-impaired adult participants. Both experiments included ACT and E-ACT measurements. In addition, experiment A incorporated behavioral tonal-ACT measurements, while experiment B included assessments of speech-in-noise performance. Electroencephalogram data were analyzed using the objective Fmpi (individualized multi-point F test) detector to determine the presence of responses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The E-ACT test and retest were significantly correlated ( R2 = 0.62, p < 0.001). The E-ACT values correlated significantly with ACT values ( R2 = 0.18, p < 0.001), with most participants showing better thresholds for ACT compared with E-ACT. However, unexpectedly, some participants had worse ACT values compared with E-ACT. E-ACT values also correlated with aided speech-in-noise performance ( R2 = 0.09, p = 0.04). Last, ACT and tonal-ACT values were significantly correlated ( R2 = 0.53, p < 0.001), with thresholds obtained using tonal-ACT averaging 1.6 dB lower than those obtained using ACT.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The E-ACT provides clinicians with an objective discrimination measure that can be utilized with patients unable to participate in behavioral tests. Both E-ACT and ACT offer insights into suprathreshold hearing, which can supplement the audiogram.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"609-621"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13068441/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145650126","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":"Neural Mechanisms of Listening to Speech in Noise With Age-Related Hearing Loss.","authors":"Megan C Fitzhugh, Sydney Y Schaefer, Leslie C Baxter, Corianne Rogalsky","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001760","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001760","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Age-related hearing loss is prevalent in a large proportion of older adults and is the largest modifiable risk factor of dementia. Previous studies have shown that hearing loss in older adults is associated with reductions in brain volume and alterations in brain connectivity, but there is a gap in our understanding of how hearing loss may impact brain activity, specifically while listening to speech. In this study, we hypothesized that hearing loss would be associated with (1) reduced activation within temporal auditory regions in response to speech presented with and without background noise, and (2) increased activation in the cingulo-opercular network in response to speech in noise.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Twenty-seven older adults (mean age = 68 yr, 17 women) recruited from the community completed a clustered sparse-sampling functional magnetic resonance imaging protocol while listening to speech presented with and without multi-talker background noise. Regions of interest-based and exploratory voxel-wise analyses were used to investigate correlations between functional magnetic resonance imaging activation to speech and hearing ability. Hearing was defined as the pure-tone average of hearing thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz from the better ear and ranged from normal to a moderate hearing loss.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our results indicate that age-related hearing loss was associated with reduced activation in right Heschl's gyrus and left middle temporal gyrus in response to speech. Exploratory voxel-wise analyses suggest that hearing loss may be associated with alterations in activation in other sensory cortical regions and portions of the frontal cortex, including left pars opercularis. Activation within the cingulo-opercular network was not associated with hearing loss.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest that age-related hearing loss in humans is associated with altered brain activity in response to speech, particularly within right Heschl's gyrus. It further provides hypothesis-generating data for future studies on the effects of hearing loss on brain function.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"652-661"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145844372","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":"Audiovisual Speech Perception in Aging Cochlear Implant Users and Age-Matched Nonimplanted Adults.","authors":"James W Dias, Kara C Schvartz-Leyzac, Kelly C Harris","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001769","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001769","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Older typical-hearing adults without a cochlear implant (CI) have been found to exhibit greater multisensory benefits when identifying audiovisual speech than younger normal-hearing adults. The greater multisensory benefits demonstrated by older non-CI users can compensate for unisensory auditory and visual speech deficits, allowing them to identify audiovisual speech at a degree of accuracy like that of younger normal-hearing adults. Although most new CI recipients are 65 yrs of age and older, the reliance of older CI users on such multisensory benefits is unknown. The goal of the current investigation was to evaluate age-related differences in cross-sensory and multisensory benefits in audiovisual speech identification in aging CI users and to examine how they differ from age-matched non-CI users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Twenty middle-aged-to-older CI users (50 to 83 yrs of age) and 35 age-matched non-CI users completed an auditory-visual speech identification task, identifying 288 disyllabic words presented either auditory-alone, visual-alone, or audiovisually. CI users identified speech stimuli streamed directly through their CI device in quiet and in noise (Gaussian) at a +10 and +5 dB signal to noise ratio (SNR). Non-CI users identified speech stimuli delivered through earphones in noise at -5, 0, and +5 dB SNR conditions. Different noise conditions were used for CI users and non-CI users to avoid ceiling and floor effects. From visual, auditory, and audiovisual performance, psychometrics for the visual enhancement of auditory speech (VE), the auditory enhancement of visual speech (AE), and auditory-visual multisensory enhancement (AVE) were calculated. Group differences (in the overlapping +5 dB SNR condition) and effects of age and noise were tested using linear regression and linear mixed-effects regression models.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Both CI users and non-CI users demonstrated canonical differences in visual, auditory, and audiovisual speech identification. VE and AVE were greater for CI users than for non-CI users. AVE increased with the age of older CI users and non-CI users, consistent with age-group differences in AVE we observed in a previous study of non-CI users.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The results of the current investigation suggest that CI users, like age-matched non-CI users, rely on multisensory integration more as they age. Older CI users may benefit more from audiovisual input than older non-CI users. These perceptual benefits grant older CI users the capacity to identify audiovisual speech to a degree of accuracy closer to that of older non-CI users, despite deficits in the auditory perception of CI users. As a result, the successful use of a CI device may partially depend on the ability of a CI user to integrate information they see with information available from their device, and older CI users may depend on visual input more to successfully use their CI.&lt;/","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"737-747"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145844308","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":"Differences Between Subjective and Behavioral Listening Effort in Children Across Age and Task Complexity.","authors":"Julia Seitz, Janina Fels","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001759","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001759","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;This study investigated the effects of task complexity and age on children's listening effort and speech perception in plausibly auralized classroom environments. It focused on five research hypotheses that addressed the effects of noise and acoustic conditions, task difficulty, and age on both behavioral and subjective measures of listening effort and their combined influence on speech perception.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;The study involved 39 elementary school children between the ages of 6 and 10. Participants performed a word recognition task and a decision task in different acoustic scenarios, including anechoic and simulated classroom environments with and without multi-talker babble noise. Task difficulty was manipulated by varying the time interval between the decision task and the word recognition task to induce the psychological refractory period effect. Both tasks were also performed individually. The subjective listening effort was assessed using a child-appropriate questionnaire. The experiment used a mixed design with two noise conditions, two acoustic conditions, and four task difficulty levels, tested on both 6- to 7-year-olds and 8- to 10-year-olds.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The analysis revealed that subjective listening effort scores were significantly higher in the multi-talker babble condition compared with the quiet condition across both age groups and acoustic settings. However, behavioral measures of listening effort, as indicated by response speed, did not show significant differences between noise conditions. Task difficulty significantly affected response speed, with slower speeds observed at shorter stimulus onset asynchronies, confirming the presence of the psychological refractory period effect. Age-related differences were observed, with older children (8 to 10 years) showing faster response speeds in the word recognition task compared with younger children (6 to 7 years). Error rates in the word recognition task showed a complex four-way interaction between age group, noise condition, acoustic condition, and task difficulty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Subjective and behavioral measures of listening effort differed with respect to the effects of noise and age. Nevertheless, less behavioral listening effort was observed with increasing age, and subjective listening effort was higher in noisy conditions. Both measures were consistent across acoustic conditions, indicating similar levels of induced effort in anechoic and low reverberant ( ) environments. On the basis of the results, studies investigating behavioral and subjective listening effort jointly are recommended. Regarding speech perception, room effects negatively affected the performance of 6- to 7-year-olds in multi-talker babble noise. In addition, 8- to 10-year-olds showed better speech perception in noise and silence compared with their younger peers. Overall, classroom noise had a negative effect on ch","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"639-651"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145783595","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":"Rapid Profiling of Loudness Among Older Adults.","authors":"Yi Shen, Erik A Petersen, Stephen T Neely","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001766","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001766","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Efficient assessment of loudness may be an important step to enable custom signal-processing schemes in hearing devices to meet individual listeners' unique hearing profiles. A Bayesian adaptive procedure, the quick-Categorical Loudness Scaling (qCLS) procedure, to estimate loudness growth across a wide frequency range was evaluated in the present study in terms of its short-term test-retest reliability (in experiment 1) and agreement with existing loudness assessment methods (in experiment 2).</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>In experiment 1, 41 older adults were recruited, from whom the loudness growth across the frequency range from 250 to 8000 Hz was estimated using the qCLS procedure. During the procedure, the participants provided categorical loudness ratings to pure-tone stimuli presented at various frequencies and levels. The collected responses were used to update the estimates of equal-loudness-level contours at 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 phons, and the test stimulus for the subsequent trial was selected randomly along 1 of these interim estimated equal-loudness contours. Each run of the procedure took 100 test trials to complete, approximately 5 min. Two runs of the qCLS procedure (test and retest) were conducted in the same test session. In experiment 2, 10 adults were recruited, and the loudness growth was assessed at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, using both the qCLS procedure (100 trials) and a widely adopted adaptive procedure, that is, Adaptive Categorical Loudness Scaling (ACALOS) procedure (300 trials).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The test-retest reliability was evaluated in experiment 1, for the estimated thresholds that separated the 11 response categories used for loudness rating, that is, the category boundaries. The mean absolute deviation between test and retest, averaged across participants, was 6.3 dB for the category boundaries. Results from experiment 2 showed that the one run of the qCLS procedure (100 trials) and the ACALOS procedure (300 trials) led to a mean absolute deviation, averaged across participants, of 5.1 dB.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Satisfactory reliability may be achieved using the qCLS procedure within 100 trials of testing, which takes approximately 5 min to complete. The estimated loudness growth function also agrees well with those obtained using the ACALOS procedure.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"716-725"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12989215/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146068472","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":"Bilateral Speech-Evoked Envelope Following Responses: Benefit and Impact of Interaural Asymmetries.","authors":"Vijayalakshmi Easwar, Michael Chesnaye, David W Purcell, Preeya Shete, Xin Zhou, Genevieve Olencewicz","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001777","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001777","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Speech-evoked envelope following responses (EFRs) are a promising objective metric to assess aided access to speech. However, most studies have used unilateral stimulation and therefore do not reflect typical everyday listening, which is usually bilateral. The purpose of this study was to investigate: (i) the benefits of bilateral over unilateral stimulation in terms of increased EFR amplitudes, and (ii) the influence of clinically relevant interaural asymmetries, including relatively large interaural time and level differences (ITDs, ILDs) potentially caused by unilateral hearing aid fitting and asymmetry in hearing thresholds, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;In 42 adults with normal hearing, EFRs were elicited by male-spoken tokens /sashi/ or /sa/. The tokens enabled eliciting multiple EFRs, one at the fundamental frequency (f0) of voice (f0 EFRs; typically at ~80 to 100 Hz) by low, mid and high frequency phoneme bands, and one by the syllabic structure (slow-rate EFRs; &lt;8 Hz). To evaluate the benefit of bilateral over unilateral stimulation, stimuli were presented bilaterally and unilaterally at 65, 50, 35, and 15 dB SPL. To evaluate the effect of ILDs, the stimulus in the right ear was held constant at 65 dB SPL whilst the stimulus in the left ear was lowered to create ILDs of 15, 30, and 50 dB. To evaluate the effect of ITD, the stimulus was delayed by 5.6 msec in the left relative to the right ear to simulate a left unilateral hearing aid fitting. EFRs were measured with a non-inverting electrode at the vertex and an inverting electrode at the nape.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Between 35 and 65 dB SPL, bilateral f0 EFR amplitudes were 80 to 127% larger than their unilateral counterparts. Relatively smaller (20 to 46%) increases in amplitude were evident for the slow-rate EFRs. Detection rates improved mainly at lower levels, increasing by up to 50% and 15% in bilateral relative to unilateral conditions for f0 and slow-rate EFRs, respectively. The large 5.6-msec ITD attenuated f0 EFR amplitudes significantly, but had no significant effect on the slow-rate EFRs. ILD reduced f0 and slow-rate EFR amplitudes, but had no noticeable impact on detection rates. When stimuli were audible in both ears (ILD &lt; 30 dB), the bilateral f0 and slow-rate EFR amplitudes were slightly smaller than the sum of their unilateral counterparts, suggesting the presence of binaural interactions. The ratio of the bilateral to the unilateral sum of response amplitudes was 88 to 93% and 62 to 73% for the f0 and slow-rate EFRs, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The significant bilateral advantage in f0 and slow-rate EFR amplitudes, especially for stimuli closer to hearing thresholds, encourages the use of bilateral stimulation where appropriate. While a large 5.6 msec ITD-such as those introduced by a unilateral hearing aid-reduced f0 EFR amplitudes, slow-rate EFRs remained unaffected. Thus, unilateral hearin","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"835-846"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146151376","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}