Ear and Hearing最新文献

{"title":"Electrocochleography Latency: Correlation With Electrode Position During Cochlear Implantation.","authors":"Raphael R Andonie, Wilhelm Wimmer, Reto A Wildhaber, Georgios Mantokoudis, Marco Caversaccio, Stefan Weder","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001652","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001652","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Cochlear implant (CI) candidates increasingly exhibit some degree of residual hearing, which should be preserved despite the implantation. Today, cochlear health is monitored during CI surgery by tracking the cochlear microphonic (CM) amplitude from intracochlear electrocochleography (ECochG) measurements. However, recent studies indicate that the insertion depth of the measuring electrode must be considered to accurately interpret these signals. The acoustic path from the cochlear base to the apex induces excitation delays in deeper regions, which should be reflected in the CM measurements. In this study, we analyzed the potential of cochlear microphonic latency (CML) as an objective method for continuously tracking CI electrode position during cochlear implantation. In addition, we examined whether CML can be associated with residual hearing.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We recorded intraoperative pure-tone ECochG at maximum stimulation levels from 30 CI patients to derive CML. During CI electrode insertion, ECochG was continuously recorded at the 2 stimulation frequencies of 0.5 and 0.75 kHz. After complete insertion, ECochG was measured on all evenly numbered electrodes at frequencies of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 kHz. The electrode locations (i.e., linear insertion depth) were identified by postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans. The location of the measuring electrode during the insertion period was then calculated backward, assuming a constant insertion speed. Finally, we used a linear regression model to relate CML to linear insertion depth. In addition, we evaluated the relationship between CML and preoperative residual hearing.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>CML is significantly correlated to the linear insertion depth ( p < 0.001) during and after electrode insertion (with restrictions on 0.25 kHz stimulus, presumably since the characteristic 0.25 kHz region is not within reach of the used CI electrode arrays). Despite high inter-individual variability, our results align with documented delays in the basilar membrane observed in other studies. However, we could not identify a significant association between CML and residual hearing.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study demonstrates that objectively extracted CML encodes the intracochlear electrode location in CI patients but is not directly linked to residual hearing. Consequently, CML has the potential to enhance intraoperative ECochG analysis by providing real-time tracking of electrode position. To better understand the inter-individual variations in CML, future studies with larger patient cohorts are needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1130-1140"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12352560/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143506118","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":"Machine Learning Models Can Predict Tinnitus and Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.","authors":"Zahra Jafari, Ryan E Harari, Glenn Hole, Bryan E Kolb, Majid H Mohajerani","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001670","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001670","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Despite the extensive use of machine learning (ML) models in health sciences for outcome prediction and condition classification, their application in differentiating various types of auditory disorders remains limited. This study aimed to address this gap by evaluating the efficacy of five ML models in distinguishing (a) individuals with tinnitus from those without tinnitus and (b) noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) from age-related hearing loss (ARHL).</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We used data from a cross-sectional study of the Canadian population, which included audiologic and demographic information from 928 adults aged 30 to 100 years, diagnosed with either ARHL or NIHL due to long-term occupational noise exposure. The ML models applied in this study were artificial neural networks (ANNs), K-nearest neighbors, logistic regression, random forest (RF), and support vector machines.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study revealed that tinnitus prevalence was over twice as high in the NIHL group compared with the ARHL group, with a frequency of 27.85% versus 8.85% in constant tinnitus and 18.55% versus 10.86% in intermittent tinnitus. In pattern recognition, significantly greater hearing loss was found at medium- and high-band frequencies in NIHL versus ARHL. In both NIHL and ARHL, individuals with tinnitus showed better pure-tone sensitivity than those without tinnitus. Among the ML models, ANN achieved the highest overall accuracy (70%), precision (60%), and F1-score (87%) for predicting tinnitus, with an area under the curve of 0.71. RF outperformed other models in differentiating NIHL from ARHL, with the highest precision (79% for NIHL, 85% for ARHL), recall (85% for NIHL), F1-score (81% for NIHL), and area under the curve (0.90).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings highlight the application of ML models, particularly ANN and RF, in advancing diagnostic precision for tinnitus and NIHL, potentially providing a framework for integrating ML techniques into clinical audiology for improved diagnostic precision. Future research is suggested to expand datasets to include diverse populations and integrate longitudinal data.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1305-1316"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12352570/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144027745","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":"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":"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":"1210-1221"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12352564/pdf/","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":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Machine Learning Feasibility in Cochlear Implant Speech Perception Outcomes-Moving Beyond Single Biomarkers for Cochlear Implant Performance Prediction.","authors":"Matthew A Shew, Cole Pavelchek, Andrew Michelson, Amanda Ortmann, Shannon Lefler, Amit Walia, Nedim Durakovic, Alisa Phillips, Ayna Rejepova, Jacques A Herzog, Phillip Payne, Jay F Piccirillo, Craig A Buchman","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001664","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001664","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Machine learning (ML) is an emerging discipline centered around complex pattern matching and large data-based prediction modeling and can improve precision medicine healthcare. Cochlear implants (CI) are highly effective, however, outcomes vary widely, and accurately predicting speech perception performance outcomes between patients remains a challenge. This study aims to evaluate the ability of ML to predict speech perception performance among CI recipients at 6-month post-implantation using only preoperative variables on one of the largest CI datasets to date, with an emphasis placed on identification of poor performers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;All patients enrolled in the national CI outcome tracking database, HERMES, and the institutional CI registry. Data were split 90/10 training/testing with hyperparameter tuning designed to optimize AUPRC performed during 10-fold cross-validation within 100 iterations. Multiple models were developed to predict final and delta (Δ) in consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) words and AzBio sentences at 6-month post-implantation. Two metrics, (1) final performance scores and (2) equally distributed 20th percentile performance ranking were used as primary outcomes. All models were compared with currently used \"gold standard,\" defined as linear or logistic regression models leveraging Lazard features (LF). Final metrics for comparison included mean absolute error (MAE), calibration curves, heat accuracy maps, area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC), and F 1 score.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;A total of 1877 patients were assessed through an ML pipeline. (1) XGBoost (XGB) predicted CNC with MAE of 17.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 17.34 to 17.53%) and AzBio with MAE of 20.39% (95% CI: 20.28 to 20.50%) and consistently outperformed linear regression with LF (CNC MAE 18.36% [95% CI: 18.25 to 18.47]; AzBio 21.62 [95% CI: 21.49 to 21.74]). Although statistically significant, the 1 to 2% boost of performance is clinically insignificant. (2) Predicting quintiles/20th percentile categories for CI performance, XGB outperformed logistic regression (Log-LF) across all metrics. XGB demonstrated superior calibration compared with Log-LF and provided a larger proportion of predicted probabilities predictions at the extremes (e.g., 0.1 or 0.9). XGB outperformed Log-LF predicting ≤40th percentile for CNC (AUROC: 0.708 versus 0.594; precision: 0.708 versus 0.596; F 1 score: 0.708 versus 0.592) and AzBio (AUROC: 0.709 versus 0.572; precision: 0.710 versus 0.572; F 1 score: 0.709 versus 0.572). This was consistent for ΔCNC and ΔAzBio. Last, accuracy heat maps demonstrated superior performance of XGB in stratifying sub-phenotypes/categories of CI performance compared with Log-LF.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;This study demonstrates how ML models can offer superior performance in CI speech perception outcomes prediction modeling compared with current gold standard (Lazard-line","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1266-1281"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12352561/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143784642","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":"A Retrospective Comparison of Clinical Characteristics of Post-Traumatic and Idiopathic Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.","authors":"Minheon Kim, Eun Kyung Jeon, Young Joon Seo, Tae Hoon Kong","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001675","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001675","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aimed to assess the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of post-traumatic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) compared with idiopathic BPPV, with a focus on the impact of trauma severity on clinical outcomes.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>The authors conducted a retrospective analysis at a regional trauma center, comparing 66 patients with post-traumatic BPPV to 105 patients with idiopathic BPPV. Trauma was defined as cases where patients presented to the regional trauma center following an injury. The severity of trauma was categorized based on whether the trauma team was activated. The diagnostic criteria included positional vertigo and nystagmus, as confirmed through standard positional tests. Patients were categorized based on the severity of their trauma and evaluated for the BPPV subtype, frequency of canalith repositioning maneuvers (CRMs) needed for resolution, and recurrence rates.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patients with post-traumatic BPPV were younger than those with idiopathic BPPV (58.0 ± 15.2 versus 63.0 ± 13.1 yrs; p = 0.024) and showed no significant gender disparity. The most common BPPV subtype in the post-traumatic group was posterior canal BPPV (68.2%), followed by horizontal canal-BPPV (Geo) (22.7%), and horizontal canal-BPPV (Apo) (4.5%). Patients with post-traumatic BPPV required more CRMs for resolution compared with those with idiopathic BPPV (average: 2.0 versus 1.3; p = 0.001); however, the recurrence rates were similar between the two groups. Clinical presentations did not significantly differ between major and minor trauma cases.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Post-traumatic BPPV differed from idiopathic BPPV regarding age distribution, CRM frequency, and subtype proportions, but not regarding recurrence rates. Trauma severity did not significantly alter the clinical course of post-traumatic BPPV, suggesting a uniform approach to BPPV management irrespective of trauma severity. However, diagnosing BPPV after major trauma may be delayed; therefore, early consideration of BPPV in the initial stages of trauma assessment is necessary.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1379-1384"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144045095","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":"Malleability of the Lexical Bias Effect for Acoustically Degraded Speech.","authors":"Julia R Drouin, Laura N Putnam, Charles P Davis","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001667","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001667","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Lexical bias is a phenomenon wherein impoverished speech signals tend to be perceived in line with the word context in which they are heard. Previous research demonstrated that lexical bias may guide processing when the acoustic signal is degraded, as in the case of cochlear implant (CI) users. The goal of the present study was twofold: (1) replicate previous lab-based work demonstrating a lexical bias for acoustically degraded speech using online research methods, and (2) characterize the malleability of the lexical bias effect following a period of auditory training. We hypothesized that structured experience via auditory training would minimize reliance on lexical context during phonetic categorization for degraded speech, resulting in a reduced lexical bias.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>In experiment 1, CI users and normal hearing (NH) listeners categorized along 2 /b/-/g/ continua (BAP-GAP; BACK-GACK). NH listeners heard each continuum in a clear and eight-channel noise-vocoded format, while CI users categorized for clear speech. In experiment 2, a separate group of NH listeners completed a same/different auditory discrimination training task with feedback and then completed phonetic categorization for eight-channel noise-vocoded /b/-/g/ continua.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In experiment 1, we observed a lexical bias effect in both CI users and NH listeners such that listeners more consistently categorized speech continua in line with the lexical context. In NH listeners, an enhanced lexical bias effect was observed for the eight-channel noise-vocoded speech condition, while both CI users and the clear speech condition showed a relatively weaker lexical bias. In experiment 2, structured training altered phonetic categorization and reliance on lexical context. Namely, the magnitude of the lexical bias effect decreased following a short period of auditory training relative to untrained listeners.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Findings from experiment 1 replicate and extend previous work, suggesting that web-based methods may provide alternative routes for testing phonetic categorization in NH and hearing-impaired listeners. Moreover, findings from experiment 2 suggest that lexical bias is not a static phenomenon; rather, experience via auditory training can dynamically alter reliance on lexical context for speech categorization. These findings extend theoretical models of speech processing in terms of how top-down information is weighted for listeners adapting to acoustically degraded speech. Finally, these findings hold clinical implications for tracking changes in phonetic categorization and reliance on lexical context throughout the CI adaptation process.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1282-1294"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144102900","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":"Health Disparities and Impact of Social Vulnerability on Diagnosis and Outcomes in Vestibular Disorders.","authors":"Sami I Nassar, Benjamin D Young, Sunny Shah, Jeffrey P Staab, Chada Pitiranggon, Ladd M Platt, Shaun A Nguyen, Habib G Rizk","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001665","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001665","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Examining the effect of demographics and social vulnerability on diagnosis and management of patients with vestibular and balance disorders.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Retrospective review of a database of patients presenting with vestibular symptoms to a multidisciplinary tertiary vestibular clinic between January and October 2021. Main outcomes included odds ratios of final diagnosis, treatment response, time to presentation by demographic variable, insurance status, residence, and social vulnerability factors according to the 2018 Centers for Disease Control Social Vulnerability Index.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Five hundred thirty-six patients with definitive vestibular diagnoses and treatment outcome data were included. Mean age at presentation was 60.4 ± 16.5 years. Women (n = 389, 72.6%) outnumbered men (n = 147, 27.4%). Most patients self-identified as White (n = 440, 82.1%) and non-Hispanic (n = 521, 97.2%). Overall, 17.4% of participants belonged to a minority group. Socioeconomic status, household composition, geographic location, and insurance status were associated with patient diagnoses received. Patients from the lowest socioeconomic class were more likely to be diagnosed with Meniere's disease. In addition, patients with private insurance were more likely to be diagnosed with Meniere disease or vestibular migraine than those with Medicare insurance. Geographic distance greater than 60 miles from the clinic was associated with a higher likelihood to present >90 days since initial symptom onset. Housing and transportation vulnerabilities were associated with decreased treatment response.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Diagnostic classification, time to presentation, and treatment outcomes differed according to demographic and social vulnerability factors. There was no single unifying theme among vulnerabilities, but the results of this study offer preliminary data to design future investigations on regional and national levels to understand and mitigate the effects of social vulnerability factors on access to specialty vestibular care and outcomes of treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1254-1265"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144638769","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":"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":"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":"1164-1173"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","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":"Inner Ear Pathologies After Cochlear Implantation in Guinea Pigs: Functional, Histopathological, and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Apoptosis.","authors":"Yuzhong Zhang, Qiong Wu, Shuyun Liu, Yu Zhao, Qingqing Dai, Yulian Jin, Qing Zhang","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001668","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001668","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Vestibular dysfunction is one of the most common complications of cochlear implantation (CI); however, the pathological changes and mechanisms underlying inner ear damage post-CI remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the functional and histopathological changes in the cochlea and vestibule as well as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis in guinea pigs after CI.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Auditory brainstem response, ice water test, and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials were used to assess cochlear and vestibular function in guinea pigs before and after CI. Histopathological analyses were conducted at various time points post-CI to observe morphological changes in the cochlea and vestibule, as well as the impact of ER stress on these tissues.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After CI, 10.7% (9/84) of the guinea pigs exhibited nystagmus and balance dysfunction. Auditory brainstem response thresholds increased significantly after CI, and air-conducted cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential response rates decreased. The ice water test revealed a gradual reduction in nystagmus elicitation rates, along with decreased nystagmus frequency, prolonged latency, and shortened duration. Histopathological analysis of the cochlea revealed fibrous and osseous tissue formation in the scala tympani and a reduction in hair cells and spiral ganglion cells. In the vestibule, alterations included flattening the ampullary crista and disorganized sensory epithelial cells. Transmission electron microscopy revealed pathological changes including cytoplasmic vacuolization and chromatin uniformity in both cochlear and vestibular hair cells. ER stress was prominent in the cochlea, while no substantial stress response was observed in the vestibule.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study highlights the various effects of CI surgery on cochlear and vestibular function and morphology in guinea pigs. ER stress-mediated apoptosis may contribute to secondary cochlear damage, whereas the vestibular system demonstrates adaptive responses that preserve cellular homeostasis. These findings provide insights into potential mechanisms underlying inner ear complications post-CI.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1342-1354"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143992970","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":"Extended High-Frequency Hearing Loss and Suprathreshold Auditory Processing: The Moderating Role of Auditory Working Memory.","authors":"Srikanta K Mishra, Sajana Aryal, Chhayakanta Patro, Qian-Jie Fu","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001677","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001677","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Natural sounds, including speech, contain temporal fluctuations, and hearing loss influences the coding of these temporal features. However, how subclinical hearing loss may influence temporal variations remains unclear. In listeners with normal audiograms, hearing loss above 8 kHz is indicative of basal cochlear damage and may signal the onset of cochlear dysfunction. This study examined a conceptual framework to investigate the relationship between extended high-frequency hearing and suprathreshold auditory processing, particularly focusing on how cognitive factors, such as working memory, moderate these interactions.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Frequency modulation difference limens to slow (2 Hz) and fast (20 Hz) modulations, backward masking thresholds, and digit span measures were obtained in 44 normal-hearing listeners with varying degrees of extended high-frequency hearing thresholds.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Extended high-frequency hearing thresholds alone were not directly associated with frequency modulation difference limens or backward masking thresholds. However, working memory capacity-particularly as measured by the backward digit span-moderated the relationship between extended high-frequency thresholds and suprathreshold auditory performance. Among individuals with lower working memory capacity, elevated extended high-frequency thresholds were associated with reduced sensitivity to fast-rate frequency modulations and higher backward masking thresholds. It is important to note that this moderating effect was task-specific, as it was not observed for slow-rate modulations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The impact of elevated extended high-frequency thresholds on suprathreshold auditory processing is influenced by working memory capacity. Individuals with reduced cognitive capacity are particularly vulnerable to the perceptual effects of subclinical cochlear damage. This suggests that cognitive resources act as a compensatory mechanism, helping to mitigate the effects of subclinical deficits, especially in tasks that are temporally challenging.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"1369-1378"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144129573","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}