Effect of Contralateral Acoustic Stimulation on Temporal Processing Abilities in Individuals with Normal Hearing.

The aim of the article was to compare the conditions of silent and contralateral noise on the temporal processing parameters. A total of 40 participants (20 males and 20 females) were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 21.7 years, participants with normal hearing thresholds and no history of middle ear pathology were enrolled for the study. The temporal processing tests such as duration discrimination test, gap detection test, and temporal modulation transfer function tests were carried out in these 40 individuals in the two conditions of silent and contralateral noise using MATLAB. Statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS version 25.0 were descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out. Data was normally distributed on the Shapiro-Wilk's test of normality due to which a paired t test was carried out to establish the nature of significance between the silent and contralateral noise condition. Results reveal the presence of significant difference (p < 0.01) between the groups for all the parameters of temporal resolution with contralateral noise condition performing better than silent condition for the parameters. There is a positive effect of the efferent auditory pathway on the temporal resolution parameters thus implying that speech perception in noise is improved in the presence of background noise for normal hearing individuals due to this effect.

Validation of LittleEARS questionnaire in Hindi language.

Background: Subjective measures of auditory development are equally important as objective measures to obtain a realistic image of the hearing status in infants and toddlers. Objectives: The objectives of the current study were to translate and validate the LittleEARS questionnaire into the Hindi language, to calculate its psychometric properties and establish a regression curve of the scores obtained as a function of age, to calculate the inter-test and test retest reliability of the same. The secondary objectives were to compare the scores obtained by the normal hearing children and those with hearing impairment and to plot a regression curve of total scores obtained by the hearing-impaired children as a function of the duration of auditory training attended since their first fit of the device. Materials and methods: The procedures involved conventional translation, reverse translation, and content validation before administering the questionnaire. The translated version was administered to parents of 59 children with normal hearing and 41 children with hearing impairment. Results: The finalized version had good reliability and efficient internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha value of 0.96. The mean scores obtained by the normal hearing children showed a progressive pattern as a function of age. Conclusion: The LittleEARS questionnaire has been successfully translated and validated into the Hindi language with excellent validity and reliability and can be used for screening and early identification of hearing impairment and in evaluating the outcome of audiological treatment approaches.

Benefit on daily listening with technological advancements: comparison of basic and premium category hearing aids.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to compare the user-rated benefit of two categories of hearing aids, mainly the basic and premium categories of hearing aids. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered on 102 hearing aids users (47 basic and 55 premium category users) with severity of hearing loss ranging from mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss. The questionnaire administered was divided into mainly seven subscales which included speech intelligibility in quiet and in noise, ease of communication, the efficiency of noise reduction, localization, quality of music perception and cost effectiveness. The effect of duration of daily usage of hearing aids on performance among these different subscales was also assessed. RESULTS: Ease of communication was rated better by premium hearing aid users, whereas the cost effectiveness was rated to be better by basic users. There was no significant difference observed between performances of basic versus premium category of hearing aids in other listening domains assessed. There was no significant difference in any of the listening domains with daily usage duration for both categories of hearing aid users. CONCLUSION: The users of premium category devices revealed better ease of communication in daily environments, whereas performance of these devices on other listening domains remains questionable. Cost effectiveness was reported to be better by the users of basic hearing aids. A prospective and controlled paired series comparison of hearing aid performance needs to be performed to confirm these findings.

Speech ABR Findings in Auto Rickshaw Drivers Exposed to Occupational Noise.

Most of the persons with noise exposure will have clinically normal hearing threshold while experiencing reduced speech comprehension. The motive of this study is to assess the impact of occupational noise on the encoding of speech stimuli in the auditory system in the auto-rickshaw drivers and compare the auditory brainstem responses (ABR) using speech stimuli with that of controls. The study was done in experimental design, where speech evoked ABR was measured in 21 auto-drivers who were continuously exposed to higher levels of occupational noise, and they were compared to the results of 37 individuals who were not exposed to noise. Speech ABR was administered in both the groups and the absolute latencies and amplitudes of the peaks V, A, C, D, E, F and O were compared. The results revealed that there is a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the latency of peak V (F(1,32) = 6.13, p < 0.05, η p 2 = 0.12) and peak A (F(1,32) = 4.03, p < 0.05, η p 2 = 0.08) between the control and experimental group. Similarly, there was a statistically significant difference seen in the amplitude of peak D (F(1,32) = 6.38, p < 0.05, η p 2 = 0.12) and peak F (F(1,32) = 7.97, p < 0.05, η p 2 = 0.15). Acknowledging how the speech signals are coded in the brainstem may aid in the timely detection and intervention of hearing-related issues, even in individuals having normal hearing acuity. The results indicate that there is damage at the level of the brainstem which will lead to poor speech understanding in those who are exposed to occupational noise. These indicators are present even before routine audiometry indicates a hearing loss.

Effect of Efferent Stimulation on the Differential Sensitivity in Individuals with Normal Hearing.

The aim of the article was to compare the conditions of silent and contralateral noise on Differential sensitivity in normal hearing individuals. A total of 40 participants (20 males and 20 females) were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 21.7 years, participants with normal hearing thresholds and no history of middle ear pathology were enrolled for the study. Difference limen tests such as difference limen for intensity (DLI), difference limen for frequency (DLF), and difference limen for time (DLT) were carried out in these 40 individuals in the two conditions of silent and contralateral noise using MATLAB. Statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS version 25.0 were descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out. Data was normally distributed on the Shapiro-Wilk's test of normality due to which a paired t test was carried out to establish the nature of significance between the silent and contralateral noise condition. Results reveal the presence of significant difference (P < 0.01) between the groups for DLF and DLT with contralateral noise condition performing better than silent condition for the parameters. However, no significant difference was obtained for DLI. There is a positive effect of the efferent auditory pathway on the Differential sensitivity thus implying that speech perception in noise is improved in the presence of background noise for normal hearing individuals due to this effect. But in case of DLI, the reduced spread of excitation could be the reason why there were no significant differences between silent and contralateral noise condition.