OBJECTIVES: Asymmetric or unilateral hearing loss (AHL) may cause irreversible changes in the processing of acoustic signals in the auditory system. We aim to provide a comprehensive view of the auditory processing abilities for subjects with acquired AHL, and to examine the influence of AHL on speech perception under difficult conditions, and on auditory temporal and intensity processing. DESIGN: We examined peripheral and central auditory functions for 25 subjects with AHL resulting from vestibular schwannoma, and compared them to those from 24 normal-hearing controls that were matched with the AHL subjects in mean age and hearing thresholds in the healthy ear. Besides the basic hearing threshold assessment, the tests comprised the detection of tones and gaps in a continuous noise, comprehension of speech in babble noise, binaural interactions, difference limen of intensity, and detection of frequency modulation. For the AHL subjects, the selected tests were performed separately for the healthy and diseased ear. RESULTS: We observed that binaural speech comprehension, gap detection, and frequency modulation detection abilities were dominated by the healthy ear and were comparable for both groups. The AHL subjects were less sensitive to interaural delays, however, they exhibited a higher sensitivity to sound level, as indicated by lower difference limen of intensity and a higher sensitivity to interaural intensity difference. Correlations between the individual test scores indicated that speech comprehension by the AHL subjects was associated with different auditory processing mechanisms than for the control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that AHL influences both peripheral and central auditory processing abilities and that speech comprehension under difficult conditions relies on different mechanisms for the AHL subjects than for normal-hearing controls.
- MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Hearing Loss, Unilateral * physiopathology MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Speech Perception * physiology MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Auditory Perception physiology MeSH
- Auditory Threshold * MeSH
- Case-Control Studies MeSH
- Neuroma, Acoustic * physiopathology complications MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
BACKGROUND/AIM: Hearing impairment affects a small but significant percentage of newborns (0.1-0.4%). Newborn hearing screening (NHS) is recommended for early detection and treatment. The implementation of NHS can vary among countries. In this study, we present the methodology, organization, and technical requirements of NHS. This study analyzed results from a tertiary hospital, identified issues, and proposed solutions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the studied region, there are five maternity hospitals and a perinatal intensive care center and in 2020, there were 5,864 live births. Screening is performed at three levels. The first screening is conducted on the 2nd-3rd day of a newborn's life in a maternity hospital, the first rescreening on the 3rd-6th week at a relevant ENT department, and the second rescreening on the 3rd-6th month of life at the regional screening center where the central database is also held. RESULTS: In the studied region, 5,793 out of 5,864 (98.79%) newborns received NHS in 2020. Of these, 120 (2.07%) were tested positive on their first screening. Ninety-four patients (78.3%) of those attended the ENT department for a first rescreening. Thirty-four patients (0.59% of total) were tested positive again and referred to the regional screening center. Out of the 27 patients who attended the second rescreening, four (0.07% of the total) were ultimately diagnosed with hearing impairment. CONCLUSION: Our study found that newborn hearing screening (NHS) in our region achieved a high compliance rate of 98.8% for initial screenings in 2020. However, challenges remain in the rescreening process due to data management issues, inter-regional cooperation, and public awareness. The recent implementation of mandatory screenings, updated guidelines, and a centralized database is expected to enhance the effectiveness of NHS. Further research is needed to evaluate these improvements.
- MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Hearing Loss * diagnosis epidemiology MeSH
- Infant, Newborn MeSH
- Neonatal Screening * methods MeSH
- Hearing Tests * methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Infant, Newborn MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
BACKGROUND: Speech dysfunction represents one of the initial motor manifestations to develop in Parkinson's disease (PD) and is measurable through smartphone. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to develop a fully automated and noise-resistant smartphone-based system that can unobtrusively screen for prodromal parkinsonian speech disorder in subjects with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) in a real-world scenario. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed regular, everyday voice call data from individuals with iRBD compared to early PD patients and healthy controls via a developed smartphone application. The participants also performed an active, regular reading of a short passage on their smartphone. Smartphone data were continuously collected for up to 3 months after the standard in-person assessments at the clinic. RESULTS: A total of 3525 calls that led to 5990 minutes of preprocessed speech were extracted from 72 participants, comprising 21 iRBD patients, 26 PD patients, and 25 controls. With a high area under the curve of 0.85 between iRBD patients and controls, the combination of passive and active smartphone data provided a comparable or even more sensitive evaluation than laboratory examination using a high-quality microphone. The most sensitive features to induce prodromal neurodegeneration in iRBD included imprecise vowel articulation during phone calls (P = 0.03) and monopitch in reading (P = 0.05). Eighteen minutes of speech corresponding to approximately nine calls was sufficient to obtain the best sensitivity for the screening. CONCLUSION: We consider the developed tool widely applicable to deep longitudinal digital phenotyping data with future applications in neuroprotective trials, deep brain stimulation optimization, neuropsychiatry, speech therapy, population screening, and beyond. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
- MeSH
- Biomarkers MeSH
- Smartphone * MeSH
- Voice physiology MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Parkinson Disease * physiopathology complications MeSH
- Parkinsonian Disorders physiopathology MeSH
- REM Sleep Behavior Disorder * physiopathology diagnosis MeSH
- Speech Disorders etiology MeSH
- Prodromal Symptoms MeSH
- Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Check Tag
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Verifying the speaker of a speech fragment can be crucial in attributing a crime to a suspect. The question can be addressed given disputed and reference speech material, adopting the recommended and scientifically accepted likelihood ratio framework for reporting evidential strength in court. In forensic practice, usually, auditory and acoustic analyses are performed to carry out such a verification task considering a diversity of features, such as language competence, pronunciation, or other linguistic features. Automated speaker comparison systems can also be used alongside those manual analyses. State-of-the-art automatic speaker comparison systems are based on deep neural networks that take acoustic features as input. Additional information, though, may be obtained from linguistic analysis. In this paper, we aim to answer if, when and how modern acoustic-based systems can be complemented by an authorship technique based on frequent words, within the likelihood ratio framework. We consider three different approaches to derive a combined likelihood ratio: using a support vector machine algorithm, fitting bivariate normal distributions, and passing the score of the acoustic system as additional input to the frequent-word analysis. We apply our method to the forensically relevant dataset FRIDA and the FISHER corpus, and we explore under which conditions fusion is valuable. We evaluate our results in terms of log likelihood ratio cost (Cllr) and equal error rate (EER). We show that fusion can be beneficial, especially in the case of intercepted phone calls with noise in the background.
- MeSH
- Speech Acoustics MeSH
- Algorithms MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Linguistics MeSH
- Likelihood Functions MeSH
- Speech MeSH
- Forensic Sciences * methods MeSH
- Support Vector Machine MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
INTRODUCTION: Hypokinetic dysarthria (HD) is a common motor speech symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) which does not respond well to PD treatments. We investigated short-term effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on HD in PD using acoustic analysis of speech. Based on our previous studies we focused on stimulation of the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) - an auditory feedback area. METHODS: In 14 PD patients with HD, we applied anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS to the right STG using a cross-over design. A protocol consisting of speech tasks was performed prior to and immediately after each stimulation session. Linear mixed models were used for the evaluation of the effects of each stimulation condition on the relative change of acoustic parameters. We also performed a simulation of the mean electric field induced by tDCS. RESULTS: Linear mixed model showed a statistically significant effect of the stimulation condition on the relative change of median duration of silences longer than 50 ms (p = 0.015). The relative change after the anodal stimulation (mean = -5.9) was significantly lower as compared to the relative change after the sham stimulation (mean = 12.8), p = 0.014. We also found a correlation between the mean electric field magnitude in the right STG and improvement of articulation precision after anodal tDCS (R = 0.637; p = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS: The exploratory study showed that anodal tDCS applied over the auditory feedback area may lead to shorter pauses in a speech of PD patients.
- MeSH
- Dysarthria etiology therapy physiopathology MeSH
- Cross-Over Studies MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Parkinson Disease * therapy complications physiopathology MeSH
- Pilot Projects MeSH
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation * MeSH
- Speech physiology MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Temporal Lobe physiopathology MeSH
- Treatment Outcome MeSH
- Check Tag
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
INTRODUCTION: Aging negatively influences the structure of the human brain including the white matter. The objective of our study was to identify, using fixel-based morphometry, the age induced changes in the pathways connecting several regions of the central auditory system (inferior colliculus, Heschl's gyrus, planum temporale) and the pathways connecting these structures with parts of the limbic system (anterior insula, hippocampus and amygdala). In addition, we were interested in the extent to which the integrity of these pathways is influenced by hearing loss and tinnitus. METHODS: Tractographic data were acquired using a 3 T MRI in 79 volunteers. The participants were categorized into multiple groups in accordance with their age, auditory thresholds and tinnitus status. Fixel-based analysis was utilized to identify alterations in the subsequent three parameters: logarithm of fiber cross-section, fiber density, fiber density and cross-section. Two modes of analysis were used: whole brain analysis and targeted analysis using fixel mask, corresponding to the pathways connecting the aforementioned structures. RESULTS: A significantly negative effect of aging was present for all fixel-based metrics, namely the logarithm of the fiber cross-section, (7 % fixels in whole-brain, 14% fixels in fixel mask), fiber density (5 % fixels in whole-brain, 15% fixels in fixel mask), fiber density and cross section (7 % fixels in whole-brain, 19% fixels in fixel mask). Expressed age-related losses, exceeding 30% fixels, were particularly present in pathways connecting the auditory structures with limbic structures. The effect of hearing loss and/or tinnitus did not reach significance. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that although an age-related reduction of fibers is present in pathways connecting several auditory regions, the connections of these structures with limbic structures are even more reduced. To what extent this fact influences the symptoms of presbycusis, such as decreased speech comprehension, especially in noise conditions, remains to be elucidated.
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
PURPOSE: Previous studies have shown that levels for 50% speech intelligibility in quiet and in noise differ for different languages. Here, we aimed to find out whether these differences may relate to different auditory processing of temporal sound features in different languages, and to determine the influence of tinnitus on speech comprehension in different languages. METHODS: We measured speech intelligibility under various conditions (words in quiet, sentences in babble noise, interrupted sentences) along with tone detection thresholds in quiet [PTA] and in noise [PTAnoise], gap detection thresholds [GDT], and detection thresholds for frequency modulation [FMT], and compared them between Czech and Swiss subjects matched in mean age and PTA. RESULTS: The Swiss subjects exhibited higher speech reception thresholds in quiet, higher threshold speech-to-noise ratio, and shallower slope of performance-intensity function for the words in quiet. Importantly, the intelligibility of temporally gated speech was similar in the Czech and Swiss subjects. The PTAnoise, GDT, and FMT were similar in the two groups. The Czech subjects exhibited correlations of the speech tests with GDT and FMT, which was not the case in the Swiss group. Qualitatively, the results of comparisons between the Swiss and Czech populations were not influenced by presence of subjective tinnitus. CONCLUSION: The results support the notion of language-specific differences in speech comprehension which persists also in tinnitus subjects, and indicates different associations with the elementary measures of auditory temporal processing.
- MeSH
- Language MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Speech Perception * MeSH
- Perceptual Masking MeSH
- Auditory Perception MeSH
- Auditory Threshold MeSH
- Speech Intelligibility MeSH
- Tinnitus * MeSH
- Time Perception * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- Switzerland MeSH
Úvod: Cílem práce je zhodnocení výtěžnosti sluchové zkoušky šepotem společně s vyšetřením screeningových transientně evokovaných otoakustických emisí (TEOAE) k záchytu nedoslýchavosti při prvním kontaktu s dospělým pacientem se subjektivně udávanou poruchou sluchu, kdy u pacienta nelze provést prahovou tónovou audiometrii. Metodika: V prospektivní studii je hodnocen soubor pacientů, kteří byli současně vyšetřeni klasickou sluchovou zkouškou šepotem, screeningovými TEOAE a tónovou audiometrií na Klinice otorinolaryngologie a chirurgie hlavy a krku Pardubické nemocnice. V souboru je 62 pacientů s poruchou sluchu a 14 osob bez poruchy sluchu. Výsledky: Senzitivita sluchové zkoušky šepotem byla 85 % a TEOAE 71 %. Kombinací obou vyšetření se senzitivita záchytu poruchy sluchu zvýšila na 94 %. Současně je přítomná relativně vysoká specificita vyšetření (75 %). V diagnostice nedoslýchavosti pomocí sluchové zkoušky šepotem a TEOAE jsme nezachytili 3,3 % pacientů s poruchou sluchu prokázanou prahovou tónovou audiometrií. Závěr: Pokud není v krátkém čase dostupná tónová audiometrie, lze k záchytu nedoslýchavosti využít kombinace sluchové zkoušky šepotem a TEOAE. Tento postup lze doporučit i při screeningu poruch sluchu seniorů, který je v současné době diskutovaným tématem.
Úvod: Cílem práce je zhodnocení výtěžnosti sluchové zkoušky šepotem společně s vyšetřením screeningových transientně evokovaných otoakustických emisí (TEOAE) k záchytu nedoslýchavosti při prvním kontaktu s dospělým pacientem se subjektivně udávanou poruchou sluchu, kdy u pacienta nelze provést prahovou tónovou audiometrii. Metodika: V prospektivní studii je hodnocen soubor pacientů, kteří byli současně vyšetřeni klasickou sluchovou zkouškou šepotem, screeningovými TEOAE a tónovou audiometrií na Klinice otorinolaryngologie a chirurgie hlavy a krku Pardubické nemocnice. V souboru je 62 pacientů s poruchou sluchu a 14 osob bez poruchy sluchu. Výsledky: Senzitivita sluchové zkoušky šepotem byla 85 % a TEOAE 71 %. Kombinací obou vyšetření se senzitivita záchytu poruchy sluchu zvýšila na 94 %. Současně je přítomná relativně vysoká specificita vyšetření (75 %). V diagnostice nedoslýchavosti pomocí sluchové zkoušky šepotem a TEOAE jsme nezachytili 3,3 % pacientů s poruchou sluchu prokázanou prahovou tónovou audiometrií. Závěr: Pokud není v krátkém čase dostupná tónová audiometrie, lze k záchytu nedoslýchavosti využít kombinace sluchové zkoušky šepotem a TEOAE. Tento postup lze doporučit i při screeningu poruch sluchu seniorů, který je v současné době diskutovaným tématem.
- Keywords
- sluchová zkouška šepotem,
- MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Hearing Loss * diagnosis MeSH
- Mass Screening MeSH
- Prospective Studies MeSH
- Hearing Tests methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
