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

<b>Introduction:</b> The exposure to unsafe sound levels is considered a risk factor for developing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Personal listening devices (PLDs) represent a common source of recreational noise among young adults. First changes of NIHL could be detected at extended high frequencies (EHFs).<b>Aim:</b> This pilot study aimed to analyze hearing thresholds at conventional frequencies (CFs) and EHFs in young adults due to the PLD use.<b>Methods:</b> Hearing thresholds of 114 otologically normal adults aged 18 to 30 years unexposed to occupational noise were assessed using conventional and extended high-frequency audiometry. Data on PLD use, leisure time noise exposure, health and lifestyle, were acquired using a questionnaire.<b>Results:</b> Differences in hearing thresholds were found at CFs but not at EHFs according to the listening frequency (daily vs less frequent listening); duration of one PLD use of more than 30 minutes; and total listening time ≥7 hours/week. Only the highest frequency was affected by loud volume listening.<b>Conclusions:</b> Changes in hearing thresholds were found at CFs, whereby long duration, high volume and daily use were associated with lower hearing thresholds in otologically healthy adults.

• Keywords
• earphones, extended high frequencies, noise, personal audio devices, personal listening devices, pure-tone audiometry,
• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced * MeSH
• Pilot Projects MeSH
• Auditory Threshold * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Prenatal listening experience reportedly modulates how humans process speech at birth, but little is known about how speech perception develops throughout the perinatal period. The present experiment assessed the neural event-related potentials (ERP) and mismatch responses (MMR) to native vowels in 99 neonates born between 32 and 42 weeks of gestation. The vowels elicited reliable ERPs in newborns whose gestational age at time of experiment was at least 36 weeks and 1 day (36 + 1). The ERPs reflected spectral distinctions between vowel onsets from age 36 weeks + 6 days and durational distinctions at vowel offsets from age 37 weeks + 6 days. Starting at age 40 + 4, there was evidence of neural discrimination of vowel length, indexed by a negative MMR response. The present findings extend our understanding of the earliest stages of speech perception development in that they pinpoint the ages at which the cortex reliably responds to the phonetic characteristics of individual speech sounds and discriminates a native phoneme contrast. The age at which the brain reliably differentiates vowel onsets coincides with what is considered term age in many countries (37 weeks + 0 days of gestational age). Future studies should investigate to what extent the perinatal maturation of the cortical responses to speech sounds is modulated by the ambient language.

• Keywords
• Event-related potentials, Mismatch response, Newborn speech perception, Perinatal development, Premature birth, Vowels,
• MeSH
• Acoustic Stimulation * methods   MeSH
• Electroencephalography * MeSH
• Evoked Potentials physiology   MeSH
• Phonetics * MeSH
• Gestational Age * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Infant, Premature physiology   MeSH
• Infant, Newborn MeSH
• Speech Perception * physiology   MeSH
• Evoked Potentials, Auditory physiology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Infant, Newborn MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

This study explored the effects of music on the perception of outdoor urban environments, both built and natural. The participants (n = 74) evaluated five environments located on one walking route in terms of emotional and spatio-cognitive dimensions while listening to one of two types of music: upbeat and conventional or reflective and complex. We found only a very slight effect of music on the evaluation of the emotional and spatio-cognitive dimensions of the environment. The less complex upbeat and conventional music increased the perceived complexity of environments but only if participants took the route from less complex to more complex environments. The liking music mediated the effect of music in the evaluation of emotional dimensions of the environment. Furthermore, a less-liked environment negatively affected the liking of music heard in that environment. Reflective and complex music was perceived as more congruent with the environment than upbeat and conventional music, which is explained by musical fit theory. The features of the environments that were evaluated had a stronger effect on listeners than the music. Natural environments were perceived as more coherent, mysterious, pleasant, interesting, and energetic than built environments, regardless of the music. Moreover, a contrast effect was observed in which the features of the first environment evaluated influenced the evaluation of subsequent environments. It is suggested that the intensity of music may be an important factor for environmental evaluations, in addition to the specific situations in which the music is heard.

• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Emotions physiology   MeSH
• Music * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Auditory Perception * physiology   MeSH
• Environment * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

It has long been known that environmental conditions, particularly during development, affect morphological and functional properties of the brain including sensory systems; manipulating the environment thus represents a viable way to explore experience-dependent plasticity of the brain as well as of sensory systems. In this review, we summarize our experience with the effects of acoustically enriched environment (AEE) consisting of spectrally and temporally modulated complex sounds applied during first weeks of the postnatal development in rats and compare it with the related knowledge from the literature. Compared to controls, rats exposed to AEE showed in neurons of several parts of the auditory system differences in the dendritic length and in number of spines and spine density. The AEE exposure permanently influenced neuronal representation of the sound frequency and intensity resulting in lower excitatory thresholds, increased frequency selectivity and steeper rate-intensity functions. These changes were present both in the neurons of the inferior colliculus and the auditory cortex (AC). In addition, the AEE changed the responsiveness of AC neurons to frequency modulated, and also to a lesser extent, amplitude-modulated stimuli. Rearing rat pups in AEE leads to an increased reliability of acoustical responses of AC neurons, affecting both the rate and the temporal codes. At the level of individual spikes, the discharge patterns of individual neurons show a higher degree of similarity across stimulus repetitions. Behaviorally, rearing pups in AEE resulted in an improvement in the frequency resolution and gap detection ability under conditions with a worsened stimulus clarity. Altogether, the results of experiments show that the exposure to AEE during the critical developmental period influences the frequency and temporal processing in the auditory system, and these changes persist until adulthood. The results may serve for interpretation of the effects of the application of enriched acoustical environment in human neonatal medicine, especially in the case of care for preterm born children.

• Keywords
• Acoustically enriched environment, Auditory system, Critical period, Development, Plasticity,
• MeSH
• Acoustic Stimulation * MeSH
• Acoustics MeSH
• Inferior Colliculi growth & development   physiology   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Neurons physiology   MeSH
• Neuronal Plasticity * physiology   MeSH
• Animals, Newborn MeSH
• Auditory Pathways * growth & development   physiology   MeSH
• Auditory Perception MeSH
• Auditory Cortex * growth & development   physiology   MeSH
• Age Factors MeSH
• Environment MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

This article reviews empirical methods and findings on early language discrimination, questioning rhythm-class based hypotheses on language discrimination in infancy, as well as the assumption that early language discrimination is driven primarily (or solely) by temporal prosodic cues. The present work argues that within-rhythm class discrimination which - according to the rhythmic hypothesis - is not applicable very early in life, has not been sufficiently tested with infants under 4 months of age, that familiarity with a language is not a prerequisite for its discrimination from another rhythmically similar language, and that the temporal rhythm properties may not universally be the primary cues to language discrimination. Although rhythm taxonomy is now by many understood as outdated, some developmental literature still draws on the assumption that rhythm classification determines infants' language discrimination; other studies consider rhythm along a continuous scale and only a few account for cues to language discrimination other than temporal ones. It is proposed that studies on early language discrimination systematically test the contribution of other than temporal rhythm cues, similarly to recent work on multidimensional psychoacoustic salience in the acquisition of segmental categories.

• MeSH
• Language MeSH
• Infant MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Speech Perception physiology   MeSH
• Periodicity MeSH
• Cues * MeSH
• Language Development * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Infant MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Extended high-frequency audiometry (HFA) is considered an important tool in the detection of hearing loss. However, the values at extended high frequencies (EHF) in older adults (in both men and women) are associated with considerable uncertainty due to limited reference data. The presented review aimed to analyze hearing thresholds at EHF in adults older than 60 years. A literature search for HFA-related keyword combinations was conducted using the electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. A total of 1654 records, published in the last 22 years, were identified through this search, of which only 7 articles were ultimately included in the analysis. Multiple studies have shown that significant hearing loss can be observed at EHF in older adults. Hearing thresholds in the frequency range of 9-20 kHz in the elderly varied widely across the studies. Therefore, further research in this field is needed to complete the normative data.

• MeSH
• Audiometry, Pure-Tone methods   MeSH
• Audiometry methods   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Hearing Loss diagnosis   MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Auditory Threshold * physiology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

PURPOSE: Remote microphone systems improve intelligibility in difficult conditions when the performance of hearing aids/cochlear implants is insufficient. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' experiences with remote microphone systems for their children with hearing loss and to determine the advantages and disadvantages as perceived by parents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with parents of children with moderate to profound bilateral hearing loss (2-19 years old). The open coding method and thematic analysis were used. The final sample consisted of 19 mothers and 9 fathers who had experience with remote microphone systems. RESULTS: Parents listed the advantages of remote microphone systems for their child, for themselves and for other carers, such as better hearing and understanding, a life more similar to that of their peers without hearing loss, safety in road traffic, lower fatigue, vocabulary acquisition, better school results. Some limitations were identified, namely low benefits, technical issues and a reluctance to use the device by children or teachers. CONCLUSIONS: It is crucial to provide parents with information about assistive devices and the consequences of limited access to hearing speech. Professionals should motivate parents, children and teachers to use remote microphone systems even in situations when the benefit may not be obvious if there is a potential benefit for the child. UNLABELLED: IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThe main advantages of remote microphone systems perceived by parents are better hearing and understanding, a life more similar to peers without hearing loss, safety in traffic, lower fatigue, vocabulary acquisition and better school results.The main disadvantages are for parents: persisting hearing problems, low benefits, technical issues and a reluctance to use the device by children or teachers.Sufficient and accurate information is needed about remote microphone systems, but also about the consequences of hearing loss in general.The possibility to try wireless devices before buying and troubleshooting help is appreciated.

• Keywords
• Hearing loss, assistive listening devices, remote microphone systems, wireless technology,
• MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Deafness * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Mothers MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Hearing Loss * MeSH
• Speech Perception * MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Hearing Aids * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Female MeSH
• 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.

• Keywords
• Native language, Speech intelligibility, Temporal processing, Tinnitus,
• 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

Many individuals with chronic subjective tinnitus report significant problems in comprehending speech in adverse listening situations. A large body of studies has provided evidence to support the notion that deficits in speech-in-noise (SIN) are prevalent in the tinnitus population, while some studies have challenged these findings. Elemental auditory perception is usually only minimally or not impaired. In addition, deficits in cognitive functions, particularly executive functions, have also been observed in individuals with tinnitus. Given these previous findings, we theorize that deficient central mechanisms may be responsible for the reported speech comprehension problems in tinnitus. 25 participants suffering from chronic subjective tinnitus and 25 control participants, between 23 and 58 years of age, were examined in a cross-sectional design. The groups were case-matched for age, sex, education, and hearing loss. A large audiometric battery was used ranging from threshold and supra-threshold tasks to spoken sentence level speech tasks. Additionally, four cognitive tests were performed, primarily covering the area of executive functions. Tinnitometry and tinnitus-related questionnaires were applied to complement sample description and allow for secondary analyses. We hypothesized that tinnitus participants score lower in complex speech comprehension tasks and executive function tasks compared to healthy controls, while no group differences in elementary audiometric tasks were expected. As expected, individuals with chronic subjective tinnitus scored lower in the SIN and gated speech task, while there were no differences in the basic speech recognition threshold task and the other elementary auditory perception tasks. The cognitive tests revealed clear deficits in interference control in the Stroop task, but not in the Flanker task, in the tinnitus group. There were no differences in inhibition or working memory tasks. Our results clearly delineate differences between tinnitus individuals and control participants in two tests on speech intelligibility under adverse listening conditions. Further, the poorer performance in a task of interference control in individuals with tinnitus points towards an impaired central executive control in individuals with tinnitus. Taken together, our (partly) exploratory study provides novel evidence to the view that deficient central executive system in individuals with tinnitus probably account for impaired speech comprehension.

• Keywords
• Auditory perception, Chronic subjective tinnitus, Cognition, Executive functions, Speech-in-noise, Suprathreshold audiometry,
• MeSH
• Executive Function MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Speech Perception * physiology   MeSH
• Perceptual Masking physiology   MeSH
• Comprehension MeSH
• Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
• Auditory Threshold MeSH
• Speech Intelligibility MeSH
• Tinnitus * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH