Binaural hearing is impaired in children with hearing loss who use bilateral hearing aids.

Jonah H Gorodensky,Blake C Papsin,Sharon L Cushing,Mark T Sandor,Karen A Gordon,Simrat S Gill,Robel Z Alemu

doi:10.1121/1.5139212

Abstract

This paper asked whether children fitted with bilateral hearing aids (BHA) develop normal perception of binaural cues which are the basis of spatial hearing. Data from children with BHA (n = 26, age = 12.6 ± 2.84 years) were compared to data from a control group (n = 12, age = 12.36 ± 2.83 years). Stimuli were 250 Hz click-trains of 36 ms and a 40 ms consonant-vowel /da/ at 1 Hz presented through ER3A insert-earphones unilaterally or bilaterally. Bilateral stimuli were presented at different interaural level difference (ILD) and interaural timing difference (ITD) conditions. Participants indicated whether the sound came from the left or right side (lateralization) or whether one sound or two could be heard (binaural fusion). BHA children lateralized ILDs similarly to the control group but had impaired lateralization of ITDs. Longer response times relative to controls suggest that lateralization of ITDs was challenging for children with BHA. Most, but not all, of the BHA group were able to fuse click and speech sounds similarly to controls. Those unable to fuse showed particularly poor ITD lateralization. Results suggest that ITD perception is abnormal in children using BHAs, suggesting persistent effects of hearing loss that are not remediated by present clinical rehabilitation protocols.

Highlights

The objective of the present study was to assess the binaural hearing abilities of children with hearing loss whose access to sounds during development was provided through bilateral hearing aids
Binaural hearing provides the foundation for spatial hearing, which is essential for children who spend much of their day in complex listening environments
Data from the present study demonstrates that children who wear bilateral hearing aids can integrate bilateral input into one fused image and retain sensitivity to interaural level difference (ILD)

Summary

Introduction

The objective of the present study was to assess the binaural hearing abilities of children with hearing loss whose access to sounds during development was provided through bilateral hearing aids. Given the importance of binaural hearing in development, provision of the most appropriate auditory prosthesis in each ear as soon as possible has been recommended for children with hearing loss (Gordon et al, 2015). Bilateral auditory prostheses may not be providing access to accurate binaural cues. There are clear guidelines for monaural hearing aid fitting (Seewald et al, 2005; Bagatto et al, 2010), but little attention is paid in this process to ensuring that consistent and accurate binaural cues are being provided by the two devices

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Methods

Conclusion