Abstract
New research suggests that individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have central auditory processing deficits. To review the evidence for HIV affecting parts of the central nervous system involved in central auditory processing, we performed a systematic review of the literature. The objective was to determine whether existing studies show evidence for damage to structures associated with central auditory pathways in HIV. We searched PubMed for papers that used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy or functional MRI in individuals infected with HIV. The review showed that HIV affects several areas involved in central auditory processing particularly the thalamus, internal capsule and temporal cortex. These findings support the idea that HIV can affect central auditory pathways and support the potential use of central auditory tests as a way to assess central nervous system effects of HIV.
Highlights
Otologic problems were common early in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic [1], recent studies have shown either small or no differences in peripheral hearing ability between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals [2,3,4]
Central auditory processing is a cognitively demanding task, the findings of central auditory processing deficits may correlate with HIV-related central nervous system effects, such as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) [9,10]
We focused on articles that mentioned anatomic structures directly involved in central auditory processing (e.g. inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body, internal capsule, temporal cortex, and corpus callosum)
Summary
Otologic problems were common early in the HIV epidemic [1], recent studies have shown either small or no differences in peripheral hearing ability (audiometry) between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals [2,3,4]. Bankaitis and Keith provided a casereport of an HIV+ individual with normal peripheral auditory function who had difficulty with speech perception, with competing sentences [5]. This may indicate that central auditory system may be involved in HIV infection. Central auditory processing is a cognitively demanding task, the findings of central auditory processing deficits may correlate with HIV-related central nervous system effects, such as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) [9,10]. There has not been any direct evidence that HIV affects pathways associated with central auditory processing
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