Tone Frequency Research Articles

Limiting hearing loss in transgenic mouse models.

Transgenic mice provide unprecedented access to manipulate and visualize neural circuits, however, those on a C57BL/6 background develop progressive hearing loss, significantly confounding systems-level and behavioral analysis. While outbreeding can limit hearing loss, it introduces strain variability and complicates the generation of complex genotypes. Here, we propose an approach to preserve hearing by crossing transgenic mice with congenic B6.CAST-Cdh23Ahl+ mice, which maintain low-threshold hearing into adulthood. Widefield and two-photon imaging of the auditory cortex revealed that 2.5-month-old C57BL/6 mice exhibit elevated thresholds to high frequency tones and widespread cortical reorganization, with most neurons responding best to lower frequencies. In contrast, Ahl+ C57BL/6 mice exhibited robust neural responses across tested frequencies and sound levels (4-64 kHz, 30-90 dB SPL) and retained low thresholds into adulthood. Our approach offers a cost-effective solution for generating complex genotypes and facilitates more interpretable systems neuroscience research by eliminating confounding effects from hearing loss.Significance statement Common C57BL/6 mice exhibit severe progressive hearing loss, which is a serious confound for systems-level and behavioral studies. While outbreeding to an unaffected strain can help, this is cost-prohibitive if multiple transgenes are introduced. We propose and validate a simple approach that preserves hearing in transgenic mice by crossing them with congenic B6.CAST-Cdh23Ahl+ mice. Using widefield and two-photon imaging of the auditory cortex, we demonstrate that Ahl+ C57BL/6 mice maintain robust neural responses across a range of frequencies and sound levels into adulthood. We also offer a rapid method to genotype offspring without the need to sequence. Our approach offers a cost-effective solution for generating complex genotypes while preserving hearing, thereby facilitating more accurate, reproducible, and interpretable neuroscience research.

Music Playback by Plasma Generation with FIR Filter Implementation in Matlab

The Tesla coil was invented by Nikola Tesla in the late nineteenth century and produces electrical discharges in the form of high-voltage arcs, unlike the musical Tesla coil, which focuses on the generation of musical sounds through controlled electrical discharges. To create an audio reproduction device by using a physical phenomenon, it is necessary to create a device capable of emitting audio through the modulation of an electrical discharge launched into the air, which mainly consists of two coils. This element is commonly known as Plasma Speaker or Musical Tesla Coil. It was also considered adding an audio amplifier so that the sound has greater intensity, and a virtual bandpass filter designed in Matlab software to record the behavior of the musical Tesla coil to the different frequencies of the musical tones.

Attenuation of auditory Tb and N200 in response to self-modulated tones during continuous actions reflects the prediction of action consequences.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to tones modulated by one's own continuous actions (i.e., turning a steering wheel) are attenuated compared to those in response to tones presented externally. We investigated whether the ERP attenuation by continuous actions reflects a prediction of action consequences or a decrease in attentional resources available for auditory processing during the performance of actions. To compare these hypotheses, ERPs were measured in two conditions. In the modulation condition, participants modulated the pitch of tones by turning a steering wheel (i.e., frequent regular tones), and tones with an inconsistent pitch were occasionally presented among the regular tones (i.e., infrequent irregular tones). In the listening condition, participants listened to the same tones as in the modulation condition without performing any action. We expected that the irregular tones would elicit N2 and P3 (i.e., prediction errors) and their amplitudes should increase in the modulation than listening conditions, if more precise prediction was generated based on continuous actions; in contrast, they should decrease in the modulation than listening conditions, if attentional resources available for auditory processing decreased during continuous actions. The results showed that the amplitudes of Tb and N200 to regular tones decreased in the modulation than listening conditions, replicating the previous finding. Importantly, the amplitudes of N2 and P3 to irregular tones increased in the modulation than listening conditions. These results indicate that more precise prediction of action consequences underlies the ERP attenuation during continuous actions, which may contribute to efficient action adjustments in everyday life.

Neural processing of auditory stimuli in rats: Translational aspects using auditory oddball paradigms.

The three-class oddball paradigm allows to investigate the processing of behaviorally relevant and irrelevant auditory stimuli. In humans, event-related potentials (ERPs) are used as neural correlate of behavior. We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in rats during three-class and passive two-class oddball paradigms and analyzed the ERPs focusing on similarities to human recordings. Rats were trained in a three-class auditory oddball paradigm to respond by nose poke to an infrequent Target tone that was rewarded, while ignoring an infrequent Distractor and frequent Standard tone of different frequencies. After reaching a success criterion of correct responses to the Target and correct rejection of the Standard and Distractor (80 %,each), electrodes were stereotaxically implanted into the mPFC. The recording of the neuronal activity took place in the three-class oddball paradigm as well as in a passive two-class oddball paradigm with unfamiliar frequencies. Correct responding to the Target tone was accompanied by a higher amplitude of the ERP in comparison to the Standard and Distractor tones (p < 0.05). Target Miss, or incorrect responding to Distractor or Standard led to reduced, respectively enhanced peak latency. In the two-class oddball paradigm, the amplitude of the Distractor ERP was enhanced as compared to that after Standard (p < 0.05). ERPs derived from mPFC LFPs of rats show key characteristics similar to that derived from human EEGs. This model allows to investigate the processing of behaviorally important and irrelevant auditory stimuli in subcortical brain regions in a translational approach.

Impact of Diverse Musical Genres on Blood-Feeding and Mating Behavior in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes.

Sound plays an important role in mosquito foraging and sexual interactions. Mosquitoes utilize acoustic signals for host location, sexual recognition, and mating, which is achieved through the rhythmic beating of their wings to generate distinct sounds characterized by specific flight tone frequencies. In this study, electronic music (Tremor by Dimitri Vegas, Martin Garrix and Like Mike) and country music (Country Road by John Denver) were played in high and low volumes to investigate the influence of different genres of music on the blood feeding and mating responses of Ae. aegypti. The observations encompassed monitoring the landing attempts, blood-feeding endeavors, and mating behavior of Ae. aegypti. High-volume electronic and country music with elevated pitch and amplitude significantly reduced host attacks and blood-feeding attempts by female mosquitoes compared to low-volume or music-off conditions. However, the significant reduction of successful copula was only observed in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes exposed under electronic music with high volume. As transmission of dengue is through blood feeding and mating, this discovery may open new possibilities for developing music-based control strategies against mosquito-borne diseases.

Evaluation of the montreal cognitive assessment in idiopathic tinnitus patients with mild hearing loss

Objective:To explore the effect of mild hearing loss on cognitive function by evaluating the Montreal Cognitive Assessment（MoCA） in idiopathic tinnitus patients with mild hearing loss. Methods:102 patients with idiopathic tinnitus（68 patients with normal hearing and 34 patients with mild hearing loss） whose first complaint is tinnitus and 34 healthy volunteers（control group） were included. All subjects were asked to fill the MoCA, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory（THI）, Self-rating Anxiety Scale（SAS）, Self-rating Depression Scale（SDS）, and Pittsburgh Sleep Index（PQSI） after collecting medical history, pure tone audiometry, tinnitus matching and masking test. The clinical characteristics and scores of each scale were compared among the groups. Results:The score and each dimension score of MoCA in idiopathic tinnitus patients with normal hearing were significantly lower than the normal population（P<0.05）; compared with patients with idiopathic tinnitus with normal hearing, patients with mild hearing loss were older（P<0.01） and had lower MoCA scores（P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in MoCA scores（P>0.05） between tinnitus patients with normal hearing and mild hearing loss after correcting confounding factors（age, gender, years of education, duration of tinnitus, frequency of tinnitus tones, side of tinnitus, THI score, SAS score, SDS score, and PQSI score）; idiopathic tinnitus patients with mild hearing loss scored significantly lower in attention and working memory dimensions than idiopathic tinnitus patients with normal hearing（P<0.01）. Conclusion:Patients with idiopathic tinnitus may have cognitive dysfunction, and mild hearing loss may not be a factor that promotes the further aggravation of cognitive dysfunction in patients with idiopathic tinnitus. The role of hearing loss in cognitive dysfunction in patients with idiopathic tinnitus needs further research.

Levonorgestrel at emergency contraception dose has no effect on ciliary beat frequency and muscular contraction of the human fallopian tube: an in vitro experimental study.

Levonorgestrel (LNG) acts as an emergency contraceptive mainly by inhibiting or postponing ovulation. We carried out this study to investigate whether LNG at concentration relevant for emergency contraception (EC) affect ciliary beat frequency and muscular contraction of the human Fallopian tube, which might contribute additional actions for EC. This was an in vitro experimental study on human Fallopian tube tissue collected from ten women undergoing hysterectomy. The tubal explants were cultured in vitro, primed with oestradiol and progesterone at concentrations resembling the physiological early luteal phase, and treated with LNG at 0, 1, 10 and 100 ng/ml concentrations. Ciliary beat frequency was measured from the tubal epithelial strips, and the basal tone, amplitude and frequency of contractions were recorded from longitudinal smooth muscle strips. These parameters at different LNG concentrations were compared against the control (LNG 0 ng/ml). Treatment of tubal tissue strips with LNG at all concentrations studied did not significantly alter the ciliary beat frequency nor basal muscle tone (p > 0.05 for both) compared with control. Significant reduction in the amplitude and frequency of tubal muscular contractions was shown after treatment with LNG only at 100 ng/ml (p < 0.05 for both) but not lower concentrations (p > 0.05) compared with control. LNG did not significantly inhibit ciliary beat frequency and muscular contraction of the human Fallopian tube at the doses used for EC, suggesting that the Fallopian tube is unlikely a target for the EC action of LNG.

Scala tympani drill-out technique for oval window atresia with malformed facial nerve:update

Background In some rare cases of congenital aplasia of the oval window (OW), malformed facial nerve (FN) locations covering the most or entire OW present a challenge to hearing reconstruction, there is no a highly effective surgical hearing reconstruction methods. Aims/objectives To update a Scala tympani drill-out technique (SDT) for abnormal FN course covering the OW. Material and methods All patients of congenital atresia of the OW was recruited between August 2014 and July 2023 in a tertiary-care center. When it’s inability to perform the vestibulotomy with FN covering the OW, The SDT surgery was made with a titanium TORP between the tympanic membrane and scala tympani fenestration for hearing reconstruction. Air conduction (AC) thresholds, bone conduction (BC) thresholds, and air-bone gap (ABG) at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz pure tone frequencies were compared before and 3 months after surgery. Results A total of 11 patients underwent SDT surgery during the study period. All cases showed no bone conduction (BC) hearing loss, facial paralysis, tinnitus, or dizziness. The ABG has decreased by 21.2 ± 10.8 dB 3 month after operation. In the long term, three cases had the same hearing as pre-operative, three cases felt their hearing gradually decreased but better than pre-operative. Conclusions and significance As a new and optional method, our results suggest an effective way to reconstruct hearing for middle ear deformities with FN occlusion, the short-term effect can be confirmed, while the long-term effect is mixed, and a large amount of clinical research is still needed.

Effect of morphed trailing edge on the acoustic and flow characteristics of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 4418 airfoil

Trailing-edge profile has an important impact on the aeroacoustic behavior of an airfoil, particularly the tonal noise in the low-medium Reynolds number range. Three profiles, NACA 4418 defined by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and its morphed variants with the trailing-edge deflections at ±8°, are investigated by wind tunnel experiments to reveal the acoustic and flow characteristics at the chord-based Reynolds number ranging from 1.2×105 to 3.1×105. The consistent observation across all profiles is the dominant feedback loop located on the pressure surface. The aeroacoustic findings show that the morphed trailing edge alters the tonal frequency spacing, mainly due to the change of the vortex convection velocity in the feedback loop. Furthermore, the trailing-edge morphing is observed to modulate the mode switching of the dominant tones. The local flow results reveal that the laminar separation bubble on the pressure side amplifies the flow oscillation. Notably, the profile with the trailing-edge upward deflection, characterized by a laminar separation bubble on the pressure surface, is particularly susceptible to the low-frequency broadband oscillation. The joint analysis of the acoustic and flow fields suggests that the laminar separation bubble heightens the sensitivity of the dominant tone mode switching to the incoming flow velocity.

Acoustic flow resonances in installed rectangular jets

Zonal Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of complex installed rectangular jet flows are performed for subsonic jet conditions of the Central Institute for Aviation Motors (CIAM) experiment, where a strong tone was reported. For far-field noise modelling, the zonal LES solutions are coupled with the permeable formulation of the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) method. The obtained noise spectra predictions are compared with the acoustic measurements in the CIAM facility. To reduce statistical noise of the relatively short LES time series, contributions due to several dominant low frequency tones and the remaining broadband signal are computed separately, using a tailored Fourier transform technique for each signal type. For cross-validation, noise spectra measurements of an equivalent isolated round jet in the CIAM facility are compared with the empirical sJet model calibrated on the NASA Small Hot Jet Acoustic Rig (SHJAR) jet noise database. While the two datasets agree reasonably well for mid to high frequencies, larger discrepancies are observed for low frequencies, which are attributed to acoustic reflections in the non-anechoic CIAM facility. The differences in noise levels between the CIAM dataset and the sJet model representing the NASA jet noise data are used to determine the experimental uncertainty of the CIAM noise measurements for each frequency and observer angle. For the installed rectangular jet, it is shown that far-field noise spectra predictions of the zonal LES-FW-H method for both the fundamental tone, its sixth harmonic corresponding to the jet Strouhal number of around 1, and the broadband component are broadly within the experimental error bar for most observer angles. Some discrepancies between predictions of the zonal LES method and the CIAM measurements for the main low frequency tone for the 30° and 90°, where the experimental uncertainty at low frequencies is largest are also noted. After validating the acoustic solutions, spectral and conditional averaging analysis methods are applied to elucidate mechanisms of the acoustic-flow resonance in the installed rectangular jet flow. The numerical dispersion relation is obtained to analyse phase velocities of the upstream and downstream travelling pressure waves in the stream-wise direction. The conditional analysis of pressure fluctuations inside the jet reveals the emergence of internal reflection points corresponding to a rapid change of the acoustic wave phase as well as the saddle points interpreted as localised zones of vorticity shed from the side-wall edges. To independently investigate the effect of trailing edges and corner points of the jet embodiment geometry on closing the acoustic-flow resonance cycle, several modifications of the baseline rectangular nozzle are considered, such as introducing chevron-like lobes and cuts on the trailing edges of the side walls as well as smoothing the sharp corner points of the wall edges. Following the series of additional zonal LES runs with the modified installed nozzle geometries, an optimized tone-less modification of the original installed nozzle was obtained, in broad agreement with the conditional analysis results. The obtained tone-less modification of the installed rectangular jet is further analyzed to provide insights into its similarity and differences from the aeroacoustics of the reference isolated round jet in the same CIAM facility.

Delayed-X Harmonics Synthesizer algorithm for low frequency noise removal

As various technologies on noise reduction have improved their performances, slight low frequency noise has become more prominent in quiet environments. Since the traveling of low noise is difficult to be isolated by walls and earplugs, we aim an active noise control embedded in unoccluded headphones. In this case, both desired sounds (e.g., speech) and unwanted noises pass through the opened ears, so the algorithm is required to adapt only the noise separating from the speech (selective cancelation). Therefore, our selected procedure was Delayed-X Harmonics Synthesizer algorithm which produces pure tones in the opposite phase, because the generated pure tones in the low frequency can minimize the damage for the speech quality. To select the frequencies of pure tones, we focused on the fact that noise is more stationary than speech. The targets frequencies were determined by a small frame-variation on the spectra of the error signals. Our simulations demonstrated that the low noise (&lt; 100 Hz) could be reduced by 10dB even in the slight noise condition (SNR = 5dB), while the speech intelligibility (PESQ) was maintained. When our system is embedded in the unoccluded headphones, the users will take daily conversation without any troubles of low noise.

Pairing tones with vagus nerve stimulation improves brain stem responses to speech in the valproic acid model of autism.

Receptive language deficits and aberrant auditory processing are often observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Symptoms associated with ASD are observed in rodents prenatally exposed to valproic acid (VPA), including deficits in speech sound discrimination ability. These perceptual difficulties are accompanied by changes in neural activity patterns. In both cortical and subcortical levels of the auditory pathway, VPA-exposed rats have impaired responses to speech sounds. Developing a method to improve these neural deficits throughout the auditory pathway is necessary. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with sounds to restore degraded inferior colliculus (IC) responses in VPA-exposed rats. VNS paired with the speech sound "dad" was presented to a group of VPA-exposed rats 300 times per day for 20 days. Another group of VPA-exposed rats were presented with VNS paired with multiple tone frequencies for 20 days. The IC responses were recorded from 19 saline-exposed control rats and 18 VPA-exposed with no VNS, 8 VNS-speech paired VPA-exposed, and 7 VNS-tone paired VPA-exposed female and male rats. Pairing VNS with tones increased the IC response strength to speech sounds by 44% compared to VPA-exposed rats alone. Contrarily, VNS-speech pairing significantly decreased the IC response to speech compared with VPA-exposed rats by 5%. The present research indicates that pairing VNS with tones improved sound processing in rats exposed to VPA and suggests that auditory processing can be improved through targeted plasticity.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with sounds has improved auditory processing in the auditory cortex of normal-hearing rats and autism models of rats. This study tests the ability of VNS-sound pairing to restore auditory processing in the inferior colliculus (IC) of valproic acid (VPA)-exposed rats. Pairing VNS with tones significantly reversed the degraded sound processing in the IC in VPA-exposed rats. The findings provide evidence that auditory processing in autism rat models can be improved through VNS.

Frequency and Kansei Evaluation of Tones that Evoke Weight in the Impact Sound of an Object Landing with VR

Frequency and Kansei Evaluation of Tones that Evoke Weight in the Impact Sound of an Object Landing with VR

On the impact of operating condition and testing environment on the noise sources in an industrial engine cooling fan

Engine cooling fan noise is a relevant issue for manufacturers. It is well known that both the operating point and testing environment can affect the noise generation mechanisms and, consequently, the measured noise may change. Therefore, these aspects are investigated on a reference industrial fan, for which experimental data exists, using high-fidelity numerical simulations based on the lattice-Boltzmann method. Two operating conditions, namely the free blowing and the maximum efficiency ones, and three testing environments are analyzed: (i) a conventional semi-anechoic room, (ii) an ideal free field environment, and (iii) a testing environment resembling an anechoic aeraulic facility. For cases (i) and (ii) no pressure difference across the fan is imposed, while, for case (iii), a pressure difference across the fan can be imposed. For the latter, the impact of a fully reflective and fully absorbing wall separating the two regions upstream and downstream of the fan is analyzed. At free blowing conditions, the flow over the blades is largely separated. When the blade passes through a blockage region, because of the presence of a honeycomb-like structure needed for structural purposes, it experiences a prominent loading hump. The far-field noise, at a listener located along the axis of rotation, is therefore highly tonal, with a clear peak at the blade passing frequency tone. When the same fan is tested in a free field environment, it is found that there is a difference in the acoustic pressure at higher harmonics of the blade passing frequency due to the presence of flow recirculations in the anechoic room. Placing a thin wall across the fan increases the mass flow rate, for a given rotational speed, which results in a more severe flow separation over the blades and, therefore a higher tone prominence at the blade passing frequency. If the thin wall is modeled as a sound-absorbing wall, there is a drop of the overall sound pressure level of about 2 dBA. When the fan is tested at its maximum efficiency, i.e., nonzero pressure difference across the fan, it is found that the blockage effect is less relevant. The main noise generation mechanism is the back-flow vortex induced by the pressure difference across the fan interacting with the blade tip leading edge.

Aerodynamic noise characteristics of tandem cylinders in a subcritical flow regime

The present experimental study investigates the noise generated from the subcritical flow past two tandem circular cylinders of different downstream-to-upstream diameter ratios ( d 2 /d 1). The configurations considered for the study are (A) d 2 /d 1 = 1, (B) d 2 /d 1 = 2.5 and (C) d 2 /d 1 = 0.4. The gap between cylinders has spacing to diameter ratios ( s/d) of 2 and 4, and the free stream Reynolds numbers vary from 8.4 × 103 to 3.6 × 104. At s/d = 2, acoustic tones from configurations A and B are associated with vortex shedding from the downstream cylinder, and configuration-C has broadband spectral variations. At s/d = 4, configuration-B has two acoustic tones corresponding to vortex shedding from both cylinders, with dominant higher-frequency tones from the smaller upstream cylinder, and Configuration-C has narrowband tones from the larger upstream cylinder. The mean wake velocities of configurations at s/d = 4 are lower, with relatively higher gradients than at s/d = 2. The corresponding turbulence levels are 8.3% and 6.5%, respectively. Peak tonal frequencies have a linear variation with free stream velocity, and the respective Strouhal numbers estimated are in the range from 0.17 to 0.20. Scaling of the spectra with sixth power of the free stream velocity shows the dipole behavior of noise sources. The tandem configurations have higher overall noise levels than the background noise by up to 26 dB at s/d = 2 and 21 dB at s/d = 4. Configuration-A at s/d = 2 has the highest noise level of 91 dB.

The influence of tinnitus frequency on patients experiencing subjective tinnitus and the efficacy and prognosis of acoustic therapy

ObjectiveThis study examines the therapeutic impact and prognosis of acoustic therapy in patients with chronic subjective tinnitus across different tinnitus frequencies. MethodsA total of 135 patients with subjective tinnitus were selected and categorized based on their primary tone frequency into three groups: high frequency (43 patients, 4–8 kHz), mid frequency (40 patients, 1–3 kHz), and low frequency (42 patients, < 1 kHz). All patients received acoustic therapy customized to their specific frequency and loudness levels, along with tinnitus cognitive behavioral therapy. Changes in tinnitus loudness and efficacy rates before and after treatment in the different groups, as well as before and after tinnitus cognitive behavioral therapy were evaluated and assessed. ResultsThe low frequency group showed a statistical improvement in tinnitus loudness compared to the mid and high frequency groups (P < 0.05). The efficacy rate was 93.55 % in the low frequency group, 82.88 % in the mid frequency group, and 58.82 % in the high frequency group. The efficacy rate in the low frequency group was significantly higher than in the high frequency group, but there was no statistical difference when compared to the mid frequency group. ConclusionThe frequency of tinnitus in patients with chronic subjective tinnitus might be a key factor affecting treatment effectiveness and could account for the differences in treatment outcomes among patients.

A time-domain study on the effects of noise source incidence on plenum window with active noise control

Active noise control (ANC) applied to the built environment on windows presents itself as a potential solution to reduce noise exposure for residents living near major noise sources since windows are typically the primary path for noise intrusion on a building's facade. The plenum window design seeks to address the dual dichotomy of ventilation and acoustic dilemma that plagues hot-humid and highly noise-polluted cities. In the present study, a time-domain approach is developed to investigate the effect of varying impinging angles of noise sources on the acoustic performance of a plenum window which can represent different storeys of the receiving end of noise exposure. Furthermore, the ANC performance of a control system affected by the varying noise sources is explored in this study. While most ANC studies have limited their scope of study to frequency domain investigations, the present study takes a time-domain approach to account for the causality of the ANC system concerning the primary noise source and secondary control source, which is thus more accurate to the behaviour of a real-time ANC controller. A total of 121 simulation studies were performed, and the findings show that the plenum window's PNC (passive noise control) is affected by the incident angle of a noise source based on its tonal frequency, which is pronounced near the aperture's cut-off frequency, faperture. However, the ANC performance due to varying incident angles of primary noise remains unaffected even at high frequencies with a standard deviation, σANC < 1 dB except for the 630 Hz tonal frequency, which coincides with faperture.

Analysis of the efficacy of fiber laser stapes fenestration in the treatment of 58 cases of otosclerosis and ossicular malformation

Objective: To explore the surgical efficacy of conductive deafness caused by otosclerosis and ossicular malformation with 980 nm fiber laser stapedial floor fenestration. Methods: Data of 58 patients (ears) who were diagnosed with conductive deafness caused by otosclerosis (49 ears) and ossicular malformation (9 ears) treated by 980 nm Diode laser small-fenestra stapedotomy were retrospectively analyzed. Air conduction (AC) thresholds, bone conduction (BC) thresholds, and air-bone gap (ABG) at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz pure tone frequencies were compared before and 3 months after surgery, and the advantages and precautions of 980 nm fiber laser were summarized. Paired t-test (SPSS 26.0 software) was use to analyze the listening data. Results: Fiber optic laser stapes fenestration and artificial stapes implantation were successfully completed in all 57 cases (ears), the hearing of another one patient (ear) with floating malformation of detachment of stapedial floor was lower than that before surgery. Preoperative at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz frequencies of AC thresholds, BC thresholds, and ABG were (65.4±9.7) dB, (27.2±8.9) dB, and (38.2±9.8) dB respectively. Postoperative 3 months at the same frequency of AC thresholds, BC thresholds, and ABG were (42.1±11.3) dB, (26.9±6.6) dB, and (15.2±9.1) dB. Preoperative and postoperative of AC threshold and ABG were statistically significant at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz (t value was 13.270 and13.948, both P<0.01), and yet the BC threshold was not statistically significant before and after surgery at the same frequency (t=0.418, P>0.05). Conclusions: 980 nm fiber laser stapes floor fenestration is an effective treatment for conductive deafness caused by otosclerosis and ossicular malformation.

Time scale of adaptation at the tonal sequence processing in the awake mice auditory cortex neurons

The study was firstly carried out on stimulus-specific adaptation of neurons in the primary and anterior fields of the awake house mice auditory cortex to sound sequences of four 100-ms tonal signals, with frequency of tones corresponding to the neuronal characteristic frequency, and also with the inter-tone interval constant for one sequence and varying from 0 to 2000 ms in different sequences. The analysis of the data obtained showed the adaptation effect in the responses of all studied primary auditory cortex neurons, which was observed as the absence or significant decrease in activity evoked by the components of a series of tones following the 1st, at inter-stimulus intervals of 0–500 ms. A quantitative assessment of the adaptation effects as a function of inter-stimulus intervals within the tonal sequence, performed over whole population of studied neurons, showed that the individual time scales of adaptation of neurons varied significantly, which may be crucial for the formation of optimal time windows for the processing of grouping and separation of sound events, which are important both for perception of animal vocalizations and human speech.

The association between skeletal muscle mass and sensorineural hearing loss upon cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) frequently experience irreversible sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Patients with low lumbar skeletal muscle index (LSMI) may experience higher serum peak dosages of cisplatin. This study investigated whether pre-treatment low LSMI is associated with increased SNHL upon cisplatin-based CRT. LSMI was assessed using routine pre-treatment CT scans. Pure tone audiometry was performed at baseline and at follow-up to assess treatment-related SNHL. Linear mixed models were used to reveal a potential association between the continuous variable LSMI and SNHL. This retrospective cohort study included 81 patients and found a significant association between low LSMI and increased treatment-related SNHL at pure tone frequencies vital for the perception of speech (averaged of 1, 2, and 4 kHz) (p = 0.048). HNSCC patients with low LSMI suffer increased treatment-related SNHL upon cisplatin-based CRT.