Hearing Research Research Articles

Impact of contextual and lip-sync-related visual cues on speech intelligibility through immersive audio-visual scene recordings in a reverberant conference room

Recent hearing research has benefitted from the latest Virtual Reality systems that allowed the reproduction of immersive Audio-Visual scenarios to achieve more ecological listening tests. Indeed, efforts have been spent to identify the aspects that convey actual ecological validity, particularly investigating the effects of visual cues and self-motion on Speech Intelligibility through tests mainly based on simulated scenes. However, work must still be addressed when sceneries developed through real recordings inside reverberant environments are concerned. This study used 3rd-order ambisonics recordings and stereoscopic 360° videos inside a reverberant conference hall to create three virtual audio-visual scenes where speech intelligibility tests were performed, introducing informational noise from different angles. A 16-speaker spherical array synced with a headmounted display was used to administer the immersive tests to 50 normal-hearing subjects. Firstly, tests only composed of the auditory scenes were compared, based on the achieved scores, with tests also providing contextual and positional source-related visual cues, both with and without self-motion, for a total of four different test configurations. Then, to complete the investigation of the visual cues' impact on speech intelligibility, ten normal-hearing subjects were recruited to performaudio-visual tests incorporating lip-sync-related visual cues for the target speech.

The quantification and mRNA expression levels of cochlear synapses in C57BL/6j mice following repeated exposure to noise

Background Noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy has recently emerged as a focus in hearing research. Purpose This study aimed to examine the impact of repeated noise exposure on the quantification and mRNA expression levels of cochlear synapses. Methods Measurements were conducted at baseline, 1 day, and 14 days post-exposure to 88 or 97 dB SPL noise (2 h/day for 7 days, frequency range 2-20 kHz). Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs), immunofluorescence and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to examine the results. Results 1. Exposure to 88 dB SPL caused minimal changes in ABRs, ribbon morphology and medial olivocochlear (MOC) efferent synapses; elevation of synaptophysin(SYP) and α9α10 nAchR mRNA levels were observed. 2. Exposure to 97 dB SPL caused threshold shift and synaptopathy of ribbon and MOC; downregulation of α10nAchR, SYP and ctbp2 mRNA levels were observed. Conclusion Noise-induced cochlear synaptic degeneration involves both afferent and efferent synaptopathy.

An interpretable tinnitus prediction framework using gap-prepulse inhibition in auditory late response and electroencephalogram.

Tinnitus is a neuropathological condition that results in mild buzzing or ringing of the ears without an external sound source. Current tinnitus diagnostic methods often rely on subjective assessment and require intricate medical examinations. This study aimed to propose an interpretable tinnitus diagnostic framework using auditory late response (ALR) and electroencephalogram (EEG), inspired by the gap-prepulse inhibition (GPI) paradigm. We collected spontaneous EEG and ALR data from 44 patients with tinnitus and 47 hearing loss-matched controls using specialized hardware to capture responses to sound stimuli with embedded gaps. In this cohort study of tinnitus and control groups, we examined EEG spectral and ALR features of N-P complexes, comparing the responses to gap durations of 50 and 20 ms alongside no-gap conditions. To this end, we developed an interpretable tinnitus diagnostic model using ALR and EEG metrics, boosting machine learning architecture, and explainable feature attribution approaches. Our proposed model achieved 90 % accuracy in identifying tinnitus, with an area under the performance curve of 0.89. The explainable artificial intelligence approaches have revealed gap-embedded ALR features such as the GPI ratio of N1-P2 and EEG spectral ratio, which can serve as diagnostic metrics for tinnitus. Our method successfully provides personalized prediction explanations for tinnitus diagnosis using gap-embedded auditory and neurological features. Deficits in GPI alongside activity in the EEG alpha-beta ratio offer a promising screening tool for assessing tinnitus risk, aligning with current clinical insights from hearing research.

How do speech language pathologists use the Schwarz et al. (2015) rubric for read-aloud storybook selection?

ABSTRACT Reading storybooks aloud to prereaders helps them develop oral language skills; but educators struggle to select appropriate storybooks for read alouds. To better understand this selection process, we evaluated how experienced speech language pathologists (SLPs) apply the storybook selection rubric in Schwarz et al.'s (2015). A read-aloud storybook selection system for prereaders at the preschool language level: A pilot study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58(4), 1273-1291. doi:10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-15-0056. That rubric includes: eight book characteristics, one four-level difficulty scale, and exemplar storybooks for each scale level. Using this rubric, 38 SLPs—who had served children at the preschool language level—rated 63 storybooks based on how difficult they thought the storybooks would be for children at the preschool language level to understand when the storybooks were read aloud to them. A principal component analysis identified-among the original eight characteristics a subset of five highly correlated characteristics related to overall text difficulty: vocabulary, story structure, sentence length, book length, and density. We revised the original rubric to include only four storybook characteristics: (a) text difficulty, (b) amount of inferencing, problem-solving, and abstract concepts, (c) familiarity of activities/experiences, and (d) level of support provided by the illustrations. Using quartile values of the text difficulty characteristic, we derived a four-level difficulty scale for the 63 storybooks. The revised storybook selection rubric simplifies the process of selecting appropriate storybooks for read alouds. The revised rubric and SLPs' difficulty ratings of 63 storybooks provide clinicians with a resource ready-made for clinical practice.

Research Priorities for Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A Long View.

This article introduces the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research Special Issue: Selected Papers From the 2022 Apraxia Kids Research Symposium. The field of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) has developed significantly in the past 15 years, with key improvements in understanding of basic biology including genetics, neuroscience, and computational modelling; development of diagnostic tools and methods; diversity of evidence-based interventions with increasingly rigorous experimental designs; and understanding of impacts beyond impairment-level measures. Papers in this special issue not only review and synthesize the some of the substantial progress to date but also present novel findings addressing critical research gaps and adding to the overall body of knowledge. A second aim of this prologue is to report the current research needs in CAS, which arose from symposium discussions involving researchers, clinicians, and Apraxia Kids community members (including parents of children with CAS). Four primary areas of need emerged from discussions at the symposium. These were: (a) What questions should we ask? (b) Who should be in the research? (c) How do we conduct the research? and (d) How do we move from research to practice? Across themes, symposium attendees emphasized the need for CAS research to better account for the diversity of people with CAS and improve the timeliness of implementation of high-level evidence-based practice across the lifespan. It is our goal that the articles and prologue discussion in this special issue provide an appreciation of advancements in CAS research and an updated view of the most pressing needs for future research.

Examining the lateralization of electrophysiological correlates of auditory awareness.

The neurological basis for perceptual awareness remains unclear, and theories disagree as to whether sensory cortices per se generate awareness. Critically, neural activity in the sensory cortices is only a neural correlate of consciousness (NCC) if it closely matches the contents of perceptual awareness. Research in vision and touch suggest that contralateral activity in sensory cortices is an NCC. Similarly, research in hearing with two sound sources (left and right) presented over headphones also suggests that a candidate NCC called the auditory awareness negativity (AAN) matches perceived location of sound. The current study used 13 different sound sources presented over loudspeakers for natural localization cues and measured event-related potentials to a threshold stimulus in a sound localization task. Preregistered Bayesian mixed models provided moderate evidence against an overall AAN and very strong evidence against its lateralization. Because of issues regarding data quantity and quality, exploratory analyses with aggregated data from multiple loudspeakers were conducted. Results provided moderate evidence for an overall AAN and strong evidence against its lateralization. Nonetheless, the interpretations of these results remain inconclusive. Therefore, future research should reduce the number of conditions and/or test over several sessions to procure a sufficient amount of data. Taken at face value, the results may suggest issues with AAN as an NCC of auditory awareness, as it does not laterally map onto experiences in a free-field auditory environment, in contrast to the NCCs of vision and touch.

Creating a health informatics data resource for hearing health research

BackgroundThe National Institute of Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Health Informatics Collaborative (HIC) for Hearing Health has been established in the UK to curate routinely collected hearing health data to address research questions. This study defines priority research areas, outlines its aims, governance structure and demonstrates how hearing health data have been integrated into a common data model using pure tone audiometry (PTA) as a case study.MethodsAfter identifying key research aims in hearing health, the governance structure for the NIHR HIC for Hearing Health is described. The Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) was chosen as our common data model to provide a case study example.ResultsThe NIHR HIC Hearing Health theme have developed a data architecture outlying the flow of data from all of the various siloed electronic patient record systems to allow the effective linkage of data from electronic patient record systems to research systems. Using PTAs as an example, OMOPification of hearing health data successfully collated a rich breadth of datapoints across multiple centres.ConclusionThis study identified priority research areas where routinely collected hearing health data could be useful. It demonstrates integration and standardisation of such data into a common data model from multiple centres. By describing the process of data sharing across the HIC, we hope to invite more centres to contribute and utilise data to address research questions in hearing health. This national initiative has the power to transform UK hearing research and hearing care using routinely collected clinical data.

Recent Progress in Generation of Inner Ear Organoid.

Inner ear organoids play a crucial role in hearing research. In comparison to other animal models and 2D cell culture systems, inner ear organoids offer significant advantages for studying the mechanisms of inner ear development and exploring novel approaches to disease treatment. Inner ear organoids derived from human cells are more closely resemble normal human organs in development and function. The 3D culture system of the inner ear organoid enhances cell-cell interactions and mimics the internal environment. In this review, the progress and limitations of organoid culture methods derived from tissue-specific progenitors and pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are summarized, which may offer new insights into generating organoids that closely resemble the inner ear in terms of morphology and function.

Sst- and Vip-Cre mouse lines without age-related hearing loss.

GABAergic interneurons, including somatostatin (SST) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) positive cells, play a crucial role in cortical circuit processing. Cre recombinase-mediated manipulation of these interneurons is facilitated by commercially available knock-in mouse strains such as Sst-IRES-Cre (Sst-Cre) and Vip-IRES-Cre (Vip-Cre). However, these strains are troublesome for hearing research because they are only available on the C57BL/6 genetic background, which suffer from early onset age-related hearing loss (AHL) due to a mutation of the Cdh23 gene. To overcome this limitation, we backcrossed Sst-Cre and Vip-Cre mice to CBA mice to create normal-hearing offspring with the desired Cre transgenes. We confirmed that in these "CBA Cre" lines, Cre drives appropriate expression of Cre-dependent genes, by crossing CBA Cre mice to Ai14 reporter mice. To assess the hearing capabilities of the CBA Cre mice, we measured auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) using clicks and tones. CBA Cre mice showed significantly lower ABR thresholds compared to C57 control mice at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. In conclusion, our study successfully generated Sst-Cre and Vip-Cre mouse lines on the CBA background that will be valuable tools for investigating the roles of SST and VIP positive interneurons without the confounding effects of age-related hearing loss.

Digital Therapeutics in Hearing Healthcare: Evidence-Based Review.

Digital therapeutics (DTx) in hearing research have emerged as a new category of therapies providing evidence-based intervention via digital means, such as software, smartphone apps, or websites. However, although relatively new, they are not well-established. In this article, we review DTx technologies in hearing research fields, focusing on three categories: prevention and diagnosis, aid (assistance), and cure (digital medicine). We observe that most DTx systems require interactions with users (or patients) without the direct support of clinical professionals to obtain or collect medical evidence; this makes training (or education) features crucial to the therapy's success. In this view, this article discusses the education or training functions of the current DTx and their contribution and purposes. The impact of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) on DTx in hearing research is being explored, and the future of DTx concerning AI integration is being discussed. We believe that this work will contribute to a better understanding of the current and future DTx technological advancements and, in particular, shed light on the field of hearing research.

A systematic review on the contribution of DNA methylation to hearing loss

BackgroundDNA methylation may have a regulatory role in monogenic sensorineural hearing loss and complex, polygenic phenotypic forms of hearing loss, including age-related hearing impairment or Meniere disease. The purpose of this systematic review is to critically assess the evidence supporting a functional role of DNA methylation in phenotypes associated with hearing loss.ResultsThe search strategy yielded a total of 661 articles. After quality assessment, 25 records were selected (12 human DNA methylation studies, 5 experimental animal studies and 8 studies reporting mutations in the DNMT1 gene). Although some methylation studies reported significant differences in CpG methylation in diverse gene promoters associated with complex hearing loss phenotypes (ARHI, otosclerosis, MD), only one study included a replication cohort that supported a regulatory role for CpG methylation in the genes TCF25 and POLE in ARHI. Conversely, several studies have independently confirmed pathogenic mutations within exon 21 of the DNMT1 gene, which encodes the DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 1 enzyme. This methylation enzyme is strongly associated with a rare disease defined by autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness and narcolepsy (ADCA-DN). Of note, rare variants in DNMT1 and DNMT3A genes have also been reported in noise-induced hearing loss.ConclusionsEvidence supporting a functional role for DNA methylation in hearing loss is limited to few genes in complex disorders such as ARHI. Mutations in the DNMT1 gene are associated with ADCA-DN, suggesting the CpG methylation in hearing loss genes deserves further attention in hearing research.

Implementing Ecological Momentary Assessment in Audiological Research: Opportunities and Challenges.

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a way to evaluate experiences in everyday life. It is a powerful research tool but can be complex and challenging for beginners. Application of EMA in audiological research brings with it opportunities and challenges that differ from other research disciplines. This tutorial discusses important considerations when conducting EMA studies in hearing care. While more research is needed to develop specific guidelines for the various potential applications of EMA in hearing research, we hope this article can alert hearing researchers new to EMA to pitfalls when using EMA and help strengthen their study design. The current article elaborates study design details, such as choice of participants, representativeness of the study period for participants' lives, and balancing participant burden with data requirements. Mobile devices and sensors to collect objective data on the acoustic situation are reviewed alongside different possibilities for EMA setups ranging from online questionnaires paired with a timer to proprietary apps that also have access to parameters of a hearing device. In addition to considerations for survey design, a list of questionnaire items from previous studies is provided. For each item, an example and a list of references are given. EMA typically provides data sets that are rich but also challenging in that they are noisy, and there is often unequal amount of data between participants. After recommendations on how to check the data for compliance, reactivity, and careless responses, methods for statistical analysis on the individual level and on the group level are discussed including special methods for direct comparison of hearing device programs.

An Open-Source Deep Learning-Based GUI Toolbox For Automated Auditory Brainstem Response Analyses (ABRA).

In this paper, we introduce a new, open-source software developed in Python for analyzing Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) waveforms. ABRs are a far-field recording of synchronous neural activity generated by the auditory fibers in the ear in response to sound, and used to study acoustic neural information traveling along the ascending auditory pathway. Common ABR data analysis practices are subject to human interpretation and are labor-intensive, requiring manual annotations and visual estimation of hearing thresholds. The proposed new Auditory Brainstem Response Analyzer (ABRA) software is designed to facilitate the analysis of ABRs by supporting batch data import/export, waveform visualization, and statistical analysis. Techniques implemented in this software include algorithmic peak finding, threshold estimation, latency estimation, time warping for curve alignment, and 3D plotting of ABR waveforms over stimulus frequencies and decibels. The excellent performance on a large dataset of ABR collected from three labs in the field of hearing research that use different experimental recording settings illustrates the efficacy, flexibility, and wide utility of ABRA.

Exploring Age Differences in Absorption and Enjoyment during Story Listening

Using naturalistic spoken narratives to investigate speech processes and comprehension is becoming increasingly popular in experimental hearing research. Yet, little is known about how individuals engage with spoken story materials and how listening experiences change with age. We investigated absorption in the context of listening to spoken stories, explored predictive factors for engagement, and examined the utility of a scale developed for written narratives to assess absorption for auditory materials. Adults aged 20–78 years (N = 216) participated in an online experimental study. Participants listened to one of ten stories intended to be engaging to different degrees and rated the story in terms of absorption and enjoyment. Participants of different ages rated the stories similarly absorbing and enjoyable. Further, higher mood scores predicted higher absorption and enjoyment ratings. Factor analysis showed scale items approximately grouped according to the original scale dimensions, suggesting that absorption and enjoyment experiences may be similar for written and spoken stories, although certain items discriminated less effectively between stories intended to be more or less engaging. The present study provides novel insights into how adults of different ages engage in listening and supports using naturalistic speech stimuli in hearing research.

American Hearing Research Foundation research grants

American Hearing Research Foundation research grants

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of atorvastatin to prevent hearing loss in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma receiving cisplatin based chemoradiation (CRT).

TPS12153 Background: Cisplatin chemotherapy is associated with several adverse effects, including a permanent, high-frequency, sensorineural hearing loss in about 50% of patients. Preclinical studies suggest that statin drugs can mitigate cisplatin ototoxicity (Fernandez et al., Hearing Research 2020). In our prior combined retrospective/prospective dataset of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with cisplatin-based CRT, the incidence of CTCAE grade ≥ 2 hearing loss was 29.4% in statin non-users, versus 9.7% in atorvastatin users (Fernandez et al., J Clin Invest 2021). An adjusted odds ratio analysis indicated that atorvastatin users are significantly less likely to develop hearing loss versus statin non-users (odds ratio 0.47), providing the rationale for a randomized, controlled, prospective study. Methods: This multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled study is enrolling patients with previously-untreated, locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) for which cisplatin-based chemoradiation is indicated, either in the definitive or adjuvant setting. Patients who will be treated with cisplatin (at 75-100 mg/m2 bolus every three weeks or 40 mg/m2 weekly) are eligible. Patients currently taking a statin or those without measurable hearing in at least one ear are excluded. A baseline audiogram is performed, and patients are randomized to atorvastatin (40 mg/day) or placebo, which is started 2-7 days before CRT and taken daily until 3 months after completion of CRT. Post-treatment audiometry is repeated at 3 months and 2 years after CRT, along with collection of patient-reported outcomes on hearing, tinnitus, and peripheral neuropathy. Patients are monitored for liver and muscle toxicity, with dose de-escalation or cessation of atorvastatin as needed. The primary endpoint is the incidence of CTCAE grade ≥2 hearing loss at 3 months after CRT. Secondary endpoints include other treatment related grade 3-4 adverse events, overall survival, and disease-free survival. Up to 214 subjects will be enrolled at 4 U.S. sites (NIH Clinical Center, Emory University, University of Maryland, University of Rochester). Funding: NIH/NIDCD, U01 DC020452 and intramural project ZIA DC000079. Clinical trial information: NCT04915183 .

Large-scale annotated dataset for cochlear hair cell detection and classification

Our sense of hearing is mediated by cochlear hair cells, of which there are two types organized in one row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells. Each cochlea contains 5–15 thousand terminally differentiated hair cells, and their survival is essential for hearing as they do not regenerate after insult. It is often desirable in hearing research to quantify the number of hair cells within cochlear samples, in both pathological conditions, and in response to treatment. Machine learning can be used to automate the quantification process but requires a vast and diverse dataset for effective training. In this study, we present a large collection of annotated cochlear hair-cell datasets, labeled with commonly used hair-cell markers and imaged using various fluorescence microscopy techniques. The collection includes samples from mouse, rat, guinea pig, pig, primate, and human cochlear tissue, from normal conditions and following in-vivo and in-vitro ototoxic drug application. The dataset includes over 107,000 hair cells which have been identified and annotated as either inner or outer hair cells. This dataset is the result of a collaborative effort from multiple laboratories and has been carefully curated to represent a variety of imaging techniques. With suggested usage parameters and a well-described annotation procedure, this collection can facilitate the development of generalizable cochlear hair-cell detection models or serve as a starting point for fine-tuning models for other analysis tasks. By providing this dataset, we aim to give other hearing research groups the opportunity to develop their own tools with which to analyze cochlear imaging data more fully, accurately, and with greater ease.

Typical spelling errors of Grade 1 spellers of Polish: An exploratory study adapting the POMAS classification to the Polish orthography

AbstractThis paper presents the adaptation of the POMAS classification of spelling errors (Silliman et al., Developmental Neuropsychology 29:93–123, 2006, Bahr et al., Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research 55:1587–1599, 2012; International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 18:73–91, 2015) to Polish orthography. We identified the most common phonological, orthographic, and/or morphological errors committed by Polish Grade 1 spellers based on a writing-to-dictation task. Some of the error types were included in the original POMAS; some we added, following the classification rationale, to adapt the classification to the specific features of the Polish orthography. Moreover, we found that the participants made, on average, an equal number of phonological and orthographic errors, and of phonological and morphological errors. However, orthographic errors were more frequent than morphological ones. A roughly equal proportion of orthographic and phonological errors occurred in the spelling of the most difficult words. The most frequent orthographic error type was grapheme substitution, followed by final consonant devoicing, and consonant devoicing within a word errors. The most frequent phonological error type were misspellings in diacritic signs, followed by consonant deletion, vowel deletion, and epenthesis. The developed POMAS-PL version may be used by other researchers of Slavic languages, to allow for intercultural comparisons. Moreover, our analyses can be used by teachers of Polish as a first and a second language to anticipate their students’ errors and to understand what knowledge the learners need to learn to spell correctly.

Used to Be a Dime, Now It's a Dollar: Revised Speech Perception in Noise Key Word Predictability Revisited 40 Years On.

Almost 40 years after its development, in this article, we reexamine the relevance and validity of the ubiquitously used Revised Speech Perception in Noise (R-SPiN) sentence corpus. The R-SPiN corpus includes "high-context" and "low-context" sentences and has been widely used in the field of hearing research to examine the benefit derived from semantic context across English-speaking listeners, but research investigating age differences has yielded somewhat inconsistent findings. We assess the appropriateness of the corpus for use today in different English-language cultures (i.e., British and American) as well as for older and younger adults. Two hundred forty participants, including older (60-80 years) and younger (19-31 years) adult groups in the the United Kingdom and United States, completed a cloze task consisting of R-SPiN sentences with the final word removed. Cloze, as a measure of predictability, and entropy, as a measure of response uncertainty, were compared between culture and age groups. Most critically, of the 200 "high-context" stimuli, only around half were assessed as highly predictable for older adults (United Kingdom: 109; United States: 107); and fewer still, for younger adults (United Kingdom: 75; United States: 81). We also found dominant responses to these "high-context" stimuli varied between cultures, with U.S. responses being more likely to match the original R-SPiN target. Our findings highlight the issue of incomplete transferability of corpus items across English-language cultures as well as diminished equivalency for older and younger adults. By identifying relevant items for each population, this work could facilitate the interpretation of inconsistent findings in the literature, particularly relating to age effects.

Digital therapeutics in hearing healthcare

Digital therapeutics (DTx) in hearing research have emerged as a new category of therapies that provide evidence-based intervention via digital means, such as software, smartphone apps, or websites. However, as they are relatively new, yet not well-established. In this presentation, we review DTx technologies in hearing research fields, focusing on three categories: prevention and diagnosis, aid (assistance), and curing (digital medicine). We observed that the majority of DTx systems require interactions with users (or patients) without clinical professionals’ direct support to obtain or collect medical evidence; this makes training (or education) features crucial to the success of the therapy. In this view, we will discuss the education or training functions of the current DTx and their contribution and purposes. The impact of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) on DTx in hearing research is being explored, along with discussions about the future of DTx concerning AI integration. We believe that this work will contribute to a better understanding of the current and future DTx technological advancements, shedding light on the field of hearing research, in particular.