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Τρίτη 4 Σεπτεμβρίου 2018
Evaluation of Modern Remote Microphone Technologies
Using remote microphone technology is the most effective method to improve speech recognition in noise for hearing aid users, with a variety of different remote microphone solutions available today. In this investigation, adult hearing aid users were tested with their hearing aids alone and in combination with three remote microphones differing in the type of microphone and gain behavior.
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Evaluation of Modern Remote Microphone Technologies
Using remote microphone technology is the most effective method to improve speech recognition in noise for hearing aid users, with a variety of different remote microphone solutions available today. In this investigation, adult hearing aid users were tested with their hearing aids alone and in combination with three remote microphones differing in the type of microphone and gain behavior.
from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader https://ift.tt/2wDlUiM
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Study Warns of the Unintended Effects of White Noise Therapy for Tinnitus
Noise exposure therapies may be doing more harm than good, suggested a review article recently published in JAMA Otolaryngology. While sound therapies like white noise provide short-term relief for people with various conditions, including tinnitus, they may undermine the overall functional and structural integrity of the brain, and even accelerate its aging.
Tinnitus affects over 50 million people in the United States. While there is no cure for this disabling condition, sound therapy is one of the most common approaches to manage tinnitus. In fact, there is some evidence that point to the benefits of noise-based sound therapy in providing relief from disturbing tinnitus percepts via auditory masking. However, neuroscientists from University of California San Francisco and with Posit Science argue that the potential adverse effects of auditory masking via noise therapy might actually outweigh its benefits.
"Increasing evidence shows that the brain rewires for the worse when it is fed random information, such as white noise. Neural inhibition is reduced, temporal integration times increase, and cortical representations lose precision," lead author Mouna Attarha, PhD, told The Hearing Journal. "These maladaptive changes in the brain have consequences that, with time, exacerbate the tinnitus, degrade functioning of the auditory system, and compromise other important cognitive processes, such as language comprehension. A therapeutic strategy so often recommended needs to be more fully understood, including its unintended and often overlooked consequences."
Evaluating therapies in the context of brain health and cognition is vital, noted the authors. "We became interested in writing this editorial after noting widespread use of white noise generators by health professionals across a number of settings – hospitals, treatment centers, therapy offices, ICUs," Attarha shared.
Noting the need for alternative therapies, the authors suggest exploring the potential of structure sounds and other strategies that don't have a negative impact on the brain.
"Health professionals should have a sense of how repeated exposure to randomly-generated information, even at low volume levels, remodels the brain and should offer structured sounds as the alternative," Attarha suggested. "Structured sounds – such as music and speech – can successfully mask or "cover" phantom sounds heard in the head without compromising the structural and functional integrity of the brain. Given how distressing tinnitus can be to some, a treatment program could also include emerging interventions to the extent that those interventions show initial efficacy and demonstrate low-risk."
These treatment programs include validated computerized brain training and stimulus timing dependent plasticity. "Ultimately, the resolution of tinnitus will require programs that can remodel and restore the organization of the brain," Attarha noted.
Published: 9/4/2018 11:43:00 AM
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Study Warns of the Unintended Effects of White Noise Therapy for Tinnitus
Noise exposure therapies may be doing more harm than good, suggested a review article recently published in JAMA Otolaryngology. While sound therapies like white noise provide short-term relief for people with various conditions, including tinnitus, they may undermine the overall functional and structural integrity of the brain, and even accelerate its aging.
Tinnitus affects over 50 million people in the United States. While there is no cure for this disabling condition, sound therapy is one of the most common approaches to manage tinnitus. In fact, there is some evidence that point to the benefits of noise-based sound therapy in providing relief from disturbing tinnitus percepts via auditory masking. However, neuroscientists from University of California San Francisco and with Posit Science argue that the potential adverse effects of auditory masking via noise therapy might actually outweigh its benefits.
"Increasing evidence shows that the brain rewires for the worse when it is fed random information, such as white noise. Neural inhibition is reduced, temporal integration times increase, and cortical representations lose precision," lead author Mouna Attarha, PhD, told The Hearing Journal. "These maladaptive changes in the brain have consequences that, with time, exacerbate the tinnitus, degrade functioning of the auditory system, and compromise other important cognitive processes, such as language comprehension. A therapeutic strategy so often recommended needs to be more fully understood, including its unintended and often overlooked consequences."
Evaluating therapies in the context of brain health and cognition is vital, noted the authors. "We became interested in writing this editorial after noting widespread use of white noise generators by health professionals across a number of settings – hospitals, treatment centers, therapy offices, ICUs," Attarha shared.
Noting the need for alternative therapies, the authors suggest exploring the potential of structure sounds and other strategies that don't have a negative impact on the brain.
"Health professionals should have a sense of how repeated exposure to randomly-generated information, even at low volume levels, remodels the brain and should offer structured sounds as the alternative," Attarha suggested. "Structured sounds – such as music and speech – can successfully mask or "cover" phantom sounds heard in the head without compromising the structural and functional integrity of the brain. Given how distressing tinnitus can be to some, a treatment program could also include emerging interventions to the extent that those interventions show initial efficacy and demonstrate low-risk."
These treatment programs include validated computerized brain training and stimulus timing dependent plasticity. "Ultimately, the resolution of tinnitus will require programs that can remodel and restore the organization of the brain," Attarha noted.
Published: 9/4/2018 11:43:00 AM
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Exploring the Effects of Imitating Hand Gestures and Head Nods on L1 and L2 Mandarin Tone Production
Purpose
This study investigated the impact of metaphoric actions—head nods and hand gestures—in producing Mandarin tones for first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers.
Method
In 2 experiments, participants imitated videos of Mandarin tones produced under 3 conditions: (a) speech alone, (b) speech + head nods, and (c) speech + hand gestures. Fundamental frequency was recorded for both L1 (Experiment 1) and L2 (Experiment 2a) speakers, and the output of the L2 speakers was rated for tonal accuracy by 7 native Mandarin judges (Experiment 2b).
Results
Experiment 1 showed that 12 L1 speakers' fundamental frequency spectral data did not differ among the 3 conditions. In Experiment 2a, the conditions did not affect the production of 24 English speakers for the most part, but there was some evidence that hand gestures helped Tone 4. In Experiment 2b, native Mandarin judges found limited conditional differences in L2 productions, with Tone 3 showing a slight head nods benefit in a subset of “correct” L2 tokens.
Conclusion
Results suggest that metaphoric bodily actions do not influence the lowest levels of L1 speech production in a tonal language and may play a very modest role during preliminary L2 learning.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader https://ift.tt/2LWYoTO
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Exploring the Effects of Imitating Hand Gestures and Head Nods on L1 and L2 Mandarin Tone Production
Purpose
This study investigated the impact of metaphoric actions—head nods and hand gestures—in producing Mandarin tones for first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers.
Method
In 2 experiments, participants imitated videos of Mandarin tones produced under 3 conditions: (a) speech alone, (b) speech + head nods, and (c) speech + hand gestures. Fundamental frequency was recorded for both L1 (Experiment 1) and L2 (Experiment 2a) speakers, and the output of the L2 speakers was rated for tonal accuracy by 7 native Mandarin judges (Experiment 2b).
Results
Experiment 1 showed that 12 L1 speakers' fundamental frequency spectral data did not differ among the 3 conditions. In Experiment 2a, the conditions did not affect the production of 24 English speakers for the most part, but there was some evidence that hand gestures helped Tone 4. In Experiment 2b, native Mandarin judges found limited conditional differences in L2 productions, with Tone 3 showing a slight head nods benefit in a subset of “correct” L2 tokens.
Conclusion
Results suggest that metaphoric bodily actions do not influence the lowest levels of L1 speech production in a tonal language and may play a very modest role during preliminary L2 learning.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader https://ift.tt/2LWYoTO
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The relationship between functionality and erector spinae activity in patients with specific low back pain during dynamic and static movements
Publication date: Available online 3 September 2018
Source: Gait & Posture
Author(s): Sebastian Becker, Ferdinand Bergamo, Klaus J. Schnake, Sylvia Schreyer, Ingo V. Rembitzki, Catherine Disselhorst-Klug
Abstract
Background
Alterations in the activity of the lumbar erector spinae (LES) muscles on both sides of the spine have been inconsistently reported in patients with specific low back pain (sLBP) after measuring the muscular activity with surface electromyography (sEMG). It also remains unclear whether these alterations in LES activity can be related to the functional level of patients with sLBP.
Research question
This study investigated the LES activity in patients with sLBP during activities of daily living (ADL) which included dynamic and static movement tasks. Moreover, the alterations in LES activity were correlated with the first seven questions of the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire (ZCQ-SS).
Methods
Thirty patients with specific LBP and twenty healthy subjects were recruited to perform five ADLs including ‘static waist flexion’, ‘sit to stand’,’ 30-seconds standing’, ‘6-minutes walking’ and ‘climbing stairs’. sEMG sensors were mounted on the left and right LES muscles. The integrated EMG (IEMG) was calculated from the preprocessed sEMG data as statistical comparison criteria.
Results
LES activity was significantly higher in patients during ‘sit to stand’,’ 30-seconds standing’ and ‘climbing stairs’ and significantly lower during ‘static waist flexion’ compared to healthy controls. All tasks showed a significant correlation with the ZCQ-SS score except for ‘6-minutes walking’, whereby LES activity and ZCQ-SS score correspondingly increased during ‘sit to stand’ and ‘climbing stairs’ and the LES activity decreased with an increasing ZCQ-SS score during ‘static waist flexion’ and’ 30-seconds standing’.
Significance
There was a high correlation between alterations in LES activity and the level of functionality in LBP patients. However, the LES activity showed an opposite behavior during static and dynamic movement tasks. The methodology presented can be a useful tool for quantifying improvements in functionality after rehabilitation processes.
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Early clinical evaluation of total hip arthroplasty by three-dimensional gait analysis and muscle strength testing
Publication date: Available online 3 September 2018
Source: Gait & Posture
Author(s): Motosi Gomi, Katsuhiko Maezawa, Masahiko Nozawa, Takahito Yuasa, Munehiko Sugimoto, Akito Hayashi, Saiko Mikawa, Kazuo Kaneko
Abstract
Background
As improvement of gait is an important reason for patients to undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA) and they generally tend to evaluate its success based on postoperative walking ability, objective functional evaluation of postoperative gait is important. However, the patient’s normal gait before osteoarthritis is unknown and the changes that will occur postoperatively are unclear. We investigated the change in gait and hip joint muscle strength after THA by using a portable gait rhythmograph (PGR) and muscle strength measuring device.
Patient and methods
The subjects were 46 women (mean age: 65.9 years) with osteoarthritis of the hip. Gait analysis and muscle strength testing were performed before THA, as well as 3 weeks and 3 months after surgery. We measured the walking speed, step length, and gait trajectory using PGR prospectively. PGR is attached to the patient’s waist and records signals at a sampling rate of 100 Hz. Isometric torque of hip flexion and abduction were measured by using a hand-held dynamometer.
Results
There was no improvement at 3 weeks postoperatively, but the walking speed, stride length and muscle strength were clearly showed improvement at 3 months postoperatively. The walking trajectory was not normal preoperatively, since the trajectory was not symmetrical and did not intersect in the midline or form a figure-8, and abnormality of the trajectory tended to persist postoperative 3 months despite resolution of hip joint pain after surgery.
Conclusion
Since postoperative improvement of gait is an important consideration for patients undergoing THA, it seems relevant to evaluate changes in the gait after surgery and three-dimensional analysis with a PGR may be useful for this purpose.
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The relationship between functionality and erector spinae activity in patients with specific low back pain during dynamic and static movements
Publication date: Available online 3 September 2018
Source: Gait & Posture
Author(s): Sebastian Becker, Ferdinand Bergamo, Klaus J. Schnake, Sylvia Schreyer, Ingo V. Rembitzki, Catherine Disselhorst-Klug
Abstract
Background
Alterations in the activity of the lumbar erector spinae (LES) muscles on both sides of the spine have been inconsistently reported in patients with specific low back pain (sLBP) after measuring the muscular activity with surface electromyography (sEMG). It also remains unclear whether these alterations in LES activity can be related to the functional level of patients with sLBP.
Research question
This study investigated the LES activity in patients with sLBP during activities of daily living (ADL) which included dynamic and static movement tasks. Moreover, the alterations in LES activity were correlated with the first seven questions of the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire (ZCQ-SS).
Methods
Thirty patients with specific LBP and twenty healthy subjects were recruited to perform five ADLs including ‘static waist flexion’, ‘sit to stand’,’ 30-seconds standing’, ‘6-minutes walking’ and ‘climbing stairs’. sEMG sensors were mounted on the left and right LES muscles. The integrated EMG (IEMG) was calculated from the preprocessed sEMG data as statistical comparison criteria.
Results
LES activity was significantly higher in patients during ‘sit to stand’,’ 30-seconds standing’ and ‘climbing stairs’ and significantly lower during ‘static waist flexion’ compared to healthy controls. All tasks showed a significant correlation with the ZCQ-SS score except for ‘6-minutes walking’, whereby LES activity and ZCQ-SS score correspondingly increased during ‘sit to stand’ and ‘climbing stairs’ and the LES activity decreased with an increasing ZCQ-SS score during ‘static waist flexion’ and’ 30-seconds standing’.
Significance
There was a high correlation between alterations in LES activity and the level of functionality in LBP patients. However, the LES activity showed an opposite behavior during static and dynamic movement tasks. The methodology presented can be a useful tool for quantifying improvements in functionality after rehabilitation processes.
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via IFTTT
Early clinical evaluation of total hip arthroplasty by three-dimensional gait analysis and muscle strength testing
Publication date: Available online 3 September 2018
Source: Gait & Posture
Author(s): Motosi Gomi, Katsuhiko Maezawa, Masahiko Nozawa, Takahito Yuasa, Munehiko Sugimoto, Akito Hayashi, Saiko Mikawa, Kazuo Kaneko
Abstract
Background
As improvement of gait is an important reason for patients to undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA) and they generally tend to evaluate its success based on postoperative walking ability, objective functional evaluation of postoperative gait is important. However, the patient’s normal gait before osteoarthritis is unknown and the changes that will occur postoperatively are unclear. We investigated the change in gait and hip joint muscle strength after THA by using a portable gait rhythmograph (PGR) and muscle strength measuring device.
Patient and methods
The subjects were 46 women (mean age: 65.9 years) with osteoarthritis of the hip. Gait analysis and muscle strength testing were performed before THA, as well as 3 weeks and 3 months after surgery. We measured the walking speed, step length, and gait trajectory using PGR prospectively. PGR is attached to the patient’s waist and records signals at a sampling rate of 100 Hz. Isometric torque of hip flexion and abduction were measured by using a hand-held dynamometer.
Results
There was no improvement at 3 weeks postoperatively, but the walking speed, stride length and muscle strength were clearly showed improvement at 3 months postoperatively. The walking trajectory was not normal preoperatively, since the trajectory was not symmetrical and did not intersect in the midline or form a figure-8, and abnormality of the trajectory tended to persist postoperative 3 months despite resolution of hip joint pain after surgery.
Conclusion
Since postoperative improvement of gait is an important consideration for patients undergoing THA, it seems relevant to evaluate changes in the gait after surgery and three-dimensional analysis with a PGR may be useful for this purpose.
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Synergistic transcriptional changes in AMPA and GABAA receptor genes support compensatory plasticity following unilateral hearing loss.
Synergistic transcriptional changes in AMPA and GABAA receptor genes support compensatory plasticity following unilateral hearing loss.
Neuroscience. 2018 Aug 31;:
Authors: Balaram P, Hackett TA, Polley DB
Abstract
Debilitating perceptual disorders including tinnitus, hyperacusis, phantom limb pain and visual release hallucinations may reflect aberrant patterns of neural activity in central sensory pathways following a loss of peripheral sensory input. Here, we explore short- and long-term changes in gene expression that may contribute to hyperexcitability following a sudden, profound loss of auditory input to one ear. We used fluorescence in situ hybridization to quantify mRNA levels for genes encoding AMPA and GABAA receptor subunits (Gria2 and Gabra1, respectively) in single neurons from the inferior colliculus (IC) and auditory cortex (ACtx). Thirty days after unilateral hearing loss, Gria2 levels were significantly increased while Gabra1 levels were significantly decreased. Transcriptional rebalancing was more pronounced in ACtx than IC and bore no obvious relationship to the degree of hearing loss. By contrast to the opposing, synergistic shifts in Gria2 and Gabra1 observed 30 days after hearing loss, we found that transcription levels for both genes were equivalently reduced after 5 days of hearing loss, producing no net change in the excitatory/inhibitory transcriptional balance. Opposing transcriptional shifts in AMPA and GABA receptor genes that emerge several weeks after a peripheral insult could promote both sensitization and disinhibition to support a homeostatic recovery of neural activity following auditory deprivation. Imprecise transcriptional changes could also drive the system towards perceptual hypersensitivity, degraded temporal processing and the irrepressible perception of non-existent environmental stimuli, a trio of perceptual impairments that often accompany chronic sensory deprivation.
PMID: 30176318 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Synergistic transcriptional changes in AMPA and GABAA receptor genes support compensatory plasticity following unilateral hearing loss.
Synergistic transcriptional changes in AMPA and GABAA receptor genes support compensatory plasticity following unilateral hearing loss.
Neuroscience. 2018 Aug 31;:
Authors: Balaram P, Hackett TA, Polley DB
Abstract
Debilitating perceptual disorders including tinnitus, hyperacusis, phantom limb pain and visual release hallucinations may reflect aberrant patterns of neural activity in central sensory pathways following a loss of peripheral sensory input. Here, we explore short- and long-term changes in gene expression that may contribute to hyperexcitability following a sudden, profound loss of auditory input to one ear. We used fluorescence in situ hybridization to quantify mRNA levels for genes encoding AMPA and GABAA receptor subunits (Gria2 and Gabra1, respectively) in single neurons from the inferior colliculus (IC) and auditory cortex (ACtx). Thirty days after unilateral hearing loss, Gria2 levels were significantly increased while Gabra1 levels were significantly decreased. Transcriptional rebalancing was more pronounced in ACtx than IC and bore no obvious relationship to the degree of hearing loss. By contrast to the opposing, synergistic shifts in Gria2 and Gabra1 observed 30 days after hearing loss, we found that transcription levels for both genes were equivalently reduced after 5 days of hearing loss, producing no net change in the excitatory/inhibitory transcriptional balance. Opposing transcriptional shifts in AMPA and GABA receptor genes that emerge several weeks after a peripheral insult could promote both sensitization and disinhibition to support a homeostatic recovery of neural activity following auditory deprivation. Imprecise transcriptional changes could also drive the system towards perceptual hypersensitivity, degraded temporal processing and the irrepressible perception of non-existent environmental stimuli, a trio of perceptual impairments that often accompany chronic sensory deprivation.
PMID: 30176318 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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