Audiology by Alexandros G. Sfakianakis: 11/02/16

Τετάρτη 2 Νοεμβρίου 2016

Acoustic Analysis and Electroglottography in Elite Vocal Performers

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Rocio Villafuerte-Gonzalez, Victor M. Valadez-Jimenez, Jose A. Sierra-Ramirez, Pablo Antonio Ysunza, Karen Chavarria-Villafuerte, Xochiquetzal Hernandez-Lopez
BackgroundAcoustic analysis of voice (AAV) and electroglottography (EGG) have been used for assessing vocal quality in patients with voice disorders. The effectiveness of these procedures for detecting mild disturbances in vocal quality in elite vocal performers has been controversial.ObjectiveTo compare acoustic parameters obtained by AAV and EGG before and after vocal training to determine the effectiveness of these procedures for detecting vocal improvements in elite vocal performers.Materials and MethodsThirty-three elite vocal performers were studied. The study group included 14 males and 19 females, ages 18–40 years, without a history of voice disorders. Acoustic parameters were obtained through AAV and EGG before and after vocal training using the Linklater method.ResultsNonsignificant differences (P > 0.05) were found between values of fundamental frequency (F0), shimmer, and jitter obtained by both procedures before vocal training. Mean F0 was similar after vocal training. Jitter percentage as measured by AAV showed nonsignificant differences (P > 0.05) before and after vocal training. Shimmer percentage as measured by AAV demonstrated a significant reduction (P < 0.05) after vocal training. As measured by EGG after vocal training, shimmer and jitter were significantly reduced (P < 0.05); open quotient was significantly increased (P < 0.05); and irregularity was significantly reduced (P < 0.05).ConclusionsAAV and EGG were effective for detecting improvements in vocal function after vocal training in male and female elite vocal performers undergoing vocal training. EGG demonstrated better efficacy for detecting improvements and provided additional parameters as compared to AAV.

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Formant Tuning and Feedback in the Male Passaggio

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Wim G.J. Ritzerfeld, Donald G. Miller
It has been suggested that traversing the male (secondo) passaggio requires two important adjustments. When singing up the scale, first of all, the second harmonic (H2) needs to pass over the first formant (F1). After that, the timbre of the voice takes on a different, slightly “darker” quality. This is the pitch where, in singers' jargon, the voice reaches secondo passaggio. Above secondo passaggio, in the optimal arrangement, the second formant (F2) is tuned close to one of the higher harmonics, or, sometimes alternatively, the singer's formant cluster induces a dominant resonance in the approximate range of 2.4–3.4 kHz. These two adjustments together produce the typical sound of the classical male upper voice. In this study, we have investigated the choices individual singers make while negotiating the passaggio and the effect of feedback from the vocal tract to the voice source during this maneuver. Electroglottograph (EGG) and microphone signals were recorded of nine male singers (five tenors and four baritones) using VoceVista. Inverse filtering was performed on the microphone signals, using the Sopran/DeCap application, to reveal the shape of the glottal airflow pulses.

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Correlations Between Serum Apolipoprotein A-I and Formation of Vocal Cord Polyp

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Hui-Ping Zhang, Rong Zhang
ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the correlations between serum apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) and the formation of vocal cord polyps (VCPs).Study DesignThis study used the nonmatched case–control study method.MethodsThe serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ApoA-I, apolipoprotein B (ApoB), and ApoA-I/ApoB levels of 89 VCP patients and 87 normal volunteers were compared. Additionally, such VCP-related factors as excessive vocal use, vocal abuse, smoking, drinking, and the size of VCPs were analyzed.ResultsThe two groups did not significantly differ with regard to triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ApoB, and ApoA-I/ApoB levels (P > 0.05), whereas they did significantly differ with regard to TC, HDL-C, and ApoA-I levels (P < 0.05) according to independent t tests. Logistic regression analysis showed that excessive vocal use and vocal abuse were risk factors for VCPs (P < 0.05), with odds ratio values of 5.675 and 12.781, respectively. The ApoA-I level was negatively associated with VCPs (P < 0.05), with an odds ratio of 0.511; however, TC and HDL-C were not associated with the formation of VCPs (P > 0.05). The size of VCPs in females was negatively correlated with the serum ApoA-I level (r = −0.349, P = 0.032), whereas that in males was not (P > 0.05).ConclusionsAs the serum ApoA-I level was negatively correlated with the formation of VCPs, ApoA-I may reduce the risk of VCPs. These findings may facilitate the prevention and treatment of VCPs.

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Evaluation of Vocal Fold Motion Abnormalities: Are We All Seeing the Same Thing?

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Lyndsay L. Madden, Clark A. Rosen
ObjectivesFlexible laryngoscopy is the principle tool for the evaluation of vocal fold motion. As of yet, no consistent, unified outcome metric has been developed for vocal fold paralysis/immobility research. The goal of this study was to evaluate vocal fold motion assessment (inter- and intra-rater reliability) among general otolaryngologists and fellowship-trained laryngologists.Study DesignProspective video perceptual analysis study.MethodsFlexible laryngoscopic examinations, with sound, of 15 unique patient cases (20 seconds each) were sent to 10 general otolaryngologists and 10 fellowship-trained laryngologists blinded to clinical history. Reviewers were given written definitions of vocal fold mobility and immobility and two video examples. The cases included bilateral vocal fold mobility (six), unilateral vocal fold immobility (five), and unilateral vocal fold hypomobility (four). Five examinations were repeated to determine intra-rater reliability. Participants were asked to judge if there was or there was no purposeful motion, as described by written definitions, for each vocal fold (800 tokens in total).ResultsTwenty reviewers (100%) replied. Both general otolaryngologists and fellowship-trained laryngologists had an overall inter-rater reliability of 95%. Difference in inter-rater reliability between the two groups of raters was negligible: 95% for general otolaryngologists and 97.5% for fellowship-trained laryngologists. There was no variability in intra-rater reliability within either rater group (99%).ConclusionIntra- and inter-rater agreement in determining whether the patient had purposeful vocal fold motion on flexible laryngoscopic examination was excellent in both groups. This study demonstrates that otolaryngologists can consistently and accurately judge the presence and the absence of vocal fold motion.

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Real-Time Visual Feedback of Airflow in Voice Training: Aerodynamic Properties of Two Flow Ball Devices

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Journal of Voice
Author(s): Filipa M.B. Lã, Greta Wistbacka, Pedro Amarante Andrade, Svante Granqvist
ObjectivesFlow ball devices have been used as teaching tools to provide visual real-time feedback of airflow during singing. This study aims at exploring static back pressure and ball height as function of flow for two devices, marketed as flow ball and floating ball game.Study DesignThis is a comparative descriptive study.MethodsA flow-driven vocal tract simulator was used to investigate the aerodynamic properties of these two devices, testing them for four different ball sizes. The flow range investigated was between 0 and 0.5 L/s. Audio, flow, pressure, and ball height were recorded.ResultsThe flow pressure profiles for both tested devices were similar to those observed in previous studies on narrow tubes. For lifting the ball, both devices had a flow and a pressure threshold. The tested floating ball game required considerably higher back pressure for a given flow as compared with the flow ball.ConclusionsBoth tested devices have similar effects on back pressure as straws of 3.7 and 3.0 mm in diameter for the flow ball and the floating ball game, respectively. One might argue that both devices could be used as tools for practicing semi-occluded vocal tract exercises, with the additional benefit of providing real-time visual feedback of airflow during phonation. The flow threshold, combined with the flow feedback, would increase awareness of flow, rather than of pressure, during exercises using a flow ball device.

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Sensory coding and cognitive processing of sound in Veterans with blast exposure

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Scott Bressler, Hannah Goldberg, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
Recent anecdotal reports from VA audiology clinics as well as a few published studies have identified a sub-population of Service Members seeking treatment for problems communicating in everyday, noisy listening environments despite having normal to near-normal hearing thresholds. Because of their increased risk of exposure to dangerous levels of prolonged noise and transient explosive blast events, communication problems in these soldiers could be due to either hearing loss (traditional or “hidden”) in the auditory sensory periphery or from blast-induced injury to cortical networks associated with attention. We found that out of the 14 blast-exposed Service Members recruited for this study, 12 had hearing thresholds in the normal to near-normal range. A majority of these participants reported having problems specifically related to failures with selective attention. Envelope following responses (EFRs) measuring neural coding fidelity of the auditory brainstem to suprathreshold sounds were similar between blast-exposed and non-blast controls. Blast-exposed subjects performed substantially worse than non-blast controls in an auditory selective attention task in which listeners classified the melodic contour (rising, falling, or “zig-zagging”) of one of three simultaneous, competing tone sequences. Salient pitch and spatial differences made for easy segregation of the three concurrent melodies. Poor performance in the blast-exposed subjects was associated with weaker evoked response potentials (ERPs) in frontal EEG channels, as well as a failure of attention to enhance the neural responses evoked by a sequence when it was the target compared to when it was a distractor. These results suggest that communication problems in these listeners cannot be explained by compromised sensory representations in the auditory periphery, but rather point to lingering blast-induced damage to cortical networks implicated in the control of attention. Because all study participants also suffered from post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), follow-up studies are required to tease apart the contributions of PTSD and blast-induced injury on cognitive performance.

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Informational masking and the effects of differences in fundamental frequency and fundamental-frequency contour on phonetic integration in a formant ensemble

Publication date: Available online 1 November 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Robert J. Summers, Peter J. Bailey, Brian Roberts
This study explored the effects on speech intelligibility of across-formant differences in fundamental frequency (ΔF0) and F0 contour. Sentence-length speech analogues were presented dichotically (left=F1+F3; right=F2), either alone or—because competition usually reveals grouping cues most clearly—accompanied in the left ear by a competitor for F2 (F2C) that listeners must reject to optimize recognition. F2C was created by inverting the F2 frequency contour. In experiment 1, all left-ear formants shared the same constant F0 and ΔF0F2 was 0 or ±4 semitones. In experiment 2, all left-ear formants shared the natural F0 contour and that for F2 was natural, constant, exaggerated, or inverted. Adding F2C lowered keyword scores, presumably because of informational masking. The results for experiment 1 were complicated by effects associated with the direction of ΔF0F2; this problem was avoided in experiment 2 because all four F0 contours had the same geometric mean frequency. When the target formants were presented alone, scores were relatively high and did not depend on the F0F2 contour. F2C impact was greater when F2 had a different F0 contour from the other formants. This effect was a direct consequence of the associated ΔF0; the F0F2 contour per se did not influence competitor impact.

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Sensory coding and cognitive processing of sound in Veterans with blast exposure

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Scott Bressler, Hannah Goldberg, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
Recent anecdotal reports from VA audiology clinics as well as a few published studies have identified a sub-population of Service Members seeking treatment for problems communicating in everyday, noisy listening environments despite having normal to near-normal hearing thresholds. Because of their increased risk of exposure to dangerous levels of prolonged noise and transient explosive blast events, communication problems in these soldiers could be due to either hearing loss (traditional or “hidden”) in the auditory sensory periphery or from blast-induced injury to cortical networks associated with attention. We found that out of the 14 blast-exposed Service Members recruited for this study, 12 had hearing thresholds in the normal to near-normal range. A majority of these participants reported having problems specifically related to failures with selective attention. Envelope following responses (EFRs) measuring neural coding fidelity of the auditory brainstem to suprathreshold sounds were similar between blast-exposed and non-blast controls. Blast-exposed subjects performed substantially worse than non-blast controls in an auditory selective attention task in which listeners classified the melodic contour (rising, falling, or “zig-zagging”) of one of three simultaneous, competing tone sequences. Salient pitch and spatial differences made for easy segregation of the three concurrent melodies. Poor performance in the blast-exposed subjects was associated with weaker evoked response potentials (ERPs) in frontal EEG channels, as well as a failure of attention to enhance the neural responses evoked by a sequence when it was the target compared to when it was a distractor. These results suggest that communication problems in these listeners cannot be explained by compromised sensory representations in the auditory periphery, but rather point to lingering blast-induced damage to cortical networks implicated in the control of attention. Because all study participants also suffered from post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), follow-up studies are required to tease apart the contributions of PTSD and blast-induced injury on cognitive performance.

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Informational masking and the effects of differences in fundamental frequency and fundamental-frequency contour on phonetic integration in a formant ensemble

Publication date: Available online 1 November 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Robert J. Summers, Peter J. Bailey, Brian Roberts
This study explored the effects on speech intelligibility of across-formant differences in fundamental frequency (ΔF0) and F0 contour. Sentence-length speech analogues were presented dichotically (left=F1+F3; right=F2), either alone or—because competition usually reveals grouping cues most clearly—accompanied in the left ear by a competitor for F2 (F2C) that listeners must reject to optimize recognition. F2C was created by inverting the F2 frequency contour. In experiment 1, all left-ear formants shared the same constant F0 and ΔF0F2 was 0 or ±4 semitones. In experiment 2, all left-ear formants shared the natural F0 contour and that for F2 was natural, constant, exaggerated, or inverted. Adding F2C lowered keyword scores, presumably because of informational masking. The results for experiment 1 were complicated by effects associated with the direction of ΔF0F2; this problem was avoided in experiment 2 because all four F0 contours had the same geometric mean frequency. When the target formants were presented alone, scores were relatively high and did not depend on the F0F2 contour. F2C impact was greater when F2 had a different F0 contour from the other formants. This effect was a direct consequence of the associated ΔF0; the F0F2 contour per se did not influence competitor impact.

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Sensory coding and cognitive processing of sound in Veterans with blast exposure

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Scott Bressler, Hannah Goldberg, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham
Recent anecdotal reports from VA audiology clinics as well as a few published studies have identified a sub-population of Service Members seeking treatment for problems communicating in everyday, noisy listening environments despite having normal to near-normal hearing thresholds. Because of their increased risk of exposure to dangerous levels of prolonged noise and transient explosive blast events, communication problems in these soldiers could be due to either hearing loss (traditional or “hidden”) in the auditory sensory periphery or from blast-induced injury to cortical networks associated with attention. We found that out of the 14 blast-exposed Service Members recruited for this study, 12 had hearing thresholds in the normal to near-normal range. A majority of these participants reported having problems specifically related to failures with selective attention. Envelope following responses (EFRs) measuring neural coding fidelity of the auditory brainstem to suprathreshold sounds were similar between blast-exposed and non-blast controls. Blast-exposed subjects performed substantially worse than non-blast controls in an auditory selective attention task in which listeners classified the melodic contour (rising, falling, or “zig-zagging”) of one of three simultaneous, competing tone sequences. Salient pitch and spatial differences made for easy segregation of the three concurrent melodies. Poor performance in the blast-exposed subjects was associated with weaker evoked response potentials (ERPs) in frontal EEG channels, as well as a failure of attention to enhance the neural responses evoked by a sequence when it was the target compared to when it was a distractor. These results suggest that communication problems in these listeners cannot be explained by compromised sensory representations in the auditory periphery, but rather point to lingering blast-induced damage to cortical networks implicated in the control of attention. Because all study participants also suffered from post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), follow-up studies are required to tease apart the contributions of PTSD and blast-induced injury on cognitive performance.

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Informational masking and the effects of differences in fundamental frequency and fundamental-frequency contour on phonetic integration in a formant ensemble

Publication date: Available online 1 November 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Robert J. Summers, Peter J. Bailey, Brian Roberts
This study explored the effects on speech intelligibility of across-formant differences in fundamental frequency (ΔF0) and F0 contour. Sentence-length speech analogues were presented dichotically (left=F1+F3; right=F2), either alone or—because competition usually reveals grouping cues most clearly—accompanied in the left ear by a competitor for F2 (F2C) that listeners must reject to optimize recognition. F2C was created by inverting the F2 frequency contour. In experiment 1, all left-ear formants shared the same constant F0 and ΔF0F2 was 0 or ±4 semitones. In experiment 2, all left-ear formants shared the natural F0 contour and that for F2 was natural, constant, exaggerated, or inverted. Adding F2C lowered keyword scores, presumably because of informational masking. The results for experiment 1 were complicated by effects associated with the direction of ΔF0F2; this problem was avoided in experiment 2 because all four F0 contours had the same geometric mean frequency. When the target formants were presented alone, scores were relatively high and did not depend on the F0F2 contour. F2C impact was greater when F2 had a different F0 contour from the other formants. This effect was a direct consequence of the associated ΔF0; the F0F2 contour per se did not influence competitor impact.

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Health-Related Quality of Life in Adult Cochlear Implant Users: A Descriptive Observational Study

Cochlear implantation has a significant impact on patients' social life, performance of activities, and self-esteem. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the health-related quality of life of cochlear implant users aged under and over 60 years by a self-report using the Glasgow Health Status Inventory and the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit. It was observed that quality of life values increased very rapidly straight after implantation regardless of age. Bilateral cochlear implant users showed better results in environments with background noise and in a reverberant room than unilateral cochlear implant users. Quality of life improved independently of hearing performance benefits for patients over 60 years at implantation.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):36-42

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Editorial

Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):1-2

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The Epidemiology of Cognitive Impairment in the Aging Population: Implications for Hearing Loss

Cognitive impairment and dementia are characterized by a progressive and devastating reduction in most cognitive abilities, functional independence, and social relationships. Dementia represents a substantial financial burden on society, one that is comparable to the financial burden of heart disease and cancer. Due to its insidious onset, cognitive impairment can be clinically silent for several years; therefore, diagnosis occurs late in the disease process, and treatment becomes almost useless. The identification of predictors of dementia may help identify the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the disease and lead to the development of a more effective medical diagnosis and therapy, and thus an early treatment. Review of the literature suggests that in those individuals with less cognitive impairment (normal/predementia group), hearing loss has an association with language comprehension, and when cognitive impairment increases (moderate or severe dementia group), the contributing effect of hearing loss as a cognitive ability-impairing factor also increases. Greater understanding of the links between hearing impairment and cognition may have important implications for the screening and diagnosis of cognitive decline in older people with hearing impairment.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):3-9

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The Development of Remote Speech Recognition Tests for Adult Cochlear Implant Users: The Effect of Presentation Mode of the Noise and a Reliable Method to Deliver Sound in Home Environments

The number of cochlear implant (CI) users is increasing annually, resulting in an increase in the workload of implant centers in ongoing patient management and evaluation. Remote testing of speech recognition could be time-saving for both the implant centers as well as the patient. This study addresses two methodological challenges we encountered in the development of a remote speech recognition tool for adult CI users. First, we examined whether speech recognition in noise performance differed when the steady-state masking noise was presented throughout the test (i.e. continuous) instead of the standard clinical use for evaluation where the masking noise stops after each stimulus (i.e. discontinuous). A direct coupling between the audio port of a tablet computer to the accessory input of the sound processor with a personal audio cable was used. The setup was calibrated to facilitate presentation of stimuli at a predefined sound level. Finally, differences in frequency response between the audio cable and microphones were investigated.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):48-54

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Contributing Determinants to Hearing Loss in Elderly Men and Women: Results from the Population-Based Rotterdam Study

To contribute to a better understanding of the etiology in age-related hearing loss, we carried out a cross-sectional study of 3,315 participants (aged 52-99 years) in the Rotterdam Study, to analyze both low- and high-frequency hearing loss in men and women. Hearing thresholds with pure-tone audiometry were obtained, and other detailed information on a large number of possible determinants was collected. Hearing loss was associated with age, education, systolic blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, smoking and alcohol consumption (inverse correlation). Remarkably, different associations were found for low- and high-frequency loss, as well as between men and women, suggesting that different mechanisms are involved in the etiology of age-related hearing loss.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):10-15

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Treatment for Hearing Loss among the Elderly: Auditory Outcomes and Impact on Quality of Life

The study aim was to determine the benefit of cochlear implantation and hearing aids in older adults diagnosed with hearing loss and to evaluate the index of depression, anxiety and quality of life after such treatments. A retrospective cohort comprised 117 patients older than 65 years and diagnosed with moderate to profound hearing loss who were included and classified into 2 groups (treated vs. non-treated). A battery of tests including auditory (pure-tone average, disyllabic words in quiet at 65 dB SPL) and findings from a series of questions relevant to quality of life were compared between both groups. Auditory outcomes for disyllabic words were 58.21% for the cochlear implant-treated group and 82.8% for the hearing aid-treated group. There was a positive effect on anxiety, depression, health status and quality of life in the cochlear implant group versus the profound hearing loss control group. We conclude that older adults with moderate to profound hearing loss gain benefit from hearing aids or cochlear implants not only in terms of improved hearing function, but also in terms of positive effects on anxiety, depression, health status and quality of life.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):29-35

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Speech Perception and Information-Carrying Capacity for Hearing Aid Users of Different Ages

Hearing impairment in the elderly is usually treated with conventional hearing aids; however, a large number of older people do not achieve sufficient speech recognition with hearing aids. The aim of the study was to describe speech perception with hearing aids in comparison to pure-tone hearing loss and maximum speech recognition scores for phonemically balanced words. Data from 392 hearing aid users with different degrees of hearing loss were evaluated retrospectively. In particular, pure-tone thresholds, the maximum monosyllabic word score, and the monosyllabic word score in quiet at conversational level with a hearing aid were analysed. The results showed that speech perception scores decline with increasing age. Even when corrected for pure-tone hearing loss, a significant decline in speech recognition scores after the age of 80 years was observed. Regarding the maximum monosyllabic word score, the effect is smaller but still observable; thus, speech recognition with hearing aids is significantly lower for older subjects. This can be attributed partially to the reduction of the information-carrying capacity in this group.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):16-20

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Rapid Positive Influence of Cochlear Implantation on the Quality of Life in Adults 70 Years and Older

The deteriorating ability to communicate has a negative impact on quality of life in the aging population. Cochlear implantation is increasingly used to treat hearing impairment and to restore the ability to communicate. Here, in a sample of 79 adults (70 years and older), we explored the effect of cochlear implantation on the health-related quality of life via the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire, auditory performance for speech recognition comparing scores on the Freiburg Monosyllabic Test and Oldenburg Inventory and tinnitus-related distress using the German version of the Tinnitus Questionnaire. We observed that the health-related quality of life and auditory performance increased significantly after cochlear implantation for the study cohort. After implantation, tinnitus-related distress declined significantly for the group. Our results support the concept of cochlear implantation treatment positively influencing the quality of life, restoring the auditory performance in older adults and reducing stress related to tinnitus. Importantly, positive effects were seen as early as 6 months after cochlear implantation, corroborating the rationale for cochlear implantation in adults 70 years and older.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):43-47

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Aging, Cognitive Decline and Hearing Loss: Effects of Auditory Rehabilitation and Training with Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants on Cognitive Function and Depression among Older Adults

A growing interest in cognitive effects associated with speech and hearing processes is spreading throughout the scientific community essentially guided by evidence that central and peripheral hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline. For the present research, 125 participants older than 65 years of age (105 with hearing impairment and 20 with normal hearing) were enrolled, divided into 6 groups according to their degree of hearing loss and assessed to determine the effects of the treatment applied. Patients in our research program routinely undergo an extensive audiological and cognitive evaluation protocol providing results from the Digit Span test, Stroop color-word test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Geriatric Depression Scale, before and after rehabilitation. Data analysis was performed for a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of the outcomes for the different treatment groups. Each group demonstrated improvement after auditory rehabilitation or training on short- and long-term memory tasks, level of depression and cognitive status scores. Auditory rehabilitation by cochlear implants or hearing aids is effective also among older adults (median age of 74 years) with different degrees of hearing loss, and enables positive improvements in terms of social isolation, depression and cognitive performance.
Audiol Neurotol 2016;21(suppl 1):21-28

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Πληροφορίες

Τετάρτη 2 Νοεμβρίου 2016