scholarly journals Perception and learning of relative pitch by musicians using the vibrotactile mode

2021 ◽  
pp. 102986492110152
Author(s):  
Carl Hopkins ◽  
Saúl Maté-Cid ◽  
Robert Fulford ◽  
Gary Seiffert ◽  
Jane Ginsborg
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Success Rate ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Profound Hearing Loss ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Schools For The Deaf

This study investigated the perception and learning of relative pitch using vibrotactile stimuli by musicians with and without a hearing impairment. Notes from C3 to B4 were presented to the fingertip and forefoot. Pre- and post-training tests in which 420 pairs of notes were presented randomly were carried out without any feedback to participants. After the pre-training test, 16 short training sessions were carried out over six weeks with 72 pairs of notes per session and participants told whether their answers were correct. For amateur and professional musicians with normal hearing and professional musicians with a severe or profound hearing loss, larger pitch intervals were easier to identify correctly than smaller intervals. Musicians with normal hearing had a high success rate for relative pitch discrimination as shown by pre- and post-training tests, and when using the fingertips, there was no significant difference between amateur and professional musicians. After training, median scores on the tests in which stimuli were presented to the fingertip and forefoot were >70% for intervals of 3–12 semitones. Training sessions reduced the variability in the responses of amateur and professional musicians with normal hearing and improved their overall ability. There was no significant difference between the relative pitch discrimination abilities between one and 11 semitones, as shown by the pre-training test, of professional musicians with and without a severe/profound hearing loss. These findings indicate that there is potential for vibration to be used to facilitate group musical performance and music education in schools for the deaf.

An Evaluation of the Relationship between Retinal Nerve Fiber Thickness, Cochlear Nerve Thickness, the Level of Tinnitus, and Hearing Loss in Unilateral Tinnitus Patients

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Mustafa Avcu ◽  
Mehmet Metin ◽  
Raşit Kılıç ◽  
Muhammed Alpaslan
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Nerve Fiber ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Cochlear Nerve ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fiber Thickness ◽  
Moderate Hearing Loss ◽  
Group 1 ◽  
Retinal Nerve Fiber

Background: In this study, optic coherence tomography (OCT) examination was performed to check whether there was any interaction between ophthalmic axonal structures in unilateral tinnitus patients, and the relationship between optic nerve thickness and cochlear nerve thickness was evaluated. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the relatioship between hearing loss, tinnitus, and nerve thicknesses. Study Design: Prospective study. Setting: Tertiary referral university hospital. Patients: The study included 88 patients with unilateral tinnitus, for which no organic cause could be found in physical examination, psychiatric evaluation, or with imaging methods. Study groups were formed of the tinnitus side and control groups were formed of the healthy side as follows: Group 1 (Non-tinnitus side normal hearing values – n = 30), Group 2 (non-tinnitus side minimal hearing loss – n = 27), Group 3 (non-tinnitus side moderate hearing loss – n = 31), Group 4 (tinnitus side normal hearing values – n = 25), Group 5 (tinnitus side minimal hearing loss – n = 25), and Group 6 (tinnitus side moderate hearing loss – n = 38). Intervention: Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness was evaluated with OCT, and the cochlear nerve cross-sectional area was evaluated with MRI. Main Outcome Measures: RNFL measurements were taken with OCT from the subfoveal area (RNFL-SF) and 1.5 mm temporal to the fovea (RNFL-T µm) and nasal (RNFL-N µm) sectors. On MRI, 3 measurements were taken along the nerve from the cerebellopontine angle as far as the internal auditory canal, and the mean value of these 3 measurements was calculated. Results: When the groups were evaluated in respect of cochlear nerve thickness, a significant difference was seen between Group 1 and both the groups with hearing loss and the tinnitus groups. In the subgroup analysis, a statistically significant difference was determined between Group 1 and Groups 3, 4, 5, and 6 (p = 0.013, p = 0.003, p < 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively). When the groups were evaluated in respect of the RNFL-SF (µm), RNFL-T (µm), and RNFL-N (µm) values, the differences were determined to be statistically significant (p < 0.001 for all). In the correlation analysis, a negative correlation was determined between hearing loss and cochlear nerve diameter (r: −0.184, p = 0.014), and RNFL-N (r: −0.272, p < 0.001) and between tinnitus and cochlear nerve diameter (r: −0.536, p < 0.001), and RNFL-T (r: −0.222, p < 0.009). Conclusion: The study results clearly showed a relationship between cochlear nerve fiber thickness and hearing loss and the severity of tinnitus in cases with unilateral tinnitus and that there could be neurodegenerative factors in the disease etiology. A similar relationship seen with the RNFL supports the study hypothesis.

scholarly journals Perception of Auditory Distance in Normal-Hearing and Moderate-to-Profound Hearing-Impaired Listeners

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 233121651988761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Courtois ◽  
Vincent Grimaldi ◽  
Hervé Lissek ◽  
Philippe Estoppey ◽  
Eleftheria Georganti
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Linear Amplification ◽  
Profound Hearing Loss ◽  
Wireless Microphone ◽  
Auditory Distance ◽  
Non Linear

The auditory system allows the estimation of the distance to sound-emitting objects using multiple spatial cues. In virtual acoustics over headphones, a prerequisite to render auditory distance impression is sound externalization, which denotes the perception of synthesized stimuli outside of the head. Prior studies have found that listeners with mild-to-moderate hearing loss are able to perceive auditory distance and are sensitive to externalization. However, this ability may be degraded by certain factors, such as non-linear amplification in hearing aids or the use of a remote wireless microphone. In this study, 10 normal-hearing and 20 moderate-to-profound hearing-impaired listeners were instructed to estimate the distance of stimuli processed with different methods yielding various perceived auditory distances in the vicinity of the listeners. Two different configurations of non-linear amplification were implemented, and a novel feature aiming to restore a sense of distance in wireless microphone systems was tested. The results showed that the hearing-impaired listeners, even those with a profound hearing loss, were able to discriminate nearby and far sounds that were equalized in level. Their perception of auditory distance was however more contracted than in normal-hearing listeners. Non-linear amplification was found to distort the original spatial cues, but no adverse effect on the ratings of auditory distance was evident. Finally, it was shown that the novel feature was successful in allowing the hearing-impaired participants to perceive externalized sounds with wireless microphone systems.

The Effect of Conventional and Transparent Surgical Masks on Speech Understanding in Individuals with and without Hearing Loss

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (01) ◽  
pp. 058-067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel R. Atcherson ◽  
Lisa Lucks Mendel ◽  
Wesley J. Baltimore ◽  
Chhayakanta Patro ◽  
Sungmin Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Visual Input ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Profound Hearing Loss ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Surgical Masks ◽  
Significant Difference

AbstractIt is generally well known that speech perception is often improved with integrated audiovisual input whether in quiet or in noise. In many health-care environments, however, conventional surgical masks block visual access to the mouth and obscure other potential facial cues. In addition, these environments can be noisy. Although these masks may not alter the acoustic properties, the presence of noise in addition to the lack of visual input can have a deleterious effect on speech understanding. A transparent (“see-through”) surgical mask may help to overcome this issue.To compare the effect of noise and various visual input conditions on speech understanding for listeners with normal hearing (NH) and hearing impairment using different surgical masks.Participants were assigned to one of three groups based on hearing sensitivity in this quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study.A total of 31 adults participated in this study: one talker, ten listeners with NH, ten listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss, and ten listeners with severe-to-profound hearing loss.Selected lists from the Connected Speech Test were digitally recorded with and without surgical masks and then presented to the listeners at 65 dB HL in five conditions against a background of four-talker babble (+10 dB SNR): without a mask (auditory only), without a mask (auditory and visual), with a transparent mask (auditory only), with a transparent mask (auditory and visual), and with a paper mask (auditory only).A significant difference was found in the spectral analyses of the speech stimuli with and without the masks; however, no more than ∼2 dB root mean square. Listeners with NH performed consistently well across all conditions. Both groups of listeners with hearing impairment benefitted from visual input from the transparent mask. The magnitude of improvement in speech perception in noise was greatest for the severe-to-profound group.Findings confirm improved speech perception performance in noise for listeners with hearing impairment when visual input is provided using a transparent surgical mask. Most importantly, the use of the transparent mask did not negatively affect speech perception performance in noise.

Skull Base Factors in Relation to Hearing Impairment in Cleft Palate Children

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Carrie ◽  
A. Sprigg ◽  
A.J. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Outpatient Clinics ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Otologic Surgery ◽  
Soft Tissue Neck ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Primary Groups

Objective This investigation was performed to determine if an easily measurable, reproducible, bony parameter could be identified that might predict hearing loss in cleft palate children. Subjects In this prospective study performed at the Sheffield Children's Hospital (U.K.), 34 children with successfully repaired cleft palate who responded to a postal request for volunteers were assessed clinically, audiologically, and by lateral soft tissue neck radiography. Six children were excluded because of previous otologic surgery or poor quality radiographs. Twenty-six children who had the same series of investigations were randomly selected from routine otolaryngological outpatient clinics and acted as controls. Methods The sphenopalatine angle (SPA), which relates the facial and cranial components of the skull, was measured on each child's radiograph. Results The median SPA in the cleft palate group was significantly greater than in the control group (p = 0.01). In those cleft palate children with a hearing loss the sphenopalatine angle was smaller than in their normal hearing counterparts (p = 0.01). No significant difference was found in the SPA between the hearing loss and normal hearing controls. There was no significant difference in age ranges between the hearing and hearing loss subgroups in each of the two primary groups. Conclusions In this study, those cleft palate children with a smaller SPA have a greater incidence of hearing loss.

scholarly journals The use of speech sentence audiometry in a free sound field

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-39
Author(s):  
Mariya Yu. Boboshko ◽  
Irina P. Berdnikova ◽  
Natalya V. Maltzeva
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Sound Field ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Hearing Aid Benefit

Objectives -to determine the normative data of sentence speech intelligibility in a free sound field and to estimate the applicability of the Russian Matrix Sentence test (RuMatrix) for assessment of the hearing aid fitting benefit. Material and methods. 10 people with normal hearing and 28 users of hearing aids with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss were involved in the study. RuMatrix test both in quiet and in noise was performed in a free sound field. All patients filled in the COSI questionnaire. Results. The hearing impaired patients were divided into two subgroups: the 1st with high and the 2nd with low hearing aid benefit, according to the COSI questionnaire. In the 1st subgroup, the threshold for the sentence intelligibility in quiet was 34.9 ± 6.4 dB SPL, and in noise -3.3 ± 1.4 dB SNR, in the 2nd subgroup 41.7 ± 11.5 dB SPL and 0.15 ± 3.45 dB SNR, respectively. The significant difference between the data of both subgroups and the norm was registered (p

scholarly journals Quality of Life in Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

2019 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evette A. Ronner ◽  
Liliya Benchetrit ◽  
Patricia Levesque ◽  
Razan A. Basonbul ◽  
Michael S. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Pedsql 4.0 ◽  
Hearing Device ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal

Objective To assess quality of life (QOL) in pediatric patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) and the Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life 26 (HEAR-QL-26) and HEAR-QL-28 surveys. Study Design Prospective longitudinal study. Setting Tertiary care center. Subjects and Methods Surveys were administered to patients with SNHL (ages 2-18 years) from July 2016 to December 2018 at a multidisciplinary hearing loss clinic. Patients aged >7 years completed the HEAR-QL-26, HEAR-QL-28, and PedsQL 4.0 self-report tool, while parents completed the PedsQL 4.0 parent proxy report for children aged ≤7 years. Previously published data from children with normal hearing were used for controls. The independent t test was used for analysis. Results In our cohort of 100 patients, the mean age was 7.7 years (SD, 4.5): 62 participants had bilateral SNHL; 63 had mild to moderate SNHL; and 37 had severe to profound SNHL. Sixty-eight patients used a hearing device. Mean (SD) total survey scores for the PedsQL 4.0 (ages 2-7 and 8-18 years), HEAR-QL-26 (ages 7-12 years), and HEAR-QL-28 (ages 13-18 years) were 83.9 (14.0), 79.2 (11.1), 81.2 (9.8), and 77.5 (11.3), respectively. Mean QOL scores for patients with SNHL were significantly lower than those for controls on the basis of previously published normative data ( P < .0001). There was no significant difference in QOL between children with unilateral and bilateral SNHL or between children with SNHL who did and did not require a hearing device. Low statistical power due to small subgroup sizes limited our analysis. Conclusion It is feasible to collect QOL data from children with SNHL in a hearing loss clinic. Children with SNHL had significantly lower scores on validated QOL instruments when compared with peers with normal hearing.

Evaluation of Hearing and Balance Functions of Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif Tugba Sarac ◽  
Bilgehan Boke ◽  
Semsettin Okuyucu
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Sickle Cell Anemia ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Mixed Type ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Spontaneous Nystagmus ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Hearing Thresholds ◽  
Significant Difference

Introduction: Sickle cell anemia is a disease characterized by a wide vaso-occlusive incident from micro-vascular incident to muscularactivity. The cochlear function can also get affected by this vaso-occlusion. Objective: It is aimed at determining what kind of effects sickle cell anemia has on hearing and balance system. Methods: This study has been conducted on 46 patients with sickle cell anemia and 45 healthy individuals. For all participants, their pure tone hearing thresholds and videonystagmography (VNG) findings have been determined in 17 frequencies between 125–16.000 Hz. Results: All hearing thresholds between 125 and 16,000 Hz, pure tone averages of patients with sickle cell anemia have been found statistically significant to be higher than the corresponding values in the control group(p < 0.05). The normal hearing rate of patients with sickle cell anemia has been determined to be 71.1% conductive hearing loss (CHL) to be 4.4%, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) to be 22.2%, and mixed type hearing loss to be 2.2% in right ear; the normal hearing rate has been determined to be 71.1%, CHL to be 2.2%, SNHL to be 22.2%, and mixed type hearing loss to be 4.4% in left ear. Statistically significant difference has not been found between head shake, spontaneous nystagmus, optokinetic, tracking test batteries, static and dynamic positional tests used in VNG, saccade accuracy and saccade peak velocity, which are saccadic test findings of 2 groups. However, saccadic latency, which is a saccadic test finding, has been determined to be longer in patients with sickle cell anemia in comparison to the control group. Conclusion: While sickle cell anemia causes hearing deficits, it does not have any effect on the central or peripheral vestibular system.

Speech Understanding Using Surgical Masks: A Problem in Health Care?

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (09) ◽  
pp. 686-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Lucks Mendel ◽  
Julie A. Gardino ◽  
Samuel R. Atcherson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Perception ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Speech Stimuli ◽  
Dental Office ◽  
Significant Difference

Background: Successful communication is necessary in health-care environments. Yet the presence of noise in hospitals, operating rooms, and dental offices may have a deleterious effect on health-care personnel and patients understanding messages accurately. The presence of a surgical mask and hearing loss may further affect speech perception. Purpose: To evaluate whether a surgical mask had an effect on speech understanding for listeners with normal hearing and hearing impairment when speech stimuli were administered in the presence or absence of dental office noise. Research Design: Participants were assigned to one of two groups based on hearing sensitivity in this quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study. Study Sample: A total of 31 adults participated in this study (1 talker, 15 listeners with normal hearing, and 15 with hearing impairment). The normal hearing group had thresholds of 25 dB HL or better at the octave frequencies from 250 through 8000 Hz while the hearing loss group had varying degrees and configurations of hearing loss with thresholds equal to or poorer than 25 dB HL for the same octave frequencies. Data Collection And Analysis: Selected lists from the Connected Speech Test (CST) were digitally recorded with and without a surgical mask present and then presented to the listeners in four conditions: without a mask in quiet, without a mask in noise, with a mask in quiet, and with a mask in noise. Results: A significant difference was found in the spectral analyses of the speech stimuli with and without the mask. The presence of a surgical mask, however, did not have a detrimental effect on speech understanding in either the normal-hearing or hearing-impaired groups. The dental office noise did have a significant effect on speech understanding for both groups. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the presence of a surgical mask did not negatively affect speech understanding. However, the presence of noise did have a deleterious effect on speech perception and warrants further attention in health-care environments.

Auditory Sequential Organization Among Children With and Without a Hearing Loss

1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Jutras ◽  
Jean-Pierre Gagné
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Verbal Stimuli ◽  
Acoustic Stimuli ◽  
Sequential Organization ◽  
Significant Difference

The present investigation examined the ability of children with and without a hearing loss to correctly reproduce sequences of acoustic stimuli that varied in number, temporal spacing, and type. Forty-eight children took part in the investigation. They were divided into four groups: two groups of 6- and 7-year-old children, 12 with normal hearing and 12 with a sensorineural hearing loss; and two groups of 9- and 10-year-old children, 12 with normal hearing and 12 with a sensorineural hearing loss. All of the children completed auditory temporal sequencing tasks with verbal (/ba/ and /da/) and nonverbal (a 1-kHz pure tone and a wide band noise) acoustic stimuli. For the 6- and 7-year-old children, the results revealed a significant difference between the children with a hearing loss and their peers with normal hearing for immediate recall of verbal sequences. There were no significant differences in performance between the children with a hearing loss and their peers with normal hearing on the nonverbal sequencing tasks or on the nonverbal and verbal memory span tasks. For the 9- and 10-year-old children, the results did not show any significant differences in performance between the two groups of children for the reproduction of sequences containing more than two verbal or nonverbal elements nor for the auditory memory span task when the sequences consisted of verbal stimuli. For the recall of two verbal stimuli with a variable interstimulus interval (ISI) duration, the results showed that the children with a hearing loss experienced more difficulty than the children with normal hearing. Overall, the results indicated that on the auditory sequential organization tasks, the poorer performance of the children with a hearing loss is likely attributable to auditory perceptual processing deficits rather than to poorer short-term memory capabilities. Also, an analysis of the data revealed that the older children obtained significantly better results than the younger children on auditory sequential organization tasks.

scholarly journals Production of Greek vowels by hearing-impaired children

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Nirgianaki ◽  
Maria Bitzanaki
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
High Dimension ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Impaired Group ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

The present study investigates the acoustic characteristics of Greek vowels produced by hearing-impaired children with profound prelingual hearing loss and cochlear implants. The results revealed a significant difference between vowels produced by hearingimpaired children and those produced by normal-hearing ones in terms of duration. Stressed vowels were significantly longer than non-stressed for both groups, while F0, F1 and F2 did not differ significantly between the two groups for any vowel, with the exception of /a/, which had significantly higher F1 when produced by hearingimpaired children. Acoustic vowel spaces were similar for the two groups but shifted towards higher frequencies in the low-high dimension and somehow reduced in the front-back dimension for the hearing-impaired group.

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