Hearing loss | Top 14 novel treatment findings

Cochlear implants improve deaf adults' lives

The study found elevated treatment success rates, with around 70% of participants maintaining or improving their occupations post-implantation, and a significant positive association between treatment success and labor market inclusion.

Study published: 2023-04-17

Cochlear implants improve gap detection in adults with postlingual deafness.

The study found that electrophysiological measures of the eACC could be used to assess gap detection thresholds in CI users who may not provide reliable behavioral responses. It also indicated that the differences in adaptation recovery of the auditory nerve do not primarily account for variations in gap detection thresholds among individual CI users.

Study published: 2022-10-21

Focal transcranial direct current stimulation reduces tinnitus symptoms in chronic tinnitus patients

Participants experienced reduced tinnitus loudness and intrusiveness after the treatment. Acute increases in cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity in the auditory cortex were noted, suggesting a positive impact on tinnitus symptoms.

Study published: 2023-07-13

Resting-state connectivity predicts CI outcomes

The study found a significant correlation between the average clustering coefficient in resting-state functional networks and improved speech understanding outcomes in cochlear implant recipients, indicating that this measure can predict CI effectiveness beyond traditional subject-specific factors.

Study published: 2024-02-02

Cochlear implant improves spatial hearing in patients with asymmetric hearing loss.

Restoration of contralateral dominance in the non-implanted ear correlated with improved sound localization performance, indicating enhanced spatial hearing capabilities post-implantation.

Study published: 2021-12-30

Hearing rehabilitation benefits vary by profile

The data-driven analysis revealed four distinct benefit profiles for different audiometric groups, indicating that individuals with low HLHF prioritize rehabilitation of hearing handicaps, while those with HLHF > 50 dB HL focus on improving speech understanding. This stratification can guide clinical intervention strategies and enhance the quality of hearing care services.

Study published: 2021-01-23

Transcranial direct current stimulation improves speech detection in noise for chronic tinnitus patients.

Modest improvement in detecting speech in noise after five active tDCS sessions, with no change in pure-tone thresholds or overall cognitive task performance.

Study published: 2024-02-01

Electrical stimulation improves cochlear nerve response in hearing loss patients

The study found substantial variations in eCAP results among participants, indicating that the responsiveness of the electrically stimulated CN can differ significantly even among patients with the same genetic variant.

Study published: 2022-10-26

Hearing aids relieve tinnitus symptoms

68% of the studies reported positive results regarding tinnitus relief from hearing aids, while 14% showed no change in tinnitus perception. The findings suggest that hearing aids can be beneficial for many tinnitus patients.

Study published: 2021-03-16

Bone conduction headsets aid children with Otitis Media with Effusion by improving hearing and behavior.

The study found that 90% of parents reported positive outcomes regarding their child's hearing and behavior after using the bone conduction headsets. Many families noted improvements in speech clarity and overall quality of life for their children. Some families chose to continue using the headsets to avoid grommet surgery.

Study published: 2021-01-26

eCAP predicts cochlear implant speech outcomes

The study found that the ENI index and AR speed significantly correlated with speech perception scores, indicating that better neural encoding and faster recovery from adaptation lead to improved speech understanding in CI users, particularly in noisy conditions.

Study published: 2022-10-21

Rate discrimination training enhances speech understanding in older adults.

The training led to significant improvements in rate discrimination for older listeners, with post-test performance reaching levels comparable to younger listeners. Gains were observed in trained frequencies and generalized to untrained frequencies, indicating enhanced auditory processing capabilities.

Study published: 2021-11-29

Deaf awareness improves health education.

Health professional students who participated in Deaf awareness programs reported improved understanding and communication skills, leading to better interactions with Deaf and hard of hearing patients.

Study published: 2023-12-29

New method for eCAP artifact removal

The new method demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability (Intraclass correlation > 0.98) and provided comparable eCAP waveforms to the classic forward masking technique when assumptions were met, while significantly improving amplitude accuracy when assumptions were violated.

Study published: 2024-01-17