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Background: Age related hearing loss (Presbycusis) is the most common form of hearing loss in the over 60 year olds, and has a negative impact on quality of life. The cause of Presbycusis is multifactorial and is predominately characterized with loss of speech perception in noise. Sounds are decomposed by the auditory filters to slowly varying envelope (E) and rapid temporal fine structure (TFS). TFS is important for recognition of target speech in noise. Objective: The main aim of study is to, the effect of rehabilitation training based on temporal fine structure on speech in noise perception on patients over the age of 60 years with mild to moderate hearing loss. Material and methods: A randomized clinical trial will be conducted on the patients with mild (loss of 20--39 dB) to moderate (40--69 dB) hearing loss and age between 60--75 years old. We excluded patients with conductive hearing loss, abnormal middle ear pathology and Central Nerve disease (CNS). The patients randomly were selected in to intervention and control group with 1: 1 ratio. Sample size was calculated with twelve patients in each group. The rehabilitating period for intervention group will be thirty minute sessions three times a week for a total five weeks. In beginning and at the conclusion of study in both intervention and control groups the Signal to noise ratio (SNR), Binaural TFS test and Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) questionnaire score will be performed to evaluate the effect of rehabilitation training on intervention group. In rehabilitation training the test consist of 16 consonants to identify vowel consonant vowel words (vcvs) which partially transmitted by TFS. Results: The results of study will be presented in the meeting. Discussion: Since the number of older persons is increasing. Presbycusis is growing very rapidly worldwide. Presbycusis mostly is caused by TFS damage. Most of the studies indicated this damage is permanent but in this study we attempt to prove base on rehabilitation training part of impairment in TFS information will be restored. The study is not completed yet but we are very ambition to show our results in XXXV World Congress of Audiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Many studies have suggested that cochlear implant (CI) users vary in terms of speech recognition in noise. Studies in this field attribute this variety partly to subcortical auditory processing. Studying speech-Auditory Brainstem Response (speech-ABR) provides good information about speech processing; thus, this work was designed to compare speech-ABR components between two groups of CI users with good and poor speech recognition in noise scores., Materials & Methods: The present study was conducted on two groups of CI users aged 8-10 years old. The first group (CI-good) consisted of 15 children with prelingual CI who had good speech recognition in noise performance. The second group (CI-poor) was matched with the first group, but they had poor speech recognition in noise performance. The speech-ABR test in a sound-field presentation was performed for all the participants., Results: The speech-ABR response showed more delay in C, D, E, F, O latencies in CI-poor than CI-good users (P <0.05), meanwhile no significant difference was observed in initial wave (V(t= -0.293, p= 0.771 and A (t= -1.051, p= 0.307). Analysis in spectral-domain showed a weaker representation of fundamental frequency as well as the first formant and high-frequency component of speech stimuli in the CI users with poor auditory performance., Conclusions: Results revealed that CI users who showed poor auditory performance in noise performance had deficits in encoding the periodic portion of speech signals at the brainstem level. Also, this study could be as physiological evidence for poorer pitch processing in CI users with poor speech recognition in noise performance., Competing Interests: The authors declared that there are no conflicts of interests

Background: Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a form of hearing loss in over 60-year-olds and has a negative impact on quality of life. The pathophysiology of presbycusis is multifactorial and is predominately characterised with a loss of speech perception in noise. In the cochlea, auditory filters decompose broadband sound into a series of narrowband output signals, which contains two kinds of temporal information: slow changes in overall amplitude envelope (ENV) and faster variations in temporal fine structure (TFS). TFS is important for recognition of target speech in noise. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of TFS rehabilitation training in participants over the age of 60 years with mild to moderate hearing loss. Methods: A randomised clinical trial  conduct on 30 participants with mild (loss of 20-39dB) to moderate (40-69dB) hearing loss, aged between 60 and 75 years old. Participants with conductive hearing loss, abnormal middle ear pathology and central nerve system disease were excluded. Participants were randomly selected to an intervention and control group with a 1:1 ratio. Rehabilitation for the intervention Group are 30-minute sessions three times a week for a total five weeks of vowel consonant vowel words that are used to eliminate ENV and keep only TFS. Word in noise test, binaural TFS test, and Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale scores are performed at the beginning and end of study to evaluate the effect of rehabilitation training. Conclusion:  Life expectancy in the elderly has improved, leading to an increased prevalence of age-related diseases including presbycusis. A literature review highlighted that TFS damage is permanent; however, in this study we will attempt to prove that TFS training may lead to speech in noise perception restored. Trial registration: Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT2019625044006N1 (7 th August 2019)., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2020 Rasouli Fard P et al.)

Background and Objectives: Currently limited information is available on speech stimuli processing at the subcortical level in the recipients of cochlear implant (CI). Speech processing in the brainstem level is measured using speech-auditory brainstem response (S-ABR). The purpose of the present study was to measure the S-ABR components in the sound-field presentation in CI recipients, and compare with normal hearing (NH) children. Subjects and., Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, participants were divided in two groups: patients with CIs; and NH group. The CI group consisted of 20 prelingual hearing impairment children (mean age=8.90 ± 0.79 years), with ipsilateral CIs (right side). The control group consisted of 20 healthy NH children, with comparable age and sex distribution. The S-ABR was evoked by the 40-ms synthesized /da/ syllable stimulus that was indicated in the sound-field presentation., Results: Sound-field S-ABR measured in the CI recipients indicated statistically significant delayed latencies, than in the NH group. In addition, these results demonstrated that the frequency following response peak amplitude was significantly higher in CI recipients, than in the NH counterparts (p<0.05). Finally, the neural phase locking were significantly lower in CI recipients (p<0.05)., Conclusions: The findings of sound-field S-ABR demonstrated that CI recipients have neural encoding deficits in temporal and spectral domains at the brainstem level; therefore, the sound-field S-ABR can be considered an efficient clinical procedure to assess the speech process in CI recipients.

Introduction Elderly listeners have reported concerns about speech perception in noisy environments. This partly occurs because of their increased informational masking (IM). This study aimed to develop a Persian coordinate response measure (CRM) corpus and a novel speech-in-noise test for measuring IM. Material and methods A cross-sectional validation study was conducted in two parts. Part one was the determination of the validity and reliability of the Persian CRM corpus. Part two consisted of measuring the IM at five signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; -6,-3, 0, +3, and +6) in two conditions: one with the target and masker speaker of the same sex and one with the target and masker speaker of different sexes. In each condition, the IM measurements were performed at a 45° separation angle of target and maskers and as a co-location of the speakers. A group of young listeners aged 20 to 40 years and a group of elderly listeners aged 60 to 75 years were recruited (50 study participants in part one and 47 in part two). The study was conducted from July 2018 to March 2019 at the Iran University Medical Sciences audiology clinic. Content validity ratio, content validity index, impact score, Spearman's test, and Mann-Whitney's test were used for statistical analysis. Results The Persian CRM corpus showed acceptable validity and reliability in each group (p < 0.001). The results suggested that in both azimuth locations and at SNRs of 0, -3, and -6, the IM amount in the elderly group was significantly higher (p < 0.003) than in the young group at conditions of target and masker speakers of opposite-sex. However, in cases where both target and masker speakers were of the same sex, a significant difference was observed at an SNR of 0 in angular separation and SNRs of +3 and 0 at co-located situations (p < 0.001). Conclusion A validated Persian CRM corpus has been collected for use in IM measurement studies. Overall, the IM of elderly listeners was higher than younger listeners in low-cue situations such as lower SNR. Therefore, a novel speech-in-noise test for measuring IM was validated to use in speech perception studies in the elderly population., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2020, Amiri et al.)

Introduction: Tinnitus is a central auditory disorder in which different processing systems are involved as a network. One of these networks is memory. Previous studies have demonstrated some deficits in various types of memory in chronic tinnitus., Objectives: The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the semantic memory, which is not yet investigated in the tinnitus population., Methods: In this case-control study, 15 subjects with chronic tinnitus and 16 matched healthy controls were included. 40 semantically related and 40 semantically unrelated word pairs were presented to the participants in a counter-balanced fashion. They were asked to make decision about their semantic relatedness. Then the participants' reaction times and the accuracy of responses were calculated., Results: Mean of reaction times were significantly longer in the tinnitus group (M=1034ms, SD=0.31) compared to the control group (Mean=1016ms, SD=0.13), p<0.05. However, no significant difference was found for the mean percentage of correct responses between the two groups., Conclusion: The current study provided behavioral evidence that chronic tinnitus can affect the semantic memory. Such behavioral outcomes may provide new insights into more research activities in the field of electrophysiology and neuroimaging in the tinnitus population., (Copyright © 2018 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Considering the common neurological origins, there is a relationship between the sensory gating and cognitive functions. However, there is no adequate information on this issue. In this study, auditory event-related potentials and the sensory gating performance were assessed in P50, N100 and P200 waves. Besides, their relationship with cognitive performance in auditory and visual modalities was investigated., Materials & Methods: Nineteen normal primary school students (14 boys) were tested in Tehran, Iran from 2017 to 2018. In the auditory modality, the Persian version of the non-word repetition test and monaural selective auditory attention test (mSAAT) were used for assessment of the working memory and selective attention, respectively. In order to evaluate the visual working memory and visual selective attention, Rey-Osterrieth complex figure, selective and divided attention test were used, respectively. A 32-channel EEG system was used for electrophysiological assessment., Results: The P50 sensory gating was negatively correlated with the visual selective attention ( P =0.034, r=-0.49) and N100 sensory gating was negatively correlated with the auditory working memory ( P =0.043, r=-0.48) as well as visual selective attention ( P =0.039, r=-0.47). For P200, there was a significant negative relationship with auditory selective attention in the right ear ( P =0.034, r=-0.49)., Conclusion: Sensory gating in children is not a modality-specific phenomenon. Sensory gating in a modality could be associated with cognitive functions in other modalities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Background: Regarding the strong auditory spatial plasticity capability of the central auditory system and the effect of short-term and long-term rehabilitation programs in elderly people, it seems that an auditory spatial training can help this population in informational masking release and better track speech in noisy environments. The main purposes of this study are developing an informational masking measurement test and an auditory spatial training program. Protocol: This study will be conducted in two parts. Part 1: develop and determine the validity of an informational masking measurement test by recruiting two groups of young (n=50) and old (n=50) participants with normal hearing who have no difficulty in understanding speech in noisy environments. Part 2 (clinical trial): two groups of 60-75-year-olds with normal hearing, who complain about difficulty in speech perception in noisy environments, will participate as control and intervention groups to examine the effect of auditory spatial training. Intervention: 8 sessions of auditory spatial training. The informational masking measurement test and Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale will be compared before intervention, immediately after intervention, and one month after intervention between the two groups. Discussion: Since auditory training programs do not deal with informational masking release, an auditory spatial training will be designed, aiming to improve hearing in noisy environments for elderly populations. Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials ( IRCT20190118042404N1) on 25 th February 2019., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Background: Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder. Visual and oculomotor deficits in dyslexic children have been reported. The purpose of this study was to measure oculomotor parameters and analyze the effect of oculomotor rehabilitation strategies on dyslexia. Methods: Binocular eye movements were recorded by oculomotor subtype of videonystagmography (VNG) testing on 30 children with dyslexia and 20 typical reader children (aged 8-12) in both genders. Dyslexic children were diagnosed with DSM-V scale by experts in reading disorder centers. We studied those children with developmental dyslexia, who had deficits in eye movements recording. Dyslexic children were divided into 2 groups of case and control. Oculomotor rehabilitation (including fixation, saccade, and tracking training) was performed in case group for 1 hour, twice weekly for 8 weeks. Before the intervention, results of oculomotor tests were compared between 3 groups (healthy, case, and control). Then, to analyze the effect of the intervention, results of oculomotor tests were compared between case and control groups in pre- and post- intervention stage. Data were analyzed by independent and paired samples t tests, ANOVA, and repeated measures tests in SPSS v. 21. Results: There were significant differences in oculomotor characteristics of dyslexic children in comparison with those reported in typical children. Oculomotor rehabilitation intervention had a positive effect on improvement of oculomotor responses and eye movements in dyslexic children. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference between dyslexic children and non-dyslexic children in oculomotor skills after the training. Conclusion: Our results showed the positive effects of oculomotor rehabilitation on eye movements. Primary oculomotor assessment in dyslexic children and early use of oculomotor rehabilitation combined with other treatments are highly recommended.

Introduction: Tinnitus is a common otologic symptom that can seriously affect a patient's quality of life. The purpose of the present study was to translate and validate the Iowa Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) into the Persian language, and to make it applicable as a tool for determining the effects of tinnitus on a patient's life., Materials and Methods: The main version of the THQ was translated into the Persian language. The agreed Persian version was administered to 150 tinnitus patients. The validity of the Persian THQ was evaluated and internal reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's α-coefficient. Finally, the effect of independent variables such as age, mean patient threshold, gender, and duration of tinnitus were considered in order to determine the psychometric properties of tinnitus., Results: After an exact translation process, the Persian THQ was found to exhibit face validity. In terms of content validity, content validity index in total questionnaire was 0.93. Further, in structural validity measurements, intermediate correlation with annoyance from tinnitus (r=0.49), low correlation with duration of tinnitus (r=0.34) and high correlation with the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire (r=0.84) were demonstrated. Additionally, a negligible effect of gender and age was noted on degree of tinnitus handicap (P= 0.754, P= 0.573, respectively). In the internal reliability assessment for Factors 1, 2, 3, and the whole questionnaire, Cronbach`s α-coefficient was 0.95, 0.92, 0.25 and 0.88, respectively., Conclusion: The Persian version of the Iowa THQ demonstrates high validity and reliability and can be used for the determination of tinnitus handicap and for following-up in the intervention process in Persian tinnitus patients.