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Poe AA, Karawani H, Anderson S. Aging effects on the neural representation and perception of consonant transition cues. Hear Res 2024; 448:109034. [PMID: 38781768 PMCID: PMC11156531 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.109034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Older listeners have difficulty processing temporal cues that are important for word discrimination, and deficient processing may limit their ability to benefit from these cues. Here, we investigated aging effects on perception and neural representation of the consonant transition and the factors that contribute to successful perception. To further understand the neural mechanisms underlying the changes in processing from brainstem to cortex, we also examined the factors that contribute to exaggerated amplitudes in cortex. We enrolled 30 younger normal-hearing and 30 older normal-hearing participants who met the criteria of clinically normal hearing. Perceptual identification functions were obtained for the words BEAT and WHEAT on a 7-step continuum of consonant-transition duration. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were recorded to click stimuli and frequency-following responses (FFRs) and cortical auditory-evoked potentials were recorded to the endpoints of the BEAT-WHEAT continuum. Perceptual performance for identification of BEAT vs. WHEAT did not differ between younger and older listeners. However, both subcortical and cortical measures of neural representation showed age group differences, such that FFR phase locking was lower but cortical amplitudes (P1 and N1) were higher in older compared to younger listeners. ABR Wave I amplitude and FFR phase locking, but not audiometric thresholds, predicted early cortical amplitudes. Phase locking to the transition region and early cortical peak amplitudes (P1) predicted performance on the perceptual identification function. Overall, results suggest that the neural representation of transition durations and cortical overcompensation may contribute to the ability to perceive transition duration contrasts. Cortical overcompensation appears to be a maladaptive response to decreased neural firing/synchrony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail Anne Poe
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Hanin Karawani
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA.
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2
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Dias JW, McClaskey CM, Alvey AP, Lawson A, Matthews LJ, Dubno JR, Harris KC. Effects of age and noise exposure history on auditory nerve response amplitudes: A systematic review, study, and meta-analysis. Hear Res 2024; 447:109010. [PMID: 38744019 PMCID: PMC11135078 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.109010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Auditory nerve (AN) function has been hypothesized to deteriorate with age and noise exposure. Here, we perform a systematic review of published studies and find that the evidence for age-related deficits in AN function is largely consistent across the literature, but there are inconsistent findings among studies of noise exposure history. Further, evidence from animal studies suggests that the greatest deficits in AN response amplitudes are found in noise-exposed aged mice, but a test of the interaction between effects of age and noise exposure on AN function has not been conducted in humans. We report a study of our own examining differences in the response amplitude of the compound action potential N1 (CAP N1) between younger and older adults with and without a self-reported history of noise exposure in a large sample of human participants (63 younger adults 18-30 years of age, 103 older adults 50-86 years of age). CAP N1 response amplitudes were smaller in older than younger adults. Noise exposure history did not appear to predict CAP N1 response amplitudes, nor did the effect of noise exposure history interact with age. We then incorporated our results into two meta-analyses of published studies of age and noise exposure history effects on AN response amplitudes in neurotypical human samples. The meta-analyses found that age effects across studies are robust (r = -0.407), but noise exposure effects are weak (r = -0.152). We conclude that noise exposure effects may be highly variable depending on sample characteristics, study design, and statistical approach, and researchers should be cautious when interpreting results. The underlying pathology of age-related and noise-induced changes in AN function are difficult to determine in living humans, creating a need for longitudinal studies of changes in AN function across the lifespan and histological examination of the AN from temporal bones collected post-mortem.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W Dias
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States.
| | - Carolyn M McClaskey
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States
| | - April P Alvey
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States
| | - Abigail Lawson
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States
| | - Lois J Matthews
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States
| | - Judy R Dubno
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States
| | - Kelly C Harris
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States
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3
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Devolder P, Keppler H, Keshishzadeh S, Taghon B, Dhooge I, Verhulst S. The role of hidden hearing loss in tinnitus: Insights from early markers of peripheral hearing damage. Hear Res 2024; 450:109050. [PMID: 38852534 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.109050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Since the presence of tinnitus is not always associated with audiometric hearing loss, it has been hypothesized that hidden hearing loss may act as a potential trigger for increased central gain along the neural pathway leading to tinnitus perception. In recent years, the study of hidden hearing loss has improved with the discovery of cochlear synaptopathy and several objective diagnostic markers. This study investigated three potential markers of peripheral hidden hearing loss in subjects with tinnitus: extended high-frequency audiometric thresholds, the auditory brainstem response, and the envelope following response. In addition, speech intelligibility was measured as a functional outcome measurement of hidden hearing loss. To account for age-related hidden hearing loss, participants were grouped according to age, presence of tinnitus, and audiometric thresholds. Group comparisons were conducted to differentiate between age- and tinnitus-related effects of hidden hearing loss. All three markers revealed age-related differences, whereas no differences were observed between the tinnitus and non-tinnitus groups. However, the older tinnitus group showed improved performance on low-pass filtered speech in noise tests compared to the older non-tinnitus group. These low-pass speech in noise scores were significantly correlated with tinnitus distress, as indicated using questionnaires, and could be related to the presence of hyperacusis. Based on our observations, cochlear synaptopathy does not appear to be the underlying cause of tinnitus. The improvement in low-pass speech-in-noise could be explained by enhanced temporal fine structure encoding or hyperacusis. Therefore, we recommend that future tinnitus research takes into account age-related factors, explores low-frequency encoding, and thoroughly assesses hyperacusis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Devolder
- Hearing Technology @ WAVES, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Belgium; Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Hannah Keppler
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sarineh Keshishzadeh
- Hearing Technology @ WAVES, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Belgium
| | - Baziel Taghon
- Hearing Technology @ WAVES, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Belgium
| | - Ingeborg Dhooge
- Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Head and Skin, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sarah Verhulst
- Hearing Technology @ WAVES, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Belgium
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4
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Dias JW, McClaskey CM, Alvey AP, Lawson A, Matthews LJ, Dubno JR, Harris KC. Effects of Age and Noise Exposure History on Auditory Nerve Response Amplitudes: A Systematic Review, Study, and Meta-Analysis. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.20.585882. [PMID: 38585917 PMCID: PMC10996537 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.20.585882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Auditory nerve (AN) function has been hypothesized to deteriorate with age and noise exposure. Here, we perform a systematic review of published studies and find that the evidence for age-related deficits in AN function is largely consistent across the literature, but there are inconsistent findings among studies of noise exposure history. Further, evidence from animal studies suggests that the greatest deficits in AN response amplitudes are found in noise-exposed aged mice, but a test of the interaction between effects of age and noise exposure on AN function has not been conducted in humans. We report a study of our own examining differences in the response amplitude of the compound action potential N1 (CAP N1) between younger and older adults with and without a self-reported history of noise exposure in a large sample of human participants (63 younger adults 18-30 years of age, 103 older adults 50-86 years of age). CAP N1 response amplitudes were smaller in older than younger adults. Noise exposure history did not appear to predict CAP N1 response amplitudes, nor did the effect of noise exposure history interact with age. We then incorporated our results into two meta-analyses of published studies of age and noise exposure history effects on AN response amplitudes in neurotypical human samples. The meta-analyses found that age effects across studies are robust (r=-0.407), but noise-exposure effects are weak (r=-0.152). We conclude that noise-exposure effects may be highly variable depending on sample characteristics, study design, and statistical approach, and researchers should be cautious when interpreting results. The underlying pathology of age-related and noise-induced changes in AN function are difficult to determine in living humans, creating a need for longitudinal studies of changes in AN function across the lifespan and histological examination of the AN from temporal bones collected post-mortem.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W Dias
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
| | - Carolyn M McClaskey
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
| | - April P Alvey
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
| | - Abigail Lawson
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
| | - Lois J Matthews
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
| | - Judy R Dubno
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
| | - Kelly C Harris
- Medical University of South Carolina Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
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Inui K, Takeuchi N, Borgil B, Shingaki M, Sugiyama S, Taniguchi T, Nishihara M, Watanabe T, Suzuki D, Motomura E, Kida T. Age and sex effects on paired-pulse suppression and prepulse inhibition of auditory evoked potentials. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1378619. [PMID: 38655109 PMCID: PMC11035799 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1378619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Responses to a sensory stimulus are inhibited by a preceding stimulus; if the two stimuli are identical, paired-pulse suppression (PPS) occurs; if the preceding stimulus is too weak to reliably elicit the target response, prepulse inhibition (PPI) occurs. PPS and PPI represent excitability changes in neural circuits induced by the first stimulus, but involve different mechanisms and are impaired in different diseases, e.g., impaired PPS in schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease and impaired PPI in schizophrenia and movement disorders. Therefore, these measures provide information on several inhibitory mechanisms that may have roles in clinical conditions. In the present study, PPS and PPI of the auditory change-related cortical response were examined to establish normative data on healthy subjects (35 females and 32 males, aged 19-70 years). We also investigated the effects of age and sex on PPS and PPI to clarify whether these variables need to be considered as biases. The test response was elicited by an abrupt increase in sound pressure in a continuous sound and was recorded by electroencephalography. In the PPS experiment, the two change stimuli to elicit the cortical response were a 15-dB increase from the background of 65 dB separated by 600 ms. In the PPI experiment, the prepulse and test stimuli were 2- and 10-dB increases, respectively, with an interval of 50 ms. The results obtained showed that sex exerted similar effects on the two measures, with females having stronger test responses and weaker inhibition. On the other hand, age exerted different effects: aging correlated with stronger test responses and weaker inhibition in the PPS experiment, but had no effects in the PPI experiment. The present results suggest age and sex biases in addition to normative data on PPS and PPI of auditory change-related potentials. PPS and PPI, as well as other similar paradigms, such as P50 gating, may have different and common mechanisms. Collectively, they may provide insights into the pathophysiologies of diseases with impaired inhibitory function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koji Inui
- Department of Functioning and Disability, Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Developmental Disability Center, Kasugai, Japan
- Section of Brain Function Information, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
| | | | - Bayasgalan Borgil
- Department of Functioning and Disability, Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Developmental Disability Center, Kasugai, Japan
| | - Megumi Shingaki
- Department of Functioning and Disability, Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Developmental Disability Center, Kasugai, Japan
| | - Shunsuke Sugiyama
- Department of Psychiatry, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Tomoya Taniguchi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Makoto Nishihara
- Multidisciplinary Pain Center, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Japan
| | - Takayasu Watanabe
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Mie University Hospital, Tsu, Japan
| | - Dai Suzuki
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan
| | - Eishi Motomura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Kida
- Department of Functioning and Disability, Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Developmental Disability Center, Kasugai, Japan
- Section of Brain Function Information, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
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6
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Liu J, Stohl J, Overath T. Hidden hearing loss: Fifteen years at a glance. Hear Res 2024; 443:108967. [PMID: 38335624 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.108967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Hearing loss affects approximately 18% of the population worldwide. Hearing difficulties in noisy environments without accompanying audiometric threshold shifts likely affect an even larger percentage of the global population. One of the potential causes of hidden hearing loss is cochlear synaptopathy, the loss of synapses between inner hair cells (IHC) and auditory nerve fibers (ANF). These synapses are the most vulnerable structures in the cochlea to noise exposure or aging. The loss of synapses causes auditory deafferentation, i.e., the loss of auditory afferent information, whose downstream effect is the loss of information that is sent to higher-order auditory processing stages. Understanding the physiological and perceptual effects of this early auditory deafferentation might inform interventions to prevent later, more severe hearing loss. In the past decade, a large body of work has been devoted to better understand hidden hearing loss, including the causes of hidden hearing loss, their corresponding impact on the auditory pathway, and the use of auditory physiological measures for clinical diagnosis of auditory deafferentation. This review synthesizes the findings from studies in humans and animals to answer some of the key questions in the field, and it points to gaps in knowledge that warrant more investigation. Specifically, recent studies suggest that some electrophysiological measures have the potential to function as indicators of hidden hearing loss in humans, but more research is needed for these measures to be included as part of a clinical test battery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayue Liu
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, USA.
| | - Joshua Stohl
- North American Research Laboratory, MED-EL Corporation, Durham, USA
| | - Tobias Overath
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, USA
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Slugocki C, Kuk F, Korhonen P. Cortical sensory gating and reactions to dynamic speech-in-noise in older normal-hearing and hearing-impaired adults. Int J Audiol 2024:1-10. [PMID: 38334072 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2024.2311663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine whether cortical sensory gating predicts how older adults with and without hearing loss perform the Tracking of Noise Tolerance (TNT) test. DESIGN Single-blind mixed design. TNT performance was defined by average tolerated noise relative to speech levels (TNTAve) and by an average range of noise levels over a two-minute trial (excursion). Sensory gating of P1-N1-P2 components was measured using pairs of 1 kHz tone pips. STUDY SAMPLE Twenty-three normal-hearing (NH) and 16 hearing-impaired (HI) older adults with a moderate-to-severe degree of sensorineural hearing loss. RESULTS NH listeners tolerated significantly more noise than HI listeners, but the two groups did not differ in their excursion. Both NH and HI listeners exhibited significant gating of P1 amplitudes and N1P2 peak-to-peak amplitudes with no difference in gating magnitudes between listener groups. Sensory gating magnitudes of P1 and N1P2 did not predict TNTAve scores, but N1P2 gating negatively predicted excursion after accounting for listener age and hearing thresholds. CONCLUSIONS Listeners' reactivity to a roving noise (excursion), but not their average noise tolerance (TNTAve), was predicted by sensory gating at N1P2 generators. These results suggest that temporal aspects of speech-in-noise processing may be affected by declines in the central inhibition of older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Slugocki
- Office of Research in Clinical Amplification (ORCA-USA), WS Audiology, Lisle, IL, USA
| | - Francis Kuk
- Office of Research in Clinical Amplification (ORCA-USA), WS Audiology, Lisle, IL, USA
| | - Petri Korhonen
- Office of Research in Clinical Amplification (ORCA-USA), WS Audiology, Lisle, IL, USA
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8
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Panela RA, Copelli F, Herrmann B. Reliability and generalizability of neural speech tracking in younger and older adults. Neurobiol Aging 2024; 134:165-180. [PMID: 38103477 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Neural tracking of spoken speech is considered a potential clinical biomarker for speech-processing difficulties, but the reliability of neural speech tracking is unclear. Here, younger and older adults listened to stories in two sessions while electroencephalography was recorded to investigate the reliability and generalizability of neural speech tracking. Speech tracking amplitude was larger for older than younger adults, consistent with an age-related loss of inhibition. The reliability of neural speech tracking was moderate (ICC ∼0.5-0.75) and tended to be higher for older adults. However, reliability was lower for speech tracking than for neural responses to noise bursts (ICC >0.8), which we used as a benchmark for maximum reliability. Neural speech tracking generalized moderately across different stories (ICC ∼0.5-0.6), which appeared greatest for audiobook-like stories spoken by the same person. Hence, a variety of stories could possibly be used for clinical assessments. Overall, the current data are important for developing a biomarker of speech processing but suggest that further work is needed to increase the reliability to meet clinical standards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan A Panela
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, M6A 2E1 North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1 Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Francesca Copelli
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, M6A 2E1 North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1 Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Björn Herrmann
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, M6A 2E1 North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1 Toronto, ON, Canada.
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9
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McClaskey CM. Neural hyperactivity and altered envelope encoding in the central auditory system: Changes with advanced age and hearing loss. Hear Res 2024; 442:108945. [PMID: 38154191 PMCID: PMC10942735 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Temporal modulations are ubiquitous features of sound signals that are important for auditory perception. The perception of temporal modulations, or temporal processing, is known to decline with aging and hearing loss and negatively impact auditory perception in general and speech recognition specifically. However, neurophysiological literature also provides evidence of exaggerated or enhanced encoding of specifically temporal envelopes in aging and hearing loss, which may arise from changes in inhibitory neurotransmission and neuronal hyperactivity. This review paper describes the physiological changes to the neural encoding of temporal envelopes that have been shown to occur with age and hearing loss and discusses the role of disinhibition and neural hyperactivity in contributing to these changes. Studies in both humans and animal models suggest that aging and hearing loss are associated with stronger neural representations of both periodic amplitude modulation envelopes and of naturalistic speech envelopes, but primarily for low-frequency modulations (<80 Hz). Although the frequency dependence of these results is generally taken as evidence of amplified envelope encoding at the cortex and impoverished encoding at the midbrain and brainstem, there is additional evidence to suggest that exaggerated envelope encoding may also occur subcortically, though only for envelopes with low modulation rates. A better understanding of how temporal envelope encoding is altered in aging and hearing loss, and the contexts in which neural responses are exaggerated/diminished, may aid in the development of interventions, assistive devices, and treatment strategies that work to ameliorate age- and hearing-loss-related auditory perceptual deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn M McClaskey
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Ave, MSC 550, Charleston, SC 29425, United States.
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10
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Smith SS, Jahn KN, Sugai JA, Hancock KE, Polley DB. The human pupil and face encode sound affect and provide objective signatures of tinnitus and auditory hypersensitivity disorders. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.12.22.571929. [PMID: 38187580 PMCID: PMC10769427 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.22.571929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Sound is jointly processed along acoustic and emotional dimensions. These dimensions can become distorted and entangled in persons with sensory disorders, producing a spectrum of loudness hypersensitivity, phantom percepts, and - in some cases - debilitating sound aversion. Here, we looked for objective signatures of disordered hearing (DH) in the human face. Pupil dilations and micro facial movement amplitudes scaled with sound valence in neurotypical listeners but not DH participants with chronic tinnitus (phantom ringing) and sound sensitivity. In DH participants, emotionally evocative sounds elicited abnormally large pupil dilations but blunted and invariant facial reactions that jointly provided an accurate prediction of individual tinnitus and hyperacusis questionnaire handicap scores. By contrast, EEG measures of central auditory gain identified steeper neural response growth functions but no association with symptom severity. These findings highlight dysregulated affective sound processing in persons with bothersome tinnitus and sound sensitivity disorders and introduce approaches for their objective measurement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel S Smith
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA, 02114 USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02114 USA
- Lead contact
| | - Kelly N Jahn
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA, 02114 USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02114 USA
| | - Jenna A Sugai
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA, 02114 USA
| | - Ken E Hancock
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA, 02114 USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02114 USA
| | - Daniel B Polley
- Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA, 02114 USA
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02114 USA
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11
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Karunathilake IMD, Dunlap JL, Perera J, Presacco A, Decruy L, Anderson S, Kuchinsky SE, Simon JZ. Effects of aging on cortical representations of continuous speech. J Neurophysiol 2023; 129:1359-1377. [PMID: 37096924 PMCID: PMC10202479 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00356.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding speech in a noisy environment is crucial in day-to-day interactions and yet becomes more challenging with age, even for healthy aging. Age-related changes in the neural mechanisms that enable speech-in-noise listening have been investigated previously; however, the extent to which age affects the timing and fidelity of encoding of target and interfering speech streams is not well understood. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated how continuous speech is represented in auditory cortex in the presence of interfering speech in younger and older adults. Cortical representations were obtained from neural responses that time-locked to the speech envelopes with speech envelope reconstruction and temporal response functions (TRFs). TRFs showed three prominent peaks corresponding to auditory cortical processing stages: early (∼50 ms), middle (∼100 ms), and late (∼200 ms). Older adults showed exaggerated speech envelope representations compared with younger adults. Temporal analysis revealed both that the age-related exaggeration starts as early as ∼50 ms and that older adults needed a substantially longer integration time window to achieve their better reconstruction of the speech envelope. As expected, with increased speech masking envelope reconstruction for the attended talker decreased and all three TRF peaks were delayed, with aging contributing additionally to the reduction. Interestingly, for older adults the late peak was delayed, suggesting that this late peak may receive contributions from multiple sources. Together these results suggest that there are several mechanisms at play compensating for age-related temporal processing deficits at several stages but which are not able to fully reestablish unimpaired speech perception.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We observed age-related changes in cortical temporal processing of continuous speech that may be related to older adults' difficulty in understanding speech in noise. These changes occur in both timing and strength of the speech representations at different cortical processing stages and depend on both noise condition and selective attention. Critically, their dependence on noise condition changes dramatically among the early, middle, and late cortical processing stages, underscoring how aging differentially affects these stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- I M Dushyanthi Karunathilake
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Jason L Dunlap
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Janani Perera
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Alessandro Presacco
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Lien Decruy
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Samira Anderson
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Stefanie E Kuchinsky
- Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Jonathan Z Simon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
- Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
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Gómez-Álvarez M, Johannesen PT, Coelho-de-Sousa SL, Klump GM, Lopez-Poveda EA. The Relative Contribution of Cochlear Synaptopathy and Reduced Inhibition to Age-Related Hearing Impairment for People With Normal Audiograms. Trends Hear 2023; 27:23312165231213191. [PMID: 37956654 PMCID: PMC10644751 DOI: 10.1177/23312165231213191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Older people often show auditory temporal processing deficits and speech-in-noise intelligibility difficulties even when their audiogram is clinically normal. The causes of such problems remain unclear. Some studies have suggested that for people with normal audiograms, age-related hearing impairments may be due to a cognitive decline, while others have suggested that they may be caused by cochlear synaptopathy. Here, we explore an alternative hypothesis, namely that age-related hearing deficits are associated with decreased inhibition. For human adults (N = 30) selected to cover a reasonably wide age range (25-59 years), with normal audiograms and normal cognitive function, we measured speech reception thresholds in noise (SRTNs) for disyllabic words, gap detection thresholds (GDTs), and frequency modulation detection thresholds (FMDTs). We also measured the rate of growth (slope) of auditory brainstem response wave-I amplitude with increasing level as an indirect indicator of cochlear synaptopathy, and the interference inhibition score in the Stroop color and word test (SCWT) as a proxy for inhibition. As expected, performance in the auditory tasks worsened (SRTNs, GDTs, and FMDTs increased), and wave-I slope and SCWT inhibition scores decreased with ageing. Importantly, SRTNs, GDTs, and FMDTs were not related to wave-I slope but worsened with decreasing SCWT inhibition. Furthermore, after partialling out the effect of SCWT inhibition, age was no longer related to SRTNs or GDTs and became less strongly related to FMDTs. Altogether, results suggest that for people with normal audiograms, age-related deficits in auditory temporal processing and speech-in-noise intelligibility are mediated by decreased inhibition rather than cochlear synaptopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Gómez-Álvarez
- Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Peter T. Johannesen
- Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Sónia L. Coelho-de-Sousa
- Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Georg M. Klump
- Department of Neuroscience and Cluster of Excellence “Hearing4all”, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Enrique A. Lopez-Poveda
- Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- Departamento de Cirugía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
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