Participation of Acoustic and Electric Hearing in Perceiving Musical Sounds

Contralateral hearing aid use in adult cochlear implant recipients: retrospective analysis of auditory outcomes

OBJECTIVE

To investigate retrospectively the frequency of usage of bimodal stimulation among cochlear implant (CI) users, as well its clinical benefit relative to unilateral use.

DESIGN

All subjects had been monitored with the clinical Minimal Outcome Measurements test battery.

STUDY SAMPLES

103 adults with bilateral postlingual profound sensorineural hearing loss and unilateral CI use were extracted from the local database. These were divided into two groups: those who only used a CI and those who used bimodal stimulation.

RESULTS

The preoperative contralateral residual hearing in the bimodal group was significantly better than that of the CI-only group. In both groups, speech perception in quiet and in noise improved after CI, with no significant difference between postoperative unimodal conditions. For the bimodal group, an additional significant improvement was found for the bimodal condition compared to the unimodal.

CONCLUSION

Given the observed auditory benefit of bimodal stimulation in comparison to unimodal stimulation and given the finding that degree of residual hearing is not correlated with bimodal benefits, it is recommended to encourage CI recipients to continue contralateral HA use after CI. As a result of expanding CI criteria worldwide, the population of bimodal users is expected to grow in the near future.

The error patterns of phonemes in children with prelingual hearing loss: A comparison between hearing aid and cochlear implant users

OBJECTIVE

To reveal differences in error pattern of phonemes and articulation between children using cochlear implants (CIs) and those using hearing aids (HAs) due to prelingual hearing disorder and help the education of children with prelingual hearing loss.

METHOD

Children with prelingual hearing loss who were receiving auditory-verbal preschool education at an auditory center for hearing-impaired children (Fujimidai Auditory Center, Tokyo, Japan) from 2010 to 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. All participants underwent pure tone audiometry and monosyllabic intelligibility tests. The error answers were categorized into five patterns which was characterized by the substitution, addition, omission, failure, and no response according to consonant errors. In addition, the consonant errors classified into the manner of articulation and the differences of error patterns were analyzed between the HA and the CI group descriptively.

RESULTS

A total of 43 children with bilateral HAs and 46 children with bimodal CIs or bilateral CIs were enrolled. No significant between-group differences in median phoneme intelligibility were found. The most common error pattern was substitution in both HA and CI groups. The error number of addition pattern in the HA group was smaller than in the CI group. In both groups, the most common errors of articulation were flap errors, and the most common error patterns were flaps to nasals, nasals to nasals, plosives to plosives. In the HA group, plosives and nasals tended not to be recognized and in the CI group plosives were prone to be added to vowels.

CONCLUSIONS

There were some different error patterns of articulation and consonant substitution between groups. Clarifying differences of phoneme that are difficult to hear and tend to be misheard would help for creating an effective approach to auditory training for children with hearing loss.

Hearing outcomes following cochlear implantation with anatomic or default frequency mapping in postlingual deafness adults

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of different mapping procedures based on anatomic or default frequency distribution in postlingual deafness adults who underwent cochlear implantation (CI).

METHODS

Forty-eight adults with postlingual deafness who underwent CI (MED-EL) from January 2021 to May 2022 in our hospital were prospectively recruited. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups (the anatomic group and the default group). Postoperative computerized tomography (CT) scans were evaluated with Otoplan® to determine the angular insertion depth (AID) and the specific locations of the intracochlear electrodes. Anatomic maps were imported into MAESTRO 9.0 software (MED-EL) for anatomy-based fitting for anatomic group, while default mapping program was set up for the default group. Hearing thresholds, Speech Recognition Scores (SRS), and subjects' auditory and musical abilities were evaluated 1 year after using the CI. Differences were determined in two groups using Stata statistical software, with significance defined as p < 0.05.

RESULTS

SRS under noisy conditions was significantly greater for anatomic group than the default group (p = 0.02). Under quiet conditions, however, mean hearing thresholds (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) and SRS did not differ significantly between the two groups (p = 0.07). Modified questionnaires showed that auditory (p = 0.02) and musical (p = 0.01) quality were significantly better following the anatomic mapping than the default procedure.

CONCLUSION

CI program based on the anatomic distribution may bring better SRS under noise conditions as well as better auditory and musical qualities than based on the default frequency distribution.

Comparison of Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) and the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) Questionnaires in a Large Cohort of Self-Reported Normal-Hearing Adult Listeners

The Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) and the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) are two most commonly used questionnaires in the audiology clinic to assess an individual's self-perception of their hearing ability. Here, we present the outcomes of these two questionnaires on a large group of self-reported normal hearing adult listeners. A total of 254 self-reported normal-hearing younger and older adults completed the SSQ and the APHAB questionnaire. The younger participants completed the questionnaires through Qualtrics, whereas the older participants completed the questionnaire through Qualtrics and a traditional pen-and-paper method. The younger listeners perceived a higher ability compared to the older adults in all the SSQ subscales (Speech, Spatial, and Qualities) and reported a lesser frequency of the problems in three of the four APHAB subscales (Ease of communication, Reverberation, and Background Noise). There was no significant difference in the frequency of the problems reported in the Aversiveness subscale. Self-reported normal-hearing listeners do not rate their listening ability at the top of the ability scale. Additionally, the large dataset presented here has a potential normative value for the SSQ and the APHAB questionnaires for self-reported normal-hearing adult listeners.

The aesthetic emotional expression of piano music art in the background of Internet of things

Artwork, generally refers to the work of plastic art. Artwork is divided into many categories, pottery art, traditional Chinese painting, abstract painting, musical instrument, sculpture, cultural relic sculpture, sandstone, imitation sandstone, ornaments, iron art, copper art, stainless steel sculpture and so on. With the continuous influx of artistic works, there are more and more studies on their emotional expression. How to judge whether musical works can bring joy, anger, sadness and joy to people? Is it joy over anger or anger over joy? Now in the era of the Internet of Things, the Internet of Things uses various information sensors, radio frequency identification technology, GPS, infrared sensors, laser scanners and other equipment and technologies to collect any objects and processes that need to be monitored, connected, and interacted in real time. By collecting various information such as sound, light, heat, electricity, mechanics, chemistry, biology, location and so on, and using various possible networks to connect, it can achieve intelligent perception, identification and management of objects and processes. The Internet of Things is an information carrier based on the Internet, traditional telecommunication networks and so on., so that all normal physical objects that can be individually located which can be connected together. The application field of the Internet of Things involves all aspects. The application in the fields of industry, agriculture, environment, transportation, logistics, security and other infrastructure has effectively promoted the intelligent development of these aspects, which making the limited resources more rational use and distribution, thus improving the efficiency and benefit of the industry. The application in household, medical and health, education, finance and service industry, tourism and other fields closely related to life has been greatly improved in terms of service scope, service method and service quality, which has greatly improved people's quality of life. Based on this, this paper mainly studies the aesthetic emotion expression analysis of piano music art in the context of the Internet of Things. It mainly talks about the classification of music characteristics, emotional theoretical models, and emotional induction methods. Finally, the experimental analysis of piano music and the use of brain wave technology are used to analyze the experimental data. The experimental results show that in the process of feature extraction and optimization, this paper optimizes the traditional feature extraction based on power spectral density through cognitive rules, and achieves the effect of feature dimension reduction on the basis of ensuring the recognition rate. This paper uses the topological properties of EEG to classify emotions. The results show that the emotion recognition rate under the four emotional states can reach 67.3%, which is much higher than the current highest level.

Guidelines for Best Practice in the Audiological Management of Adults Using Bimodal Hearing Configurations

Clinics are treating a growing number of patients with greater amounts of residual hearing. These patients often benefit from a bimodal hearing configuration in which acoustic input from a hearing aid on 1 ear is combined with electrical stimulation from a cochlear implant on the other ear. The current guidelines aim to review the literature and provide best practice recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of individuals with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss who may benefit from bimodal hearing configurations. Specifically, the guidelines review: benefits of bimodal listening, preoperative and postoperative cochlear implant evaluation and programming, bimodal hearing aid fitting, contralateral routing of signal considerations, bimodal treatment for tinnitus, and aural rehabilitation recommendations.