Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination
Age related hearing loss (presbycusis) is one of the most common sensory deficits in the aging population. The main subjective ailment in the elderly is the deterioration of speech understanding, especially in a noisy environment, which cannot solely be explained by increased hearing thresholds. The...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2019.00026/full |
| _version_ | 1819099985357045760 |
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| author | Oliver Profant Oliver Profant Milan Jilek Zbynek Bures Zbynek Bures Vaclav Vencovsky Diana Kucharova Diana Kucharova Veronika Svobodova Veronika Svobodova Jiri Korynta Josef Syka |
| author_facet | Oliver Profant Oliver Profant Milan Jilek Zbynek Bures Zbynek Bures Vaclav Vencovsky Diana Kucharova Diana Kucharova Veronika Svobodova Veronika Svobodova Jiri Korynta Josef Syka |
| author_sort | Oliver Profant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Age related hearing loss (presbycusis) is one of the most common sensory deficits in the aging population. The main subjective ailment in the elderly is the deterioration of speech understanding, especially in a noisy environment, which cannot solely be explained by increased hearing thresholds. The examination methods used in presbycusis are primarily focused on the peripheral pathologies (e.g., hearing sensitivity measured by hearing thresholds), with only a limited capacity to detect the central lesion. In our study, auditory tests focused on central auditory abilities were used in addition to classical examination tests, with the aim to compare auditory abilities between an elderly group (elderly, mean age 70.4 years) and young controls (young, mean age 24.4 years) with clinically normal auditory thresholds, and to clarify the interactions between peripheral and central auditory impairments. Despite the fact that the elderly were selected to show natural age-related deterioration of hearing (auditory thresholds did not exceed 20 dB HL for main speech frequencies) and with clinically normal speech reception thresholds (SRTs), the detailed examination of their auditory functions revealed deteriorated processing of temporal parameters [gap detection threshold (GDT), interaural time difference (ITD) detection] which was partially responsible for the altered perception of distorted speech (speech in babble noise, gated speech). An analysis of interactions between peripheral and central auditory abilities, showed a stronger influence of peripheral function than temporal processing ability on speech perception in silence in the elderly with normal cognitive function. However, in a more natural environment mimicked by the addition of background noise, the role of temporal processing increased rapidly. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T00:55:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8be81df637734763825738c9a4bff052 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1663-4365 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T00:55:34Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-8be81df637734763825738c9a4bff0522022-12-21T18:44:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience1663-43652019-02-011110.3389/fnagi.2019.00026429039Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric ExaminationOliver Profant0Oliver Profant1Milan Jilek2Zbynek Bures3Zbynek Bures4Vaclav Vencovsky5Diana Kucharova6Diana Kucharova7Veronika Svobodova8Veronika Svobodova9Jiri Korynta10Josef Syka11Department of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology of Faculty Hospital Královské Vinohrady and 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Technical Studies, College of Polytechnics, Jihlava, CzechiaDepartment of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, University Hospital Motol, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, University Hospital Motol, Prague, CzechiaEye Clinic Liberec, Liberec, CzechiaDepartment of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaAge related hearing loss (presbycusis) is one of the most common sensory deficits in the aging population. The main subjective ailment in the elderly is the deterioration of speech understanding, especially in a noisy environment, which cannot solely be explained by increased hearing thresholds. The examination methods used in presbycusis are primarily focused on the peripheral pathologies (e.g., hearing sensitivity measured by hearing thresholds), with only a limited capacity to detect the central lesion. In our study, auditory tests focused on central auditory abilities were used in addition to classical examination tests, with the aim to compare auditory abilities between an elderly group (elderly, mean age 70.4 years) and young controls (young, mean age 24.4 years) with clinically normal auditory thresholds, and to clarify the interactions between peripheral and central auditory impairments. Despite the fact that the elderly were selected to show natural age-related deterioration of hearing (auditory thresholds did not exceed 20 dB HL for main speech frequencies) and with clinically normal speech reception thresholds (SRTs), the detailed examination of their auditory functions revealed deteriorated processing of temporal parameters [gap detection threshold (GDT), interaural time difference (ITD) detection] which was partially responsible for the altered perception of distorted speech (speech in babble noise, gated speech). An analysis of interactions between peripheral and central auditory abilities, showed a stronger influence of peripheral function than temporal processing ability on speech perception in silence in the elderly with normal cognitive function. However, in a more natural environment mimicked by the addition of background noise, the role of temporal processing increased rapidly.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2019.00026/fullpresbycusiscentral hearing losstemporal processinglaterogramcognition |
| spellingShingle | Oliver Profant Oliver Profant Milan Jilek Zbynek Bures Zbynek Bures Vaclav Vencovsky Diana Kucharova Diana Kucharova Veronika Svobodova Veronika Svobodova Jiri Korynta Josef Syka Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience presbycusis central hearing loss temporal processing laterogram cognition |
| title | Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination |
| title_full | Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination |
| title_fullStr | Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination |
| title_short | Functional Age-Related Changes Within the Human Auditory System Studied by Audiometric Examination |
| title_sort | functional age related changes within the human auditory system studied by audiometric examination |
| topic | presbycusis central hearing loss temporal processing laterogram cognition |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2019.00026/full |
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