PC-Based Rehabilitation of Auditory Function

NCT00724347 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: C4739-R
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 18
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Many older subjects experience difficulty in understanding speech in noisy environments. Part of this problem is related to changes that occur in the ear with age and compromise the hearing of high-pitched sounds. Another part of the problem with speech understanding relates to changes with age in the neural circuits of the brain that process different speech sounds. Evidence suggests that these changes in neural circuits are particularly large if hearing loss is present. Thus, while hearing aids may help compensate for hearing deficits by amplifying speech sounds, additional treatment is necessary to restore optimal neural connections in the brain so that speech sounds can be accurately distinguished from each other. We are developing PC-based training programs in an attempt to restore optimal neural connections. The current randomized trial will evaluate whether two months of training to improve the ability to discriminate different consonant sounds in noise will also improve the understanding of continuous speech and enhance auditory memory and other high-level auditory functions.

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Sensorineural

Keywords

Auditory Perception; Hearing Loss; Presbycusis; Perceptual Learning; Hearing Prosthesis; Speech Discrimination; Delayed Treatment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• .Speech Discrimination Ability

  Mean consonant identification threshold improvement measure in z-scores (re normal hearing subjects) on consonant and sentence discrimination tests. Additional computerized tests measured auditory short-term verbal memory, and auditory pattern discrimination. The results were compared with baseline performance in the listener group as well as performance in other older hearing impaired subjects who used hearing aids, but who did not undergo training. In the next month, we will published two manuscripts in PLoS ONE describing (1) the benefits of hearing aids on speech comprehension in the absence of perceptual training; (2) the additional benefits of perceptual training. More metholdological details can be found in those manuscripts.

  Subjects will receive two months of PC training and be tested before and after 2-months of training with speech tests in the laboratory..

Study Arms (1)

Arm 1

EXPERIMENTAL

Hearing impaired listeners with hearing aids underwent two months of consonant identification training in their homes.

Behavioral: Consonant Identification Training

Interventions

Consonant Identification Training BEHAVIORAL

Subjects received psychophysically adaptive, consonant identification training in consonant discrimination on PCs in their homes.

Arm 1

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 78 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Older subjects with normal hearing.
• Older subjects with mild sensorineural hearing loss who have recently received hearing aids.
• Some young subjects with normal hearing for developing training paradigms.

You may not qualify if:

• Health problems that would preclude training.
• Dementia.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• US Department of Veterans Affairs: lead

Related Publications (4)

• Woods DL, Doss Z, Herron TJ, Yund EW. Age-related changes in consonant and sentence processing. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2012;49(8):1277-91. doi: 10.1682/jrrd.2011.08.0150.

  PMID: 23341320 RESULT

• Woods DL, Yund EW, Herron TJ, Ua Cruadhlaoich MA. Consonant identification in consonant-vowel-consonant syllables in speech-spectrum noise. J Acoust Soc Am. 2010 Mar;127(3):1609-23. doi: 10.1121/1.3293005.

  PMID: 20329860 RESULT

• Woods DL, Yund EW, Herron TJ. Measuring consonant identification in nonsense syllables, words, and sentences. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2010;47(3):243-60. doi: 10.1682/jrrd.2009.04.0040.

  PMID: 20665350 RESULT

• Yund EW, Woods DL. Content and procedural learning in repeated sentence tests of speech perception. Ear Hear. 2010 Dec;31(6):769-78. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181e68e4a.

  PMID: 20562624 RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Sensorineural; Hearing Loss; Presbycusis

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Hearing Disorders; Ear Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Sensation Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Limitations and Caveats

Five publications describing the new tests that we developed have appeared.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: David L. Woods, Ph.D.
• Organization: VANCHCS

David.Woods@va.gov

925-372-2571

Study Officials

• David L. Woods, PhD

  VA Northern California HCS

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 24, 2008
• First Posted: July 29, 2008
• Study Start: July 1, 2008
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2013
• Study Completion: March 1, 2013
• Last Updated: January 27, 2015
• Results First Posted: January 13, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-01