Role of the Auditory Efferent System in Auditory Perceptual Learning

NCT02574247 | Terminated Results

• 2 other identifiers: 11371F32DC015149-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 28
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine how changes in speech perception resulting from a computerized auditory training program are related to concurrent changes in auditory brainstem function resulting from the training. It is hypothesized that the degree of improvement in speech perception will be correlated with the degree of change in brainstem function.

Conditions

Auditory Training and Auditory Efferent System

Keywords

Audiology; Auditory Pathways; Auditory Perception; Brain Stem; Cochlea; Ear, Inner; Efferent Pathways; Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer; Learning; Neurons, Efferent; Speech Perception

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Magnitude of Medial Olivocochlear Reflex Inhibition

  Decibel difference in medial olivocochlear reflex inhibition computed between final visit and baseline visit, where medial olivocochlear reflex inhibition is quantified as amplitude difference (in decibels) between transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions obtained with versus without broadband noise presented to the contralateral ear.

  First and last measurements (baseline and last session up to a year later)

• Association Between Medial Olivocochlear Reflex Inhibition and Untrained Speech Perception Tasks

  Spearman rank correlation computed between medial olivocochlear reflex inhibition (in decibels) and performance (in percent correct) on Coordinate Response Measure (CRM) task and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) sentences, each presented at two decibel signal-to-noise ratios (dB SNR). Results obtained at first study visit.

  Baseline (First study visit - 3 hour session)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Auditory Training Sentence Task Performance

  First and last measurements (baseline and last session up to a year later)

• Change in Auditory Training Phoneme Task Performance

  First and last measurements (baseline and last session up to a year later)

Study Arms (3)

Training

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the Training arm will undergo 15 hours of computerized auditory training across 10 laboratory visits. Medial olivocochlear reflex function and speech perception abilities will be measured before, during, and after the training visits to examine the changes in the measurements across time.

Procedure: Computerized auditory training

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in the Control arm will undergo the same number of visits as the Training arm, but will not participate in computerized auditory training. Medial olivocochlear reflex function and speech perception abilities will be measured at each visit to establish the test-retest reliability of these measurements in the absence of any training.

Speech Group

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in the Speech Group will undergo 1 visit. Medial olivocochlear reflex function and speech perception abilities will be measured at this visit to establish the correlation between these measures in the absence of any training.

Interventions

Computerized auditory training PROCEDURE

10 sessions of computerized auditory training (1.5 hr/session) across a 15-week span.

Training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 35 Years - 89 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• frequency pure-tone average ≤40 decibels hearing level (dB HL)
• Air-bone gaps ≤10 decibels (dB) from 500-4000 Hz
• Hz tympanograms within normal limits
• Measurable acoustic reflexes bilaterally
• Measurable transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions
• Ability to read and speak English
• Ability to comply with all test procedures
• Ability to commute to VA Loma Linda Healthcare System 12 times

You may not qualify if:

• Hearing asymmetry \>15 decibels at three or more audiometric frequencies
• Conductive hearing loss or otologic pathology
• History of middle ear surgery
• Chronic disease and/or use of medication that affects ability to participate in test procedures during study period

Sponsors & Collaborators

• VA Loma Linda Health Care System: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

VA Loma Linda Healthcare System

Loma Linda, California, 92357, United States

Location

Related Publications (8)

• Berlin CI, Hood LJ, Wen H, Szabo P, Cecola RP, Rigby P, Jackson DF. Contralateral suppression of non-linear click-evoked otoacoustic emissions. Hear Res. 1993 Dec;71(1-2):1-11. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(93)90015-s.

  PMID: 8113128 BACKGROUND

• de Boer J, Thornton AR. Neural correlates of perceptual learning in the auditory brainstem: efferent activity predicts and reflects improvement at a speech-in-noise discrimination task. J Neurosci. 2008 May 7;28(19):4929-37. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0902-08.2008.

  PMID: 18463246 BACKGROUND

• Goodman SS, Mertes IB, Lewis JD, Weissbeck DK. Medial olivocochlear-induced transient-evoked otoacoustic emission amplitude shifts in individual subjects. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2013 Dec;14(6):829-42. doi: 10.1007/s10162-013-0409-9. Epub 2013 Aug 28.

  PMID: 23982894 BACKGROUND

• Guinan JJ Jr. Olivocochlear efferents: anatomy, physiology, function, and the measurement of efferent effects in humans. Ear Hear. 2006 Dec;27(6):589-607. doi: 10.1097/01.aud.0000240507.83072.e7.

  PMID: 17086072 BACKGROUND

• Mertes IB, Goodman SS. Within- and Across-Subject Variability of Repeated Measurements of Medial Olivocochlear-Induced Changes in Transient-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions. Ear Hear. 2016 Mar-Apr;37(2):e72-84. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000244.

  PMID: 26583481 BACKGROUND

• Mertes IB, Leek MR. Concurrent measures of contralateral suppression of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions and of auditory steady-state responses. J Acoust Soc Am. 2016 Sep;140(3):2027. doi: 10.1121/1.4962666.

  PMID: 27914370 BACKGROUND

• Miller JD, Watson CS, Kistler DJ, Preminger JE, Wark DJ. Training listeners to identify the sounds of speech: II. Using SPATS software. Hear J. 2008 Oct;61(10):29-33. doi: 10.1097/01.HJ.0000341756.80813.e1. No abstract available.

  PMID: 20209044 BACKGROUND

• Mertes IB, Wilbanks EC, Leek MR. Olivocochlear Efferent Activity Is Associated With the Slope of the Psychometric Function of Speech Recognition in Noise. Ear Hear. 2018 May/Jun;39(3):583-593. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000514.

  PMID: 29135685 RESULT

Limitations and Caveats

Early termination leading to small numbers of subjects analyzed.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Ian Mertes
• Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

imertes@illinois.edu

217-300-4756

Study Officials

• Ian B Mertes, PhD, AuD

  Loma Linda Veterans Association for Research and Education

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 8, 2015
• First Posted: October 12, 2015
• Study Start: March 29, 2016
• Primary Completion: May 17, 2017
• Study Completion: May 17, 2017
• Last Updated: January 5, 2018
• Results First Posted: January 2, 2018

Record last verified: 2017-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)