otoacoustic emissions (OAEs)

Perspectives on “Normal” Hearing and Perceived Hearing Complaints

Hidden hearing loss (HHL) is a popular topic referring to complaints of hearing difficulty or perceived hearing loss despite having “normal” audiometric thresholds. Within the scientific literature, this term has most recently been used to refer specifically to the reduced amplitude of sound-evoked neural responses that occurs with loss of synapses that connect the inner hair cells (IHCs) to the auditory nerve. In other words, the patient’s audiometric difficulties are hidden behind a normal audiogram.

Topic(s): Normal Hearing, perceived hearing complaint, Hidden Hearing Loss (HHL), audiometric threshold, Audiometric Test, inner hair cell (IHC), pure-tone average (PTA), extended high frequencies (EHF), Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder ANSD, Tinnitus, hearing handicap inventory for the elderly (HHIE), hearing handicap inventory for the adults (HHIA), noise-induced synaptopathy, auditory brainstem response (ABR), temporary threshold shift (TTS), synaptopathy, speech-in-noise testing (QuickSIN), word-in-noise test, otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), tympanometry and middle-ear muscle reflexes (MEMR), dichotic processing, temporal processing, monaural low-redundancy, binaural interaction, spatial processing, Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE), Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE), Auditory Evoked Response

Author(s):

Christopher Spankovich

Colleen Le Prell

Publication Issue: Audiology Today November/December 2017

Sudden Hearing Loss: Audiologist Important Role

The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation has just published Clinical Practice Guideline: Sudden Hearing Loss (Chandrasekhar et al, 2019). The purpose of the guideline is to provide clinicians with updated evidence-based recommendations in the evaluation and management of patients with sudden hearing loss, in particular idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Some highlights include the following:

Otoacoustic Emissions: Toward an Updated Approach

Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), low-level sounds produced by the healthy cochlea, require normal or near-normal outer hair cells (OHCs) to provide amplification of the backward traveling waves so the outgoing energy can be detected in the ear canal and, for some types of OAEs, to produce the nonlinearities that give rise to the emission itself. As most audiologists know, these low-level acoustic by-products provide an invaluable window into the otherwise inaccessible cochlea and a useful gauge of OHC health and hearing.

Topic(s): otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), Hearing

Author(s):

Carolina Abdala

Publication Issue: Audiology Today January/February 2018

The Bench-to-Bedside Approach for Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Academy Editor-in-Chief Erin Schafer, PhD, spoke with Drs. Musiek and Chermak about the diagnosis and treatment of CAPD as well as the Third Global Conference on Central Auditory Processing Disorder: Synergies Between Lab and Clinic, at AAA 2019, March 30, in Columbus, Ohio.

Music from and for Your Ears

Jacob Kirkegaard, sonic artist extraordinaire, hailed for his work inspired by natural phenomena and scientific explorations is making music out of the sounds your ears make. Originally trained at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany, the Denmark-born artist has numerous critically acclaimed exhibitions and permanent installations under his belt.

Circadian Rhythm and Hearing

Circadian rhythms represent physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle. The master clock that controls circadian rhythms is called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The circadian rhythm is endogenous, but also adjusted or entrained by local environmental cues (called zeitgebers, German for “time giver”); which include light, temperature, and redox cycles.

The Sensory-Neural Tango

So how does the central auditory nervous system react when the periphery stops working. The simplistic view of the distant past would suggest that the neural centers between the ears and the brain are nothing but way stations through which information is passed without much additional processing. Over the years we have learned that these way stations perform important steps of feature extraction, temporal coding, and integration of information between ears.

ABR, OAEs, and Cortical-Evoked Responses: Interview with James (Jay) W. Hall III, PhD

Douglas L. Beck, AuD, spoke with Dr. Hall about his new book, eHandbook of Auditory-Evoked Responses, middle latency, late latency, and more.

Academy: Good morning, Jay. As always it's a joy to speak with you.

Hall: Thanks, Doug. Great to catch up with you again, too.

Screenings and the Increasing Prevalence of Hearing Loss

Prieve et al (2015) report their review of 18 studies (of 376 identified) published between December 2012 and April 2013. They report that “it is important to screen school-aged children for hearing loss because the estimated prevalence of hearing loss in school-aged children is at least double that in newborns….”