FORUM: Remote testing for psychological and physiological acoustics.

Acoustics research involving human participants typically takes place in specialized laboratory settings. Listening studies, for example, may present controlled sounds using calibrated transducers in sound-attenuating or anechoic chambers. In contrast, remote testing takes place outside of the laboratory in everyday settings (e.

Healthy Volunteers Immediately Adapt to Submental Stimulation During Swallowing.

Objectives: Transcutaneous stimulation above and below the hyoid is used to assist patients with swallowing disorders (dysphagia) but has shown different effects. Previously, infrahyoid transcutaneous stimulation lowered the hyoid and larynx resisting swallowing movement while suprahyoid stimulation had no effects on hyolaryngeal movement either at rest or during swallowing. More recently, large submental electrodes, covering the submental region, are used for swallowing therapy in combination with resistance therapy.

Acoustic Reflexes in Aural Atresia Patients: Evidence of an Intact Efferent System?

Objective: To record crossed acoustic reflex thresholds (xART's) postoperatively from patients after surgical repair of unilateral congenital aural atresia (CAA). To seek explanations for when xARTs can and cannot be recorded. We hope to understand the implications for this central auditory reflex despite early afferent deprivation.

Multi-sensory (auditory and somatosensory) pre-pulse inhibition in mice.

We investigated the perception of two mechanoreceptive modalities alone and in combination: main effects and interaction between auditory and somatosensory stimulation in mice. Fifteen C57BL/6J mice between the ages of 1 and 6 months were tested three times each. Experimental design roughly followed published procedures using pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response, except pre-pulses included vibration of the test chamber as well as soft sounds.

Long-term Audiometric Outcomes After Atresiaplasty for Congenital Aural Atresia.

Objective: Describe long-term trends and stability of hearing outcomes for patients undergoing primary congenital aural atresia (CAA) repair.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Single academic, tertiary referral center.

Quantification of Head Acceleration during Vestibular Rehabilitation Exercises.

Purpose: Vestibular rehabilitation exercises have been proven to reduce symptoms and diminish the risk of falls in those with dizziness and balance impairments. The first purpose of this study is to investigate a new method of measuring head movements during habituation vestibular rehabilitation exercises. The second is to explore the relationship between head acceleration measurements during select traditional vestibular rehabilitation exercises and the variables of age, dizziness, and poor balance confidence.

Emergence of Binaural Summation After Surgical Correction of Unilateral Congenital Aural Atresia.

Objective: To investigate the emergence of binaural summation in patients with unilateral congenital aural atresia undergoing surgical correction.

Study Design: Preoperative and postoperative audiometric testing in a prospective cohort of 10 patients with unilateral congenital aural atresia.

Setting: University-based tertiary care center.

The effects of Eph-ephrin mutations on pre-pulse inhibition in mice.

Eph-ephrin signaling is known to be important in directing topographic projections in the afferent auditory pathway, including connections to various subdivisions of the inferior colliculus (IC). The acoustic startle-response (ASR) is a reliable reflexive behavioral response in mammals elicited by an unexpected intense acoustic startle-eliciting stimulus (ES). It is mediated by a sub-cortical pathway that includes the IC.

Impact of unilateral conductive hearing loss due to aural atresia on academic performance in children.

Objectives/hypothesis: This study evaluates the effect of unilateral conductive hearing loss secondary to aural atresia on elementary school children's academic performance.

Study Design: Case control survey and review of audiometric data.

Methods: One hundred thirty-two surveys were mailed to families of children with aural atresia, and 48 surveys were sent to families of children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) to identify rates of grade retention, use of any resource, and behavioral problems.

Does preoperative hearing predict postoperative hearing in patients undergoing primary aural atresia repair?

Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the correlation between preoperative hearing and early postoperative hearing results in patients undergoing primary aural atresia repair.

Study Design: Retrospective review of 125 patients.

Setting: Academic tertiary referral center.

Training children with ADHD to minimize impulsivity in auditory contralateral masking.

Objective: Impulsivity and distractibility are among the important symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study, impulsivity is operationally measured using false-alarm rates in an auditory, contralateral-masking task. Intensive auditory training was attempted to decrease false alarm rates.

Constructed charts of vaccination strategies.

Various vaccination rates are mathematically modeled as if they simply spread from area to next nearest area across a 'constructed landscape' of developing countries. A technique that had previously been used to model the spread of diseases effectively models the spread of disease prevention. Multidimensional scaling successfully summarizes complex patterns in vaccination rates in developing countries as a 'constructed chart' from 'functional distances'.

Understanding speech in noise after correction of congenital unilateral aural atresia: effects of age in the emergence of binaural squelch but not in use of head-shadow.

Objective: Unilateral hearing loss causes difficulty hearing in noise (the "cocktail party effect") due to absence of redundancy, head-shadow, and binaural squelch. This study explores the emergence of the head-shadow and binaural squelch effects in children with unilateral congenital aural atresia undergoing surgery to correct their hearing deficit. Adding patients and data from a similar study previously published, we also evaluate covariates such as the age of the patient, surgical outcome, and complexity of the task that might predict the extent of binaural benefit--patients' ability to "use" their new ear--when understanding speech in noise.

Efficacy of neck dissection: are surgical volumes important?

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVES/HYPHOTHESIS: Surgical volumes have been shown in many fields to reflect expertise and to be associated with improved clinical outcomes. We sought to test similar hypotheses that neck dissection is a volume-sensitive procedure wherein the number of lymph nodes harvested and clinical outcomes are correlated with the number of neck dissections performed.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 375 neck dissections.

Do former preterm infants remember and respond to neonatal intensive care unit noise?

Background: Previous studies have shown that 4-month-old infants have a decrease in heart rate, a component of the orienting reflex, in response to interesting auditory stimuli and an increase in heart rate to aversive auditory stimuli.

Objective: To compare the heart rate responses of former preterm and term infants at 4-5 months corrected age to a recording of NICU noises.

Methods: 13 former preterm infants and 17 full-term infants were presented NICU noise and another noise of similar level and frequency content in random order.

The effect of lead on the avian auditory brainstem.

Lead (Pb) continues to be a significant environmental toxin and remains an integral part of many industrial processes, hobbies, and tobacco smoke. Pb has been shown to be a potent toxin to the CNS and low levels of Pb (below the CDC established toxic blood level of 10 microg/dl) have been correlated with decreases in the IQ of children. Pb exposure is a risk factor for dyslexia, and significantly, dyslexics have deficits in auditory temporal processing, including backward masking and amplitude modulation detection.

Pressed scar tissue for tympanic membrane grafting in revision tympanoplasty.

Objective: Compare the efficacy of pressed scar tissue grafts to standard fascia and areolar tissue grafts for use in tympanoplasty.

Study Design: A retrospective review of a prospective computerized database of tympanoplasty and mastoid surgeries at an academic, tertiary care practice was performed. Search parameters were set to find all patients who underwent tympanoplasty with or without mastoidectomy with use of various grafting materials for repair of tympanic membrane perforation from 1996 to 2002.

Effects of the neonatal intensive care unit on auditory attention and distraction.

A theory is proposed that attention to acoustic signals is important for normal development and varies with background masking sounds. Specifically, the theory states that distractibility increases with decreasing predictability of the acoustic environment and with decreasing age. Literature from premature neonates, normal infants, preadolescent children, children with attention deficit disorders, and adults is reviewed.

Functional maps of metastases from breast cancers: proof of the principle that multidimensional scaling can summarize disease progression.

The mathematic technique of multidimensional scaling can create "functional maps" of metastases from breast cancer such that positions of organs in these maps are proportional to the probability of metastases. Areas that are likely to share disease are close together in a functional map, even though they may be physically distant, and vice versa. Two functional maps of breast cancers-one of local metastases to axillary levels I to III and another of distant metastases-are statistically significant and clinically meaningful.

Categorical perception of speech stimuli in children at risk for reading difficulty.

Children determined to be at risk (n = 24) or not at risk (n = 13) for reading difficulty listened to tokens from a voice onset time (VOT) (/ga/-/ka/) or tone series played in a continuous unbroken rhythm. Changes between tokens occurred at random intervals and children were asked to press a button as soon as they detected a change. For the VOT series, at-risk children were less sensitive than not-at-risk children to changes between tokens that crossed the phonetic boundary.

Auditory temporal processing in children with specific reading disability with and without attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The auditory temporal deficit hypothesis predicts that children with specific reading disability (RD) will exhibit a deficit in the perception of auditory temporal cues in nonspeech stimuli. Tasks assessing perception of auditory temporal and nontemporal cues were administered to children with (a) RD without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (RD/no-ADHD, n = 40), (b) ADHD alone (ADHD/no-RD, n = 33), (c) RD and ADHD (RD/ADHD, n = 36), and (d) no impairment (NI, n = 41). The presence of RD was associated with a specific deficit in detection of a tone onset time asynchrony, but no reduction in performance on other tasks assessing perception of temporal or nontemporal acoustic cues.

Perceptions of tongue lesions by dental hygiene students and otolaryngologists.

Background: Consistent perceptions of oral lesions by all professionals who examine the mouth would improve the poor survival rates from oral cancer through earlier diagnosis.

Methods: Two techniques from perceptual psychology measured how 14 otolaryngologists and 85 dental hygiene students judged differences among seven tongue lesions. Multidimensional scaling produced a perceptual "map" showing the underlying dimensions in these judgments.

Changing levels of quiet in an intensive care nursery.

Objectives: To document low sound levels, the range and pattern of levels, and the relative effects of operational (staff and equipment generated) and facility (building generated) noise on the acoustic environment of a level III nursery.

Study Design: A quasi-experimental, prospective, longitudinal study of one bed space. Operational noise was reduced through staff behavior change while facility noise was reduced through renovation.

Perception of speech and nonspeech stimuli by children with and without reading disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The auditory temporal deficit hypothesis predicts that children with reading disability (RD) will exhibit deficits in the perception of speech and nonspeech acoustic stimuli in discrimination and temporal ordering tasks when the interstimulus interval (ISI) is short. Initial studies testing this hypothesis did not account for the potential presence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Temporal order judgment and discrimination tasks were administered to children with (1) RD/no-ADHD (n=38), (2) ADHD (n=29), (3) RD and ADHD (RD/ADHD; n=32), and (4) no impairment (NI; n=43).