Impaired network organization in mild age-related hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is considered one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly; however, how it contributes to cognitive decline is poorly understood. With resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging from 66 individuals with ARHL and 54 healthy controls, group spatial independent component analyses, sliding window analyses, graph-theory methods, multilayer networks, and correlation analyses were used to identify ARHL-induced disturbances in static and dynamic functional network connectivity (sFNC/dFNC), alterations in global network switching and their links to cognitive performances. ARHL was associated with decreased sFNC/dFNC within the default mode network (DMN) and increased sFNC/dFNC between the DMN and central executive, salience (SN), and visual networks.

Optimizing a Classification Model to Evaluate Individual Susceptibility in Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), one of the leading causes of hearing loss in young adults, is a major health care problem that has negative social and economic consequences. It is commonly recognized that individual susceptibility largely varies among individuals who are exposed to similar noise. An objective method is, therefore, needed to identify those who are extremely sensitive to noise-exposed jobs to prevent them from developing severe NIHL.

Neurovascular coupling dysfunction associated with cognitive impairment in presbycusis.

The neuropathological mechanism underlying presbycusis remains unclear. This study aimed to illustrate the mechanism of neurovascular coupling associated with cognitive impairment in patients with presbycusis. We assessed the coupling of cerebral blood perfusion with spontaneous neuronal activity by calculating the correlation coefficients between cerebral blood flow and blood oxygen level-dependent-derived quantitative maps (amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, regional homogeneity, degree centrality).

Multifunctional redox modulator prevents blast-induced loss of cochlear and vestibular hair cells and auditory spiral ganglion neurons.

Blast wave exposure, a leading cause of hearing loss and balance dysfunction among military personnel, arises primarily from direct mechanical damage to the mechanosensory hair cells and supporting structures or indirectly through excessive oxidative stress. We previously reported that HK-2, an orally active, multifunctional redox modulator (MFRM), was highly effective in reducing both hearing loss and hair cells loss in rats exposed to a moderate intensity workday noise that likely damages the cochlea primarily from oxidative stress versus direct mechanical trauma. To determine if HK-2 could also protect cochlear and vestibular cells from damage caused primarily from direct blast-induced mechanical trauma versus oxidative stress, we exposed rats to six blasts of 186 dB peak SPL.