Speech perception following transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over left superior temporal gyrus (STG) (including Wernicke's area) versus inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) (including Broca's area).

Imaging and neurocognitive studies have searched for the brain areas involved in speech perception, specifically when speech is accompanied by noise, attempting to identify the underlying neural mechanism(s). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive, painless cortical neuromodulation technique, has been used to either excite or inhibit brain activity in order to better understand the neural mechanism underlying speech perception in noise. In the present study, anodal (excitatory) and cathodal (inhibitory) stimulations were performed on 48 participants, either over the left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG), which includes Broca's area (n = 10 anodal, and n = 10 cathodal) or over the left Superior Temporal Gyrus (STG), which includes Wernicke's area (n = 13 anodal, n = 15 cathodal).

The Role of Early Intact Auditory Experience on the Perception of Spoken Emotions, Comparing Prelingual to Postlingual Cochlear Implant Users.

Objectives: Cochlear implants (CI) are remarkably effective, but have limitations regarding the transformation of the spectro-temporal fine structures of speech. This may impair processing of spoken emotions, which involves the identification and integration of semantic and prosodic cues. Our previous study found spoken-emotions-processing differences between CI users with postlingual deafness (postlingual CI) and normal hearing (NH) matched controls (age range, 19 to 65 years).

Hebrew Digits in Noise (DIN) Test in Cochlear Implant Users and Normal Hearing Listeners.

This study aimed to compare the Hebrew version of the digits-in-noise (DIN) thresholds among cochlear implant (CI) users and their normal-hearing (NH) counterparts, explore the influence of age on these thresholds, examine the effects of early auditory exposure versus its absence on DIN threshold, and assess the correlation between DIN thresholds and other speech perception tests. A total of 13 children with CI (aged 5.5-11 years), 15 pre-lingual CI users (aged 14-30 years), and 15 post-lingual CI users (aged 22-77 years), and their age-matched NH controls (n = 45) participated in the study.

Assessment of Interaural Attenuation in Infants and Young Children Using Bone-Conducted Auditory Brainstem Response.

Objectives: In hearing assessment, the term interaural attenuation (IAA) is used to quantify the reduction in test signal intensity as it crosses from the side of the test ear to the nontest ear. In the auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing of infants and young children, the size of the IAA of bone-conducted (BC) stimuli is essential for the appropriate use of masking, which is needed for the accurate measurement of BC ABR thresholds. This study aimed to assess the IAA for BC ABR testing using 0.

Speech recognition in noise task among children and young-adults: a pupillometry study.

Introduction: Children experience unique challenges when listening to speech in noisy environments. The present study used pupillometry, an established method for quantifying listening and cognitive effort, to detect temporal changes in pupil dilation during a speech-recognition-in-noise task among school-aged children and young adults.

Methods: Thirty school-aged children and 31 young adults listened to sentences amidst four-talker babble noise in two signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) conditions: high accuracy condition (+10 dB and  + 6 dB, for children and adults, respectively) and low accuracy condition (+5 dB and + 2 dB, for children and adults, respectively).

The Effect of Age, Type of Noise, and Cochlear Implants on Adaptive Sentence-in-Noise Task.

Adaptive tests of sentences in noise mimic the challenge of daily listening situations. The aims of the present study were to validate an adaptive version of the HeBio sentence test on normal hearing (NH) adults; to evaluate the effect of age and type of noise on speech reception threshold in noise (SRTn); and to test it on prelingual adults with cochlear implants (CI). In Experiment 1, 45 NH young adults listened to two lists accompanied by four-talker babble noise (4TBN).

Is COVID-19 to Blame for Sensorineural Hearing Deterioration? A Pre/Post COVID-19 Hearing Evaluation Study.

Objectives: Here, we aimed to (a) determine whether a clinically significant sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) change could be detected in post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) hearing levels on comparing them with pre-infection hearing levels after controlling for the effect of age and (b) to identify risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, and smoking, which increase the likelihood of hearing loss in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed hearing thresholds in unvaccinated patient's pre- and post-COVID-19 infection. Thresholds were controlled for age and the duration between the pre- and post-COVID-19 hearing evaluations.

AzBio Sentence test in Hebrew (HeBio): development, preliminary validation, and the effect of noise.

The AzBio sentence test is widely used to assess speech perception pre- and post-cochlear implantation. This study created and validated a Hebrew version of AzBio (HeBio) and tested its intelligibility amidst background noise. In Experiment 1, 1,000 recorded Hebrew sentences were presented via five-channel vocoder to 10 normal hearing (NH) listeners for intelligibility testing.

More Than Words: the Relative Roles of Prosody and Semantics in the Perception of Emotions in Spoken Language by Postlingual Cochlear Implant Users.

Objectives: The processing of emotional speech calls for the perception and integration of semantic and prosodic cues. Although cochlear implants allow for significant auditory improvements, they are limited in the transmission of spectro-temporal fine-structure information that may not support the processing of voice pitch cues. The goal of the current study is to compare the performance of postlingual cochlear implant (CI) users and a matched control group on perception, selective attention, and integration of emotional semantics and prosody.

Production Improves Visual and Auditory Text Memory in Younger and Older Adults.

Introduction: The production effect refers to memory benefits for materials that were produced (e.g., read aloud) relative to not produced (e.

Visual and Auditory Verbal Memory in Older Adults: Comparing Postlingually Deaf Cochlear Implant Users to Normal-Hearing Controls.

Purpose The aim of this study was to test whether a group of older postlingually deafened cochlear implant users (OCIs) use similar verbal memory strategies to those used by older normal-hearing adults (ONHs). Verbal memory functioning was assessed in the visual and auditory modalities separately, enabling us to eliminate possible modality-based biases. Method Participants performed two separate visual and auditory verbal memory tasks.

Auditory Training to Improve Speech Perception and Self-Efficacy in Aging Adults.

Purpose Difficulty in understanding spoken speech is a common complaint among aging adults, even when hearing impairment is absent. Correlational studies point to a relationship between age, auditory temporal processing (ATP), and speech perception but cannot demonstrate causality unlike training studies. In the current study, we test (a) the causal relationship between a spatial-temporal ATP task (temporal order judgment [TOJ]) and speech perception among aging adults using a training design and (b) whether improvement in aging adult speech perception is accompanied by improved self-efficacy.

Listening Effort Among Adults With and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Purpose Few studies have assessed listening effort (LE)-the cognitive resources required to perceive speech-among populations with intact hearing but reduced availability of cognitive resources. Attention/deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is theorized to restrict attention span, possibly making speech perception in adverse conditions more challenging. This study examined the effect of ADHD on LE among adults using a behavioral dual-task paradigm (DTP).

The effect of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) on speech production: cochlear implanted versus normal hearing individuals.

Normal auditory feedback contributes to moment-to-moment control of speech production. Effects of auditory feedback's absence on hearing-impaired individuals are widely documented, but auditory perturbation has not been investigated. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) on speech production among prelingual cochlear implant (CI) users and normal hearing (NH) individuals, to evaluate CI users' reliance on auditory feedback.

The Effect of Presentation Mode and Production Type on Word Memory for Hearing Impaired Signers.

Background: Production effect (PE) is a memory phenomenon referring to better memory for produced (vocalized) than for non-produced (silently read) items. Reading aloud was found to improve verbal memory for normal-hearing individuals, as well as for cochlear implant users, studying visually and aurally presented material.

Purpose: The present study tested the effect of presentation mode (written or signed) and production type (vocalization or signing) on word memory in a group of hearing impaired young adults, sign-language users.

Auditory temporal processing, reading, and phonological awareness among aging adults.

Auditory temporal processing (ATP) has been related in the literature to both speech perception as well as reading and phonological awareness. In aging adults, it is known to be related to difficulties in speech perception. In the present study, we aimed to test whether an age-related deficit in ATP would also be accompanied by poor reading and phonological awareness.

The Effect of Learning Modality and Auditory Feedback on Word Memory: Cochlear-Implanted versus Normal-Hearing Adults.

Background: In recent years, the effect of cognitive abilities on the achievements of cochlear implant (CI) users has been evaluated. Some studies have suggested that gaps between CI users and normal-hearing (NH) peers in cognitive tasks are modality specific, and occur only in auditory tasks.

Purpose: The present study focused on the effect of learning modality (auditory, visual) and auditory feedback on word memory in young adults who were prelingually deafened and received CIs before the age of 5 yr, and their NH peers.

Audio-visual speech perception in noise: Implanted children and young adults versus normal hearing peers.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate auditory, visual and audiovisual speech perception abilities among two groups of cochlear implant (CI) users: prelingual children and long-term young adults, as compared to their normal hearing (NH) peers.

Methods: Prospective cohort study that included 50 participants, divided into two groups of CI (10 children and 10 adults), and two groups of normal hearing peers (15 participants each). Speech stimuli included monosyllabic meaningful and nonsense words in a signal to noise ratio of 0 dB.

The Effect of Age and Type of Noise on Speech Perception under Conditions of Changing Context and Noise Levels.

Objective: Everyday life includes fluctuating noise levels, resulting in continuously changing speech intelligibility. The study aims were: (1) to quantify the amount of decrease in age-related speech perception, as a result of increasing noise level, and (2) to test the effect of age on context usage at the word level (smaller amount of contextual cues).

Patients And Methods: A total of 24 young adults (age 20-30 years) and 20 older adults (age 60-75 years) were tested.

Auditory and visual information in speech perception: A developmental perspective.

This study investigates the development of audiovisual speech perception from age 4 to 80, analysing the contribution of modality, context and special features of specific language being tested. Data of 77 participants in five age groups is presented in the study. Speech stimuli were introduced via auditory, visual and audiovisual modalities.

Evidence for a right cochlear implant advantage in simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation.

Objectives/hypothesis: To compare speech perception performance with right versus left cochlear implants (CIs) in children with bilateral CIs implanted simultaneously.

Study Design: Prospective case series of patients undergoing simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation.

Methods: Speech perception performance was tested in 10, right-handed children who received bilateral CIs simultaneously between 11 and 36 months (mean, 21 months), had at least 18 months of bilateral CI use, and were 5.

Are changes in pitch and formants enough to influence talker normalization processes in children and adults?

In the present study, we examined the influence of mean F0 and formant values on talker normalization. Initially, two speakers recorded an identical set of 10 isophonemic word lists in Hebrew, consisting of 10 words each. These recordings were then manipulated by means that affect F0 only, or both F0 and formant frequencies.

Cochlear implantation in elderly patients: surgical and audiological outcome.

Background: Deteriorated hearing affects speech perception and speech production, and negatively impacts on social interaction, employment, income, and, as a result, the quality of life of the elderly population. Lack of satisfaction with conventional hearing aids motivated part of them to turn to more sophisticated cochlear device systems.

Objective: To investigate the outcome of cochlear implantation (CI) among elderly cochlear implant recipients.

Factors affecting choice of device by cochlear implant candidates.

Objective: To investigate the ways the various cochlear devices are chosen by candidates/surrogates and analyze the factors that influenced their decisions.

Setting: University-affiliated tertiary referral center.

Method: : A questionnaire that included general items and questions on device's aesthetics, technical considerations, and quality was sent to 429 patients who underwent cochlear implantation between June 1997 and December 2006 in our department.