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.

CD38 Coordinates with NF-κB to Promote Cochlear Inflammation in Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: the Protective Effect of Apigenin.

Noise exposure is one of the most common causes of sensorineural hearing loss. Although many studies considered inflammation to be a major contributor to noise-induced hearing loss, the process of cochlear inflammation is still unclear. Studies have found that activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway results in the accumulation of macrophages in the inner ear plays an important role in hair cell damage.

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.

Combination of static and dynamic neural imaging features to distinguish sensorineural hearing loss: a machine learning study.

Purpose: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is the most common form of sensory deprivation and is often unrecognized by patients, inducing not only auditory but also nonauditory symptoms. Data-driven classifier modeling with the combination of neural static and dynamic imaging features could be effectively used to classify SNHL individuals and healthy controls (HCs).

Methods: We conducted hearing evaluation, neurological scale tests and resting-state MRI on 110 SNHL patients and 106 HCs.

Targeted insertion of conditional expression cassettes into the mouse genome using the modified i-PITT.

Background: Transgenic (Tg) mice are widely used in biomedical research, and they are typically generated by injecting transgenic DNA cassettes into pronuclei of one-cell stage zygotes. Such animals often show unreliable expression of the transgenic DNA, one of the major reasons for which is random insertion of the transgenes. We previously developed a method called "pronuclear injection-based targeted transgenesis" (PITT), in which DNA constructs are directed to insert at pre-designated genomic loci.

Auditory Effects of Acoustic Noise From 3-T Brain MRI in Neonates With Hearing Protection.

Background: Neonates with immature auditory function (eg, weak/absent middle ear muscle reflex) could conceivably be vulnerable to noise-induced hearing loss; however, it is unclear if neonates show evidence of hearing loss following MRI acoustic noise exposure.

Purpose: To explore the auditory effects of MRI acoustic noise in neonates.

Study Type: Prospective.

Antioxidative Stress-Induced Destruction to Cochlear Cells Caused by Blind Antioxidant Therapy.

Objective: Verification that blind and excessive use of antioxidants leads to antioxidant stress which exacerbates cochlear cell damage.

Study Design: Basic research.

Setting: The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University.

Reorganization of the cortical connectome functional gradient in age-related hearing loss.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), one of the most common sensory deficits in elderly individuals, is a risk factor for dementia; however, it is unclear how ARHL affects the decline in cognitive function. To address this issue, a connectome gradient framework was used to identify critical features of information integration between sensory and cognitive processing centers using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 40 individuals with ARHL and 36 healthy controls (HCs). The first three functional gradient alterations associated with ARHL were investigated at the global, network and regional levels.

Chronic stress induced loudness hyperacusis, sound avoidance and auditory cortex hyperactivity.

Hyperacusis, a debilitating loudness intolerance disorder, has been linked to chronic stress and adrenal insufficiency. To investigate the role of chronic stress, rats were chronically treated with corticosterone (CORT) stress hormone. Chronic CORT produced behavioral evidence of loudness hyperacusis, sound avoidance hyperacusis, and abnormal temporal integration of loudness.

Oridonin employs interleukin 1 receptor type 2 to treat noise-induced hearing loss by blocking inner ear inflammation.

NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes trigger the inflammatory cascades and participate in various inflammatory diseases, including noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) caused by oxidative stress. Recently, the anti-inflammatory traditional medicine oridonin (Ori) has been reported to provide hearing protection in mice after noise exposure by blocking the NLRP3-never in mitosis gene A-related kinase 7 (NEK7)-inflammasome complex assembly. Using RNA sequencing analysis, we further elucidated that interleukin 1 receptor type 2 (IL1R2) may be another crucial factor regulated by Ori to protect NIHL.

Sex differences in body composition, voluntary wheel running activity, balance performance, and auditory function in CBA/CaJ mice across the lifespan.

Hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic health condition affecting older adults and age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is the most common form of hearing impairment. Significant sex differences in hearing have been documented in humans and rodents. In general, the results of these studies show that men lose their hearing more rapidly than women.

Universal automated classification of the acoustic startle reflex using machine learning.

The startle reflex (SR), a robust, motor response elicited by an intense auditory, visual, or somatosensory stimulus has been widely used as a tool to assess psychophysiology in humans and animals for almost a century in diverse fields such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, hearing loss, and tinnitus. Previously, SR waveforms have been ignored, or assessed with basic statistical techniques and/or simple template matching paradigms. This has led to considerable variability in SR studies from different laboratories, and species.

Hyperacusis: Loudness intolerance, fear, annoyance and pain.

Hyperacusis is a debilitating loudness intolerance disorder that can evoke annoyance, fear and aural facial pain. Although the auditory system seems to be the "central" player, hyperacusis is linked to more than twenty non-auditory medical disorders such as Williams syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, fibromyalgia, migraine, head trauma, lupus and acoustic shock syndrome. Neural models suggest that some forms of hyperacusis may result from enhanced central gain, a process by which neural signals from a damaged cochlea are progressively amplified as activity ascends rostrally through the classical auditory pathway as well as other non-auditory regions of the brain involved in emotions, memory and stress.

Auditory-limbic-cerebellum interactions and cognitive impairments in noise-induced hearing loss.

Aims: This study aimed to explore the neural substrate of hearing loss-related central nervous system in rats and its correlation with cognition.

Methods: We identified the neural mechanism for these debilitating abnormalities by inducing a bilateral hearing loss animal model using intense broadband noise (122 dB of broadband noise for 2 h) and used the Morris water maze test to characterize the behavioral changes at 6 months post-noise exposure. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted to clarify disrupted functional network using bilateral auditory cortex (ACx) as a seed.

Degree centrality and functional connections in presbycusis with and without cognitive impairments.

Presbycusis is a major public issue that affecting elderly adults. However, the neural substrates between normal cognition and cognitive deficits in these patients need to be illustrated. 47 patients with presbycusis and 33 well-matched healthy controls were recruited in present study.

Galectin-3 protects auditory function in female mice.

Sex differences in the development of sensorineural hearing loss have been recognized in various inner ear disorders, but the molecular basis for such differences is poorly understood. Autosomal genes have been shown to cause sex differences in disease susceptibility, but many genes exerting sex-dependent effects on auditory function remain to be identified. Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a protein encoded by the autosomal gene Lgals3, is a member of the β-galactoside-binding protein family, and has been linked to multiple biological processes, including immune responses, apoptosis, and cell adhesion.

Tinnitus Assessment and Management: A Survey of Practicing Audiologists in the United States and Canada.

Background: Tinnitus is a prevalent auditory disorder that can become severely debilitating. Despite decades of investigation, there remains no conclusive cure for tinnitus. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are available for assessing and managing tinnitus.

Hearing impairment in murine model of Down syndrome.

Hearing impairment is a cardinal feature of Down syndrome (DS), but its clinical manifestations have been attributed to multiple factors. Murine models could provide mechanistic insights on various causes of hearing loss in DS. To investigate mechanisms of hearing loss in DS in the absence of the cadherin 23 mutation, we backcrossed our DS mice, Dp(16)1Yey, onto normal-hearing CBA/J mice and evaluated their auditory function.

Ipsilateral auditory cortex responses to the intact ear after unilateral noise trauma in juvenile rats.

Background: While ear stimulation produces a robust response in the contralateral auditory cortex (AC), it produces only a weak response in the ipsilateral AC, known as interhemispheric asymmetry. Unilateral deafness can lead to AC plastic changes, resulting in reduced interhemispheric asymmetry and auditory perceptual consequences. However, the unilateral hearing loss-associated plastic changes are far from fully understood.

Altered resting-state functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex in rats post noise exposure.

Aims: We aimed to find where and how noise-induced cochlear hearing loss affects the central nervous system during the early state and identify the neural substrate for aberrant patterns that mediating noise-related anxiety-/depression- like behaviors.

Methods: Broad band noise with 122 dB for 2 hours was conducted to induce hearing loss. We defined 0 day (N0D) and 10 days (N10D) post noise as the acute and sub-acute period.