Hear Res
December 2024
Clinics of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hearing Center Hannover (DHZ), Karl-Wiechert-Allee 3, 30625 Hannover, Germany; Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology (VIANNA) & Dept. of Experimental Otology, Hannover Medical School, Stadtfelddamm 34, 30625 Hannover, Germany. Electronic address:
Objective: We investigated auditory working-memory using behavioural measures and electroencephalography (EEG) in adult Cochlear Implant (CI) users with varying degrees of CI performance.
Methods: 24 adult CI listeners (age: M = 61.38, SD = 12.
Neuroscience
January 2025
Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hanover, Germany; Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, German Research Foundation, Hanover, Germany. Electronic address:
Age-related hearing loss in humans has been associated with cognitive decline, though the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We investigated the long-term effects of hearing loss on attention, impulse control, social interaction, and neural activity within medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) subregions. Hearing loss was induced in adult rats via intracochlear neomycin injection (n = 13), with non-operated rats as controls (n = 10).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurosci
July 2024
Department of Experimental Otology, Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology, Clinics of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover D-30625, Germany
Congenital single-sided deafness (SSD) leads to an aural preference syndrome that is characterized by overrepresentation of the hearing ear in the auditory system. Cochlear implantation (CI) of the deaf ear is an effective treatment for SSD. However, the newly introduced auditory input in congenital SSD often does not reach expectations in late-implanted CI recipients with respect to binaural hearing and speech perception.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHear Res
August 2024
Hannover Medical School, Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology and Department of Experimental Otology of the ENT Clinics, Hannover, Germany; Australian Hearing Hub, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Neurons within a neuronal network can be grouped by bottom-up and top-down influences using synchrony in neuronal oscillations. This creates the representation of perceptual objects from sensory features. Oscillatory activity can be differentiated into stimulus-phase-locked (evoked) and non-phase-locked (induced).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Res Neurobiol
January 2024
Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.
Background: In children, hearing loss has been associated with hyperactivity, disturbed social interaction, and risk of cognitive disturbances. Mechanistic explanations of these relations sometimes involve language. To investigate the effect of hearing loss on behavioral deficits in the absence of language, we tested the impact of hearing loss in juvenile rats on motor, social, and cognitive behavior and on physiology of prefrontal cortex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFASEB J
January 2024
Molecular Physiology of Hearing, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tübingen Hearing Research Centre, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Autism spectrum disorder is discussed in the context of altered neural oscillations and imbalanced cortical excitation-inhibition of cortical origin. We studied here whether developmental changes in peripheral auditory processing, while preserving basic hearing function, lead to altered cortical oscillations. Local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from auditory, visual, and prefrontal cortices and the hippocampus of Bdnf KO mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEar Hear
December 2023
Department of Otolaryngology and Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA), Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Objectives: The maximum output provided by a bone conduction (BC) device is one of the main factors that determines the success when treating patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss. Different approaches such as sound pressure measurements using a probe microphone in the external auditory canal or a surface microphone on the forehead have been previously introduced to determine the maximum output of active transcutaneous BC devices that are not directly accessible after implantation. Here, we introduce a method to determine the maximum output hearing level (MOHL) of a transcutaneous active BC device using patients' audiometric data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Neurosci
May 2023
Department of Speech Language and Hearing Science, Center for Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. Electronic address:
Crossmodal plasticity is a textbook example of the ability of the brain to reorganize based on use. We review evidence from the auditory system showing that such reorganization has significant limits, is dependent on pre-existing circuitry and top-down interactions, and that extensive reorganization is often absent. We argue that the evidence does not support the hypothesis that crossmodal reorganization is responsible for closing critical periods in deafness, and crossmodal plasticity instead represents a neuronal process that is dynamically adaptable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHear Res
March 2023
Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology & Department of Experimental Otology, ENT Department, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Department of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
In cochlear implantation, current preoperative planning procedures allow for estimating how far a specific implant will reach into the inner ear of the patient, which is important to optimize hearing preservation and speech perception outcomes. Here we report on the development of a methodology that goes beyond current planning approaches: the proposed model does not only estimate specific outcome parameters but allows for entire, three-dimensional virtual implantations of patient-specific cochlear anatomies with different types of electrode arrays. The model was trained based on imaging datasets of 186 human cochleae, which contained 171 clinical computer tomographies (CTs) of actual cochlear implant patients as well as 15 high-resolution micro-CTs of cadaver cochleae to also reconstruct the refined intracochlear structures not visible in clinical imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Neurosci
November 2022
Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.
Background: Hearing loss was proposed as a factor affecting development of cognitive impairment in elderly. Deficits cannot be explained primarily by dysfunctional neuronal networks within the central auditory system. We here tested the impact of hearing loss in adult rats on motor, social, and cognitive function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomolecules
October 2022
Department of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the leading causes of sensorineural hearing loss with global importance. The current treatment of choice for patients with hearing problems is a hearing aid or a cochlear implant. However, there is currently no treatment to restore physiological hearing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEar Hear
December 2022
Department of Experimental Otology & Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology (VIANNA), ENT Clinics, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Objectives: Cochlear implantation criteria include subjects with residual low-frequency hearing. To minimize implantation trauma and to avoid unwanted interactions of electric- and acoustic stimuli, it is often recommended to stop cochlear implantation before the cochlear implant (CI) reaches the cochlear partition with residual hearing, as determined by an audiogram. For this purpose, the implant can be used to record acoustically evoked signals during implantation, including cochlear compound action potentials (CAP), cochlear microphonics (CMs), and summating potentials (SPs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLaryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol
June 2022
Department of Otorhinolaryngology German Hearing Center and Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA), Hannover Medical School Hannover Germany.
Introduction: The Hannover Coupler version 2 (HC2) was designed to (1) adapt the coupler geometry to the round window (RW) niche (2) to stabilize the floating mass transducer, and (3) to control static coupling forces to the RW. First audiological outcomes with a custom-made HC2 are reported here.
Material And Methods: Ten patients were enrolled in our site-initiated, prospective study.
Front Syst Neurosci
February 2022
Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology and Department of Experimental Otology of the ENT Clinics, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.
The influence of sensory experience on cortical feedforward and feedback interactions has rarely been studied in the auditory cortex. Previous work has documented a dystrophic effect of deafness in deep cortical layers, and a reduction of interareal couplings between primary and secondary auditory areas in congenital deafness which was particularly pronounced in the top-down direction (from the secondary to the primary area). In the present study, we directly quantified the functional interaction between superficial (supragranular, I to III) and deep (infragranular, V and VI) layers of feline's primary auditory cortex A1, and also between superficial/deep layers of A1 and a secondary auditory cortex, namely the posterior auditory field (PAF).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroimage Clin
March 2022
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
In naturalistic situations, sounds are often perceived in conjunction with matching visual impressions. For example, we see and hear the neighbor's dog barking in the garden. Still, there is a good chance that we recognize the neighbor's dog even when we only hear it barking, but do not see it behind the fence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHear Res
August 2022
Department of Otolaryngology and Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA), Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all.
Objectives: The output performance of a novel semi-implantable transcutaneous bone conduction device was compared to an established percutaneous bone-anchored hearing system device using cadaver heads. The influence of actuator position, tissue growth below the actuator and mounting it on the surface or in a flattened bone bed on the performance of the implanted actuator was investigated.
Materials And Methods: The percutaneous and the new transcutaneous device were sequentially implanted at two sites in five human cadaver heads: 55 mm superior-posterior to the ear canal opening (position A) and, closer to the cochlea, about 20 mm inferior-posterior to the ear canal opening behind the pinna on the mastoid (position B).
Otol Neurotol
July 2021
Department of Otolaryngology and Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA), Hannover Medical School.
Introduction: This study aims to investigate the performance of an active middle ear implant actuator for various coupling configurations. Actuator output and conductive losses were measured, and the stability of coupling was evaluated by challenging the link between actuator and ossicles through pressure events in magnitudes that occur in daily life.
Methods: Actuator coupling efficiency and the occurrence of conductive losses were measured in 10 temporal bones through laser Doppler vibrometry on the stapes footplate for various coupling types (incus short process with and without laser hole, incus long process, stapes head).
Nanomaterials (Basel)
April 2021
Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology and Department of Experimental Otology, ENT Clinic, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
Current developments of electrodes for neural recordings address the need of biomedical research and applications for high spatial acuity in electrophysiological recordings. One approach is the usage of novel materials to overcome electrochemical constraints of state-of-the-art metal contacts. Promising materials are carbon nanotubes (CNTs), as they are well suited for neural interfacing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Neurosci
January 2021
Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.
The function of the cerebral cortex essentially depends on the ability to form functional assemblies across different cortical areas serving different functions. Here we investigated how developmental hearing experience affects functional and effective interareal connectivity in the auditory cortex in an animal model with years-long and complete auditory deprivation (deafness) from birth, the congenitally deaf cat (CDC). Using intracortical multielectrode arrays, neuronal activity of adult hearing controls and CDCs was registered in the primary auditory cortex and the secondary posterior auditory field (PAF).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHear Res
April 2021
Department of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology & Department of Experimental Otology, ENT Department, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address:
The human cochlea has a highly individual microanatomy. Cochlear implantation therefore requires an evaluation of the individual cochlear anatomy to reduce surgical risk of implantation trauma. However, in-vivo cochlear imaging is limited in resolution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Sens
January 2021
Laboratory for Soft Matter and Biophysics, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, Leuven B-3001, Belgium.
In this article, we report on the development of a catheter-based, biomimetic sensor as a step toward a minimally invasive diagnostic instrument in the context of functional bowel disorders. Histamine is a key mediator in allergic and inflammatory processes in the small intestines; however, it is a challenge to determine histamine levels at the duodenal mucosa, and classical bioreceptors are unsuitable for use in the digestive medium of bowel fluid. Therefore, we have developed molecularly imprinted polypyrrole coatings for impedimetric sensing electrodes, which enable the quantification of histamine in nondiluted, human bowel fluid in a broad concentration range from 25 nM to 1 μM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOtol Neurotol
January 2021
Department of Otolaryngology and Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA), Hannover Medical School, Hannover.
Hypothesis: Intracochlear pressure measurements in one cochlear scala are sufficient as reference to determine the output of an active middle ear implant (AMEI) in terms of "equivalent sound pressure level" (eqSPL).
Background: The performance of AMEIs is commonly calculated from stapes velocities or intracochlear pressure differences (PDiff). However, there are scenarios where measuring stapes velocities or PDiff may not be feasible, for example when access to the stapes or one of the scalae is impractical.
Braz J Otorhinolaryngol
July 2022
Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA) & Department of Experimental Otology, Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University Hannover, Hannover, Germany; Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover, Germany.
Introduction: Electrocochleography has recently emerged as a diagnostic tool in cochlear implant surgery, purposing hearing preservation and optimal electrode positioning.
Objective: In this experimental study, extra-cochlear potentials were obtained during cochlear implant surgery in guinea pigs. The aim was to determine electrophysiological changes indicating cochlear trauma after cochleostomy and after electrode implantation in different insertion depths.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol
April 2021
Otorhinolaryngology Department, Head and Neck Surgery, Hanover Medical University, Hannover, Germany.
Background: After introducing the first Cochlear Implants also in children theses are grown with electrical intracochlear stimulation and subsequent auditory cortical development. Over the meantime the positioning of the electrode was changed orientated on the development of electrode design, ability to insert atraumatic and on the widening of the indications towards highfrequency deafness.
Methods: In this pilot study we analysed five prelingually deafened patients implanted as child in the late 90's and had a reimplantation 2016 or later.
Biosens Bioelectron
June 2020
KU Leuven, Laboratory for Soft Matter and Biophysics, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
In this work, we report on the development of a catheter-based sensor designed for measuring the concentration of histamine in the human duodenum. Certain gut disorders, such as the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), are associated with elevated levels of intestinal histamine due to chronic immune activation. As it is still impossible to determine histamine concentrations in vivo, a nasointestinal catheter with histamine-sensing capabilities has the potential to become a valuable diagnostic instrument.
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