Perceptual consequences of "hidden" hearing loss

Plack, Christopher J. and Barker, Daphne and Prendergast, Garreth (2014) Perceptual consequences of "hidden" hearing loss. Trends in Hearing, 18: 2331216514. ISSN 2331-2165

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Abstract

Dramatic results from recent animal experiments show that noise exposure can cause a selective loss of high-threshold auditory nerve fibers without affecting absolute sensitivity permanently. This cochlear neuropathy has been described as hidden hearing loss, as it is not thought to be detectable using standard measures of audiometric threshold. It is possible that hidden hearing loss is a common condition in humans and may underlie some of the perceptual deficits experienced by people with clinically normal hearing. There is some evidence that a history of noise exposure is associated with difficulties in speech discrimination and temporal processing, even in the absence of any audiometric loss. There is also evidence that the tinnitus experienced by listeners with clinically normal hearing is associated with cochlear neuropathy, as measured using Wave I of the auditory brainstem response. To date, however, there has been no direct link made between noise exposure, cochlear neuropathy, and perceptual difficulties. Animal experiments also reveal that the aging process itself, in the absence of significant noise exposure, is associated with loss of auditory nerve fibers. Evidence from human temporal bone studies and auditory brainstem response measures suggests that this form of hidden loss is common in humans and may have perceptual consequences, in particular, regarding the coding of the temporal aspects of sounds. Hidden hearing loss is potentially a major health issue, and investigations are ongoing to identify the causes and consequences of this troubling condition.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Trends in Hearing
Additional Information:
Creative Commons CC-BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm)
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700
Subjects:
?? sensorineural hearing lossnoise-induced hearing losscochlear nervetinnitusagingproduct otoacoustic emissionsinduced cochlear neuropathyfine-structure sensitivityauditory-evoked responsesking-kopetzky-syndromebrain-stemnoise exposurenerve-fiberscomputation ??
ID Code:
72012
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
03 Dec 2014 09:03
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
03 Mar 2024 01:15