Dataset Information

Tinnitus and Auditory Perception After a History of Noise Exposure: Relationship to Auditory Brainstem Response Measures.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To determine whether auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave I amplitude is associated with measures of auditory perception in young people with normal distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and varying levels of noise exposure history. DESIGN:Tinnitus, loudness tolerance, and speech perception ability were measured in 31 young military Veterans and 43 non-Veterans (19 to 35 years of age) with normal pure-tone thresholds and DPOAEs. Speech perception was evaluated in quiet using Northwestern University Auditory Test (NU-6) word lists and in background noise using the words in noise (WIN) test. Loudness discomfort levels were measured using 1-, 3-, 4-, and 6-kHz pulsed pure tones. DPOAEs and ABRs were collected in each participant to assess outer hair cell and auditory nerve function. RESULTS:The probability of reporting tinnitus in this sample increased by a factor of 2.0 per 0.1 µV decrease in ABR wave I amplitude (95% Bayesian confidence interval, 1.1 to 5.0) for males and by a factor of 2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 6.4) for females after adjusting for sex and DPOAE levels. Similar results were obtained in an alternate model adjusted for pure-tone thresholds in addition to sex and DPOAE levels. No apparent relationship was found between wave I amplitude and either loudness tolerance or speech perception in quiet or noise. CONCLUSIONS:Reduced ABR wave I amplitude was associated with an increased risk of tinnitus, even after adjusting for DPOAEs and sex. In contrast, wave III and V amplitudes had little effect on tinnitus risk. This suggests that changes in peripheral input at the level of the inner hair cell or auditory nerve may lead to increases in central gain that give rise to the perception of tinnitus. Although the extent of synaptopathy in the study participants cannot be measured directly, these findings are consistent with the prediction that tinnitus may be a perceptual consequence of cochlear synaptopathy.

SUBMITTER: Bramhall NF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7178521 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep/Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Tinnitus and Auditory Perception After a History of Noise Exposure: Relationship to Auditory Brainstem Response Measures.

Bramhall Naomi F NF Konrad-Martin Dawn D McMillan Garnett P GP

Ear and hearing 20180901 5

<h4>Objectives</h4>To determine whether auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave I amplitude is associated with measures of auditory perception in young people with normal distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and varying levels of noise exposure history.<h4>Design</h4>Tinnitus, loudness tolerance, and speech perception ability were measured in 31 young military Veterans and 43 non-Veterans (19 to 35 years of age) with normal pure-tone thresholds and DPOAEs. Speech perception was evalu ...[more]

PMID: 29337762

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Project description:The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether auditory brainstem response (ABR) and speech perception in noise (SPiN) were associated with occupational noise exposure in normal hearing young factory workers. Forty young adults occupationally exposed to noise and 40 non-exposed young adults (control group) from Zhejiang province in China were selected. All participants presented with normal hearing thresholds and distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Participants were evaluated with the Mandarin Bamford-Kowal-Bench (BKB) test and ABR. The latter was obtained for click stimulus at 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 dBnHL. Peak-to-trough amplitudes and latencies for waves I and V were obtained. The ABR wave I amplitude, the wave I/V amplitude ratio, the slope of the wave I amplitude growth as a function of stimulus intensity (AMP-ISlope), and the wave V latency shift with ipsilateral noise (LAT-VSlope) were used as ABR outcomes. Finally, equivalent continuous average sound pressure level normalized to 8 h (LAeq.8h) and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) were obtained for noise-exposed participants. No significant differences between groups were found for any ABR outcomes. Noise-exposed participants exhibited worse BKB scores than control group participants. A multivariate regression model showed that 23.3% of the variance in BKB scores was explained by group category (exposed vs. non-exposed) and hearing thresholds. However, since none of the ABR outcomes exploring cochlear synaptopathy were associated with noise exposure, we cannot conclude that cochlear synaptopathy was the contributing factor for the differences between groups for BKB scores. Factors that go beyond sensory processing may explain such results, especially given socio-economic differences between the noise-exposed and control groups. We conclude that in this sample of participants, occupational noise exposure was not associated with signs of cochlear synaptopathy as measured by ABR and BKB.

Project description:The aim of the investigation was to study if dysfunctions associated to the cochlea or its regulatory system can be found, and possibly explain hearing problems in subjects with normal or near-normal audiograms. The design was a prospective study of subjects recruited from the general population. The included subjects were persons with auditory problems who had normal, or near-normal, pure tone hearing thresholds, who could be included in one of three subgroups: teachers, Education; people working with music, Music; and people with moderate or negligible noise exposure, Other. A fourth group included people with poorer pure tone hearing thresholds and a history of severe occupational noise, Industry. Ntotal?=?193. The following hearing tests were used: - pure tone audiometry with Békésy technique, - transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and distortion product otoacoustic emissions, without and with contralateral noise; - psychoacoustical modulation transfer function, - forward masking, - speech recognition in noise, - tinnitus matching. A questionnaire about occupations, noise exposure, stress/anxiety, muscular problems, medication, and heredity, was addressed to the participants. Forward masking results were significantly worse for Education and Industry than for the other groups, possibly associated to the inner hair cell area. Forward masking results were significantly correlated to louder matched tinnitus. For many subjects speech recognition in noise, left ear, did not increase in a normal way when the listening level was increased. Subjects hypersensitive to loud sound had significantly better speech recognition in noise at the lower test level than subjects not hypersensitive. Self-reported stress/anxiety was similar for all groups. In conclusion, hearing dysfunctions were found in subjects with tinnitus and other auditory problems, combined with normal or near-normal pure tone thresholds. The teachers, mostly regarded as a group exposed to noise below risk levels, had dysfunctions almost identical to those of the more exposed Industry group.

Dataset Information

Tinnitus and Auditory Perception After a History of Noise Exposure: Relationship to Auditory Brainstem Response Measures.

Publications

Tinnitus and Auditory Perception After a History of Noise Exposure: Relationship to Auditory Brainstem Response Measures.

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