Clinical trial NCT02147847: Computer-Based Auditory Rehabilitation
Official title: Neurological Treatment to Improve the Hearing in Noise Abilities of Older Adults With Hearing Impairments.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Presbycusis
Keywords: Presbycusis
Hearing In Noise
Hearing Impairment
Hearing Loss
Aging
Plasticity
Video Games
Perceptual Learning
Lead sponsor: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-05-28
Enrollment: 36
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 50
Maximum age (years): 85
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Hearing in noisy environments is a perceptual problem that is ubiquitous in modern industrialized societies. This particular listening context offers a particular challenge to individuals living with hearing impairment (30 million in US alone) even after treatment with hearing aids or cochlear implants. The ability of the brain to extract regularities from the environment and suppress distracting information can be improved with intensive cognitive training. The investigators will test whether the hearing in noise abilities of adults living with hearing impairment can be improved with a cognitive training paradigm.

Detailed description: Hearing impairment (HI) represents the most common cause of moderate to severe disability in the world, with an estimated prevalence of 636 million individuals (30 million in the US alone). Amplification devices (i.e., hearing aids) are commonly used to compensate for HI stemming from acoustic trauma, ototoxic insult, normal aging or other sources of cochlear degeneration. The chief complaint of individuals with HI is hearing in the types of noisy environments that characterize most work, educational, and social situations. Unfortunately, hearing aids do not completely address the perceptual impairments in these situations. That is because the difficulties that individuals with HI have hearing in noise result from the reduced salience of cues that are used to sort out auditory scenes. Making sounds louder improves audibility, but does not afford adaptation of the brain to the abnormal coding of sensory information by the damaged cochlea. The investigators will test whether the hearing in noise abilities of adults living with hearing impairment can be improved with a cognitive training paradigm.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Binaural sensorineural hearing impairment
* Use of binaural hearing aids
* Native English Speaker

Exclusion Criteria:

* Significant cognitive impairment
* Significant motor impairment
* History of neurological disease/head trauma
* Use of psychotropic and thyroid medications

Primary outcomes:
measure: Speech Perception in Noise
timeFrame: up to 3 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Frequency Modulation Detection
timeFrame: up to 3 months
measure: Stroop Task
timeFrame: up to 3 months
measure: Letter-Numbers Sequencing Test
timeFrame: up to 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
state: Massachusetts
city: Brighton
country: United States
facility: Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center
state: Massachusetts
city: New City
country: United States
facility: Hudson Valley Audiology Center
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School
name: Daniel Polley, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Anderson S, White-Schwoch T, Parbery-Clark A, Kraus N. Reversal of age-related neural timing delays with training. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Mar 12;110(11):4357-62. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1213555110. Epub 2013 Feb 11.
citation: Keeling MD, Calhoun BM, Kruger K, Polley DB, Schreiner CE. Spectral integration plasticity in cat auditory cortex induced by perceptual training. Exp Brain Res. 2008 Feb;184(4):493-509. doi: 10.1007/s00221-007-1115-9. Epub 2007 Sep 21.
citation: Polley DB, Heiser MA, Blake DT, Schreiner CE, Merzenich MM. Associative learning shapes the neural code for stimulus magnitude in primary auditory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Nov 16;101(46):16351-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0407586101. Epub 2004 Nov 8.
citation: Polley DB, Steinberg EE, Merzenich MM. Perceptual learning directs auditory cortical map reorganization through top-down influences. J Neurosci. 2006 May 3;26(18):4970-82. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3771-05.2006.
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