Effects of simulated cochlear implant listening on postural control in typical-hearing adults.

Objective: Heightened listening effort in cochlear implant (CI) users may have a significant impact on their balance performance. This study aims to investigate the impact of listening effort on postural control in typical-hearing adults presented with CI-simulated speech in noise.

Methods: The study participants were fifty-eight adults with typical hearing (aged 20-24 years).

Low-frequency pitch sensitivity and speech perception performance in adult cochlear implant users fitted with fine structure strategies.

Purpose: Cochlear implant (CI) users may perceive pitch changes via repetition rate (RP) and place-of-stimulation (PP) coding mechanisms. This study investigated whether CI users fitted with fine structure (FS) strategies can discriminate low-frequency (LF) pitch changes via RP and whether RP performers show better speech recognition than PP performers.

Methods: Thirty postlingually deafened adult CI users (15 unilateral, 15 bilateral) participated in this study.

Temporal Sensitivity in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Insights Into Their Everyday Auditory Performance.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) on low-frequency (LF) pitch and speech-in-noise perception linked to temporal sensitivity and everyday auditory performance. The relationships between these outcomes and potential confounders, such as diabetes duration, glycemic control, and neuropathy, were also examined.

Method: The participants consisted of 18 young patients with T1DM.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Listening Inventory for Education-Revised in Italian.

Background: Listening difficulties may frequently occur in school settings, but so far there were no tools to identify them for both hearing and hearing-impaired Italian students. This study performed cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Listening Inventory for Education-Revised for Italian students (LIFE-R-ITA).

Methods: The study procedure followed the stages suggested by the Guidelines for the Process of Cross-cultural Adaptation of Self-Report Measures.

Emotional abilities in preadolescents and adolescents with long-term cochlear implant use.

Objectives: Emotional abilities (EAs) are particularly important during preadolescence/adolescence, two challenging periods characterized by significant biological, physical, and cognitive changes. The present study attempted to a holistic EA approach in preadolescents/adolescents with cochlear implants (CI) and typical hearing (TH), considering various aspects such as perception, cognitive facilitation, comprehension, and management of emotions. A secondary aim was to identify significant demographic and audiological factors of EA development.

Low-frequency pitch coding: relationships with speech-in-noise and music perception by pediatric populations with typical hearing and cochlear implants.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of low frequency (LF) pitch perception on speech-in-noise and music perception performance by children with cochlear implants (CIC) and typical hearing (THC). Moreover, the relationships between speech-in-noise and music perception as well as the effects of demographic and audiological factors on present research outcomes were studied.

Methods: The sample consisted of 22 CIC and 20 THC (7-10 years).

Executive functions in preschool and school-age cochlear implant users: do they differ from their hearing peers? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Executive functions (EF) play a fundamental role in planning and executing goal-driven behaviours. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate EF skills mastered by preschool/school-age cochlear implanted children (CIC) without morpho-functional abnormalities and to compare their outcomes with typically hearing children (THC).

Methods: Bibliographic search for observational studies of any language/date up to 16 December 2022 was performed with the following electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.

Assessment of Binaural Benefits in Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate which speech material is most appropriate as stimulus in head shadow effect (HSE) and binaural squelch (SQ) tests, (b) obtain normative values of both tests using the material decided to be optimal, and (c) explore the results in bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users.

Method: Study participants consisted of 30 normal-hearing (NH) persons and 34 bilateral CI users. This study consisted of three phases.

Neuropsychological Functions and Audiological Findings in Elderly Cochlear Implant Users: The Role of Attention in Postoperative Performance.

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate in a group of elderly CI users working memory and attention, conventionally considered as predictors of better CI performance and to try to disentangle the effects of these cognitive domains on speech perception, finding potential markers of cognitive decline related to audiometric findings. Methods Thirty postlingually deafened CI users aged >60 underwent an audiological evaluation followed by a cognitive assessment of attention and verbal working memory. A correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the associations between cognitive variables while a simple regression investigated the relationships between cognitive and audiological variables.

Long-term speech perception and morphosyntactic outcomes in adolescents and young adults implanted in childhood.

Background: Long-term assessments of children with cochlear implants (CI) are important inputs to help guide families and professionals in therapeutic and counselling processes. Based on these premises, the primary aim of the present study was to assess the long-term speech and language outcomes in a sample of prelingually deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) adolescents and young adults with unilateral or bilateral implantation in childhood. The secondary aim was to investigate the correlations of age at implantation with long-term speech and language outcomes.

Views of Syrian Mothers in Ankara on Infant Hearing Loss: Cross-sectional Survey.

Background: Mothers' awareness of hearing loss, its risk factors, and available detection and intervention choices have been well known to play an essential role in the early detection and intervention of hearing loss.

Objective: To investigate the knowledge and attitude of Syrian mothers toward infant hearing loss, early identification, and intervention.

Methods: The "Maternal Views on Infant Hearing Loss" questionnaire was adapted and translated into Arabic and then administered to 100 Syrian mothers living in different neighborhoods in Ankara within the age range of 18-68 years old.

Auditory perception in pediatric cochlear implant users with cochlear nerve hypoplasia.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess auditory perception and speech intelligibility outcomes in children with cochlear nerve (CN) hypoplasia who received cochlear implants (CIs) using Categories of Auditory Performance II (CAP II) and Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) scales.

Methods: In total, 40 children who received CI and who were aged between 3 and 18 years were included in this study. The study group included 20 children with CN hypoplasia at least one ear, while the control group included 20 children with normal cochleas and cochlear nerve structures.

Hearing-related quality of life assessment of pediatric cochlear implant users with inner ear malformations.

Objectives: To assess the quality of life (QoL) in child and adolescent cochlear implant users with inner ear malformations (IEM) and to compare their outcomes to their cochlear implant using peers with normal inner ear structures.

Methods: The present sample consisted of 100 children (45 with IEM, 55 without IEM) and 100 adolescents (46 with IEM, 54 without IEM). The following QoL questionnaires were used to assess the hearing-related QoL: The Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life 26 (HEAR-QL-26 for children between 7 and 12 years of age) and HEAR-QL-28 (for adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age).

The influence of auditory selective attention on linguistic outcomes in deaf and hard of hearing children with cochlear implants.

Purpose: Auditory selective attention (ASA) is crucial to focus on significant auditory stimuli without being distracted by irrelevant auditory signals and plays an important role in language development. The present study aimed to investigate the unique contribution of ASA to the linguistic levels achieved by a group of cochlear implanted (CI) children.

Methods: Thirty-four CI children with a median age of 10.

Music perception and speech intelligibility in noise performance by Italian-speaking cochlear implant users.

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the performance correlations between music perception and speech intelligibility in noise by Italian-speaking cochlear implant (CI) users.

Materials And Methods: Twenty postlingually deafened adults with unilateral CIs (mean age 65 years, range 46-92 years) were tested with a music quality questionnaire using three passages of music from Classical Music, Jazz, and Soul. Speech recognition in noise was assessed using two newly developed adaptive tests in Italian: The Sentence Test with Adaptive Randomized Roving levels (STARR) and Matrix tests.

Temporal coding and music perception in bimodal listeners.

Objective: Limited low frequency (LF) pitch and temporal fine structure (TFS) sensitivity have been thought to contribute significantly to poor music perception in cochlear implant (CI) listeners. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate music perception in relation to LF pitch perception and temporal coding, specifically in people with bimodal stimulation as a promising approach to improve spectro-temporal sensitivity in CI listeners.

Methods: Eleven postlingually deafened bimodal listeners participated in the study (mean age=55.

Bimodal cochlear implantation in elderly patients.

Objective: Bimodal stimulation is a standard option for asymmetric hearing loss in adults. Questions have been raised whether receiving two stimulations may conflict in elderly listeners where the central integration of an acoustic/electrical signal may be very important to obtain benefit in terms of speech perception.

Design: Clinical retrospective study.

Intonational cues for speech perception in noise by cochlear implant listeners.

Purpose: The objectives of this study are to evaluate cochlear implant (CI) listeners' ability to infer low frequency (LF) pitch information from temporal fine structure (TFS) cues and to gain insight into its effects on speech perception, especially in the presence of a fluctuating background noise. Pitch perception assessment using linguistic stimuli is believed to better reflect the role of pitch in communicatively realistic situations.

Methods: The low-pass-filtered sentence intonation (SI-LPF) test based on linguistic stimuli marked by intonation changes is used to estimate a difference limen for discrimination of LF pitch changes in adult CI listeners (N = 17 ears).

Perception of lexical stress cued by low-frequency pitch and insights into speech perception in noise for cochlear implant users and normal hearing adults.

Purpose: Cochlear implant (CI) users show great difficulty for understanding speech in noise and this fact may partly stem from their poor low-frequency (LF) pitch perception and temporal fine structure (TFS) processing. Clinical assessment of pitch perception is usually based on non-speech tasks. However, linguistically relevant contexts such as lexical stress may better reflect the role of pitch in speech perception, especially for everyday speech where background noise is inevitable.

The role of speech rate for Italian-speaking cochlear implant users: insights for everyday speech perception.

This study investigated the effect of speech rate for Italian-speaking cochlear implant (CI) users with the aim of gaining insight into everyday listening situations where speaker's rate may vary considerably together with speech level in fluctuating background noise. The test material was prepared by processing the Italian STARR test with temporal compression of sentence material. Twelve adult CI users were divided into two subgroups based on their STARR performance: good and poor performers.

Temporal Fine Structure Processing, Pitch, and Speech Perception in Adult Cochlear Implant Recipients.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the link between temporal fine structure (TFS) processing, pitch, and speech perception performance in adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients, including bimodal listeners who may benefit better low-frequency (LF) temporal coding in the contralateral ear.

Design: The study participants were 43 adult CI recipients (23 unilateral, 6 bilateral, and 14 bimodal listeners). Two new LF pitch perception tests-harmonic intonation (HI) and disharmonic intonation (DI)-were used to evaluate TFS sensitivity.

Level of emotion comprehension in children with mid to long term cochlear implant use: How basic and more complex emotion recognition relates to language and age at implantation.

Objectives: The current study was designed with three main aims: To document the level of emotional comprehension skills, from basic to more complex ones, reached by a wide sample of cochlear implant (CI) deaf children with at least 36 months of device use; To investigate subjective and audiological factors that can affect their emotional development; To identify, if present, a "critical age", in which early intervention might positively affect adequate emotional competence development.

Design: This is an observational cohort study. Children with congenital severe/profound deafness were selected based on: aged by 4-11 years, minimum of 36 months of CI use, Italian as the primary language in the family; normal cognitive level and absence of associated disorders or socio-economic difficulties.

Adaptation of the STARR test for adult Italian population: A speech test for a realistic estimate in real-life listening conditions.

Objectives: To introduce the Italian adaptation of the STARR test based on a roving-level adaptive method to mimic challenging real-life listening conditions for use in people with auditory prostheses.

Design: Normative data were collected and interlist-variability, as well as learning effects, were investigated using a within-subject design with repeated measures.

Study Sample: A group of 32 normal-hearing (NH) adults participated in the study.