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Auditory Tests for Characterizing Hearing Deficits in Listeners With Various Hearing Abilities: The BEAR Test Battery

Sanchez-Lopez, Raul; Nielsen, Silje Grini; El-Haj-Ali, Mouhamad; Bianchi, Federica; Fereczkowski, Michal; Cañete, Oscar M.; Wu, Mengfan; Neher, Tobias; Dau, Torsten; Santurette, Sébastien

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Authors

Raul Sanchez-Lopez

Silje Grini Nielsen

Mouhamad El-Haj-Ali

Federica Bianchi

Michal Fereczkowski

Oscar M. Cañete

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MENGFAN WU MENGFAN.WU@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Research Fellow

Tobias Neher

Torsten Dau

Sébastien Santurette



Abstract

The Better hEAring Rehabilitation (BEAR) project aims to provide a new clinical profiling tool—a test battery—for hearing loss characterization. Although the loss of sensitivity can be efficiently measured using pure-tone audiometry, the assessment of supra-threshold hearing deficits remains a challenge. In contrast to the classical “attenuation-distortion” model, the proposed BEAR approach is based on the hypothesis that the hearing abilities of a given listener can be characterized along two dimensions, reflecting independent types of perceptual deficits (distortions). A data-driven approach provided evidence for the existence of different auditory profiles with different degrees of distortions. Ten tests were included in a test battery, based on their clinical feasibility, time efficiency, and related evidence from the literature. The tests were divided into six categories: audibility, speech perception, binaural processing abilities, loudness perception, spectro-temporal modulation sensitivity, and spectro-temporal resolution. Seventy-five listeners with symmetric, mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss were selected from a clinical population. The analysis of the results showed interrelations among outcomes related to high-frequency processing and outcome measures related to low-frequency processing abilities. The results showed the ability of the tests to reveal differences among individuals and their potential use in clinical settings.

Citation

Sanchez-Lopez, R., Nielsen, S. G., El-Haj-Ali, M., Bianchi, F., Fereczkowski, M., Cañete, O. M., …Santurette, S. (2021). Auditory Tests for Characterizing Hearing Deficits in Listeners With Various Hearing Abilities: The BEAR Test Battery. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, Article 724007. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.724007

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 11, 2021
Online Publication Date Sep 29, 2021
Publication Date Sep 29, 2021
Deposit Date Jul 28, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Frontiers in Neuroscience
Print ISSN 1662-4548
Electronic ISSN 1662-453X
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Article Number 724007
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.724007
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/9407485
Publisher URL https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.724007/full

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