fNIRS, Listening Effort, and Motivation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Hearing Loss

• Registration Number: NCT05893992
• Lead Sponsor: Sonova AG

Brief Summary

The purpose of the current study is to measure oxygenation in the PFC using fNIRS in a sample of older adults with hearing loss. Participants will be instructed to listen to sentences in noise at a challenging signal-to-noise-ratio, and to repeat the word that they heard and rate how much subjective listening effort was required in order to make out the words. fNIRS will be measured throughout. Participants will complete the task using a hearing aid program intended for listening in quiet, and a hearing aid program with new advanced noise management features.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2023-05
• Study First Submitted: 2023-05-30
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-05-30
• Study First Posted: 2023-06-08
• Study Start: 2023-09-23
• Primary Completion: 2024-12-31
• Study Completion: 2024-12-31
• Results First Submitted: 2025-06-13
• Results First Submitted QC: 2025-07-28
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-07-28
• Results First Posted: 2025-08-17
• Last Update Posted: 2025-08-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 26

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults (18-99) years
• Binaural, symmetrical, sensorineural N2 (mild) to N5 (moderate-severe) hearing loss
• Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria

• Minors (17 years or less)
• Not able to tolerate wearing of hearing aids
• Vulnerable populations

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Oxygenation Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)	Session 1, 2, 3 and 4; assessed for up to 2 hours	Infrared light scattered from the prefrontal cortex, which is indicative of concentration of oxygenated blood in that region. fNIRS in the prefrontal cortex is intended to index both motivation and listening effort.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Subjective Listening Effort Rating	Session 1, 2, 3 and 4; assessed for up to 2 hours	Participants rate how much listening effort was required in order to make out a sentence from 1-7, where lower scores mean less effort required.
Listening Accuracy	Session 1, 2, 3 and 4; assessed for up to 2 hours	Speech understanding in noise percent correct scores

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Sonova Innovation Centre Toronto; 🇨🇦 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada