Computer-Based Auditory Rehabilitation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Presbycusis
• Interventions: Behavioral: Video game based training 2; Behavioral: Video game based training 1

• Registration Number: NCT02147847
• Lead Sponsor: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

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.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2014-05-15
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-05-27
• Study First Posted: 2014-05-28
• Study Start: 2015-04
• Status Verified: 2016-05
• Primary Completion: 2016-08
• Study Completion: 2016-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2016-10-17
• Last Update Posted: 2016-10-18

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 36

Inclusion Criteria

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

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Exclusion Criteria

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

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Video game based training 2	Video game based training 2	Video Game play with training strategy 2
Video game based training 1	Video game based training 1	Video Game play with training strategy 1

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Speech Perception in Noise	up to 3 months	Participants will report words spoken by a target speaker while several speakers serve as distractors.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Stroop Task	up to 3 months	Participants will be asked to attend and report one feature of a stimulus while ignoring another
Letter-Numbers Sequencing Test	up to 3 months	Participants are asked to repeat a string of letters and numbers.
Frequency Modulation Detection	up to 3 months	We will measure the detectability of frequency excursions psychoacoustically.

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

Hudson Valley Audiology Center; 🇺🇸 New City, New York, United States

Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center; 🇺🇸 Brighton, Massachusetts, United States

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; 🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts, United States