The ototoxic effects of ethyl benzene in rats

Exposure to organic solvents has been shown to be ototoxic in animals and there is evidence that these solvents can induce hearing loss in humans. In this study, the effects of inhalation of the possibly ototoxic solvent ethyl benzene on the cochlear function and morphology were evaluated using three complementary techniques: (1) reflex...

The whispered voice: The best test for screening for hearing impairment in general practice?

Hearling loss is an important health problem in the elderly which sometimes leads to social isolation. In a study with 62 patients, the diagnostic value of four simple tests for screening for hearing loss in general practice was examined. When paying attention to the loudness of the whispering, the whispered voice test can be a valuable test for...

Mid-frequency hearing loss and reduction of acoustic startle responding in rats following trichloroethylene exposure

Modification of auditory evoked startle responding using prepulse inhibition was used to examine the effects of trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure on auditory thresholds. Rats were exposed by inhalation to 0, 1500, or 3000 ppm TCE for 18 hours per day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks. Auditory thresholds for 5 and 20 kHz tones were measured before...

Hearing loss in very preterm and very low birthweight infants at the age of 5 years in a nationwide cohort

In a geographically defined population of very preterm and very low birthweight infants (gestational age < 32 weeks and/or birthweight < 1500 g) hearing was evaluated in 890 children by pure-tone audiometry at the age of 5 years. Hearing loss was conductive/unspecified in 123 (13.8%) and sensorineural in 13 (1.5%) children. The prevalence of...

A clinical test for the assessment of binaural speech perception in noise

The present paper describes a clinical test for the assessment of speech perception in noise. The test was designed to separate the effects of several relevant monaural and binaural cues. Results show that the performance of individual hearing-impaired listeners deviates significantly from normal for at least 2 of the following aspects: (1)...

Anamnese tijdens gehooronderzoek bij de uitvoering van een gehoorbeschermingsprogramma; Analyse van faktoren uit de gehoor- en lawaai-anamnese die verband houden met de gehoorscherpte

The negative effect of amplitude compression in multichannel hearing aids in the light of the modulation transfer funtion

The article deals with the question of why multichannel amplitude compression appears to have a negative rather than a positive effect no speech intelligibility by hearing-impaired listeners. It is argued that the small time constants of amplitude compression diminish the temporal as well as the spectral contrasts in the speech signal. According...

Gehoorschade door lawaai; I. Analyse van onderzoekgegevens ter bepaling van de relatie tussen lawaai en gehoorschade door lawaai

Gehoorschade door lawaai; II. Methoden om op individueel en groepsniveau gebruik te maken van het verband tussen lawaai en gehoorschade door lawaai

Effects of acute noise traumata on whole-nerve and single-unit activity

Some preliminary results of a research program on the effects of noise traumata on cochlear functioning are given. Measurements reported here include: the latency of the whole-nerve (compound) action potential (AP), the selectivity of frequency-tuning curves (e.g., the Q10-values) measured for the AP (with a forward-masking technique) and for...

Occupational hearing loss: Spread in hearing levels of people exposed to fluctuating noise