Mediators and Moderators of Auditory Training
ConditionHearing Handicap
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-85
SponsorNortheastern University
About this trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how Auditory Training (AT) may help people better understand speech in noisy environments. As people get older, it becomes harder for them to hear speech clearly when there is background noise. This can be frustrating, and it can affect their independence and quality of life. AT is often used to support people with and without hearing loss, especially when a person is not a good candidate for a hearing aid or when amplification from a hearing aid does not improve performance.
The investigators want to gather reliable data to understand how AT works and what affects its success.
The main questions the trial aims to answer are:
* How do different types of sounds influence the effectiveness of auditory training? * Which auditory training approaches are most successful in improving speech understanding? * How do personal traits impact the results of auditory training?
The investigators will study a large and diverse group of 1,260 participants, including both young and older adults, to evaluate various auditory training approaches.
You will:
* Take part in auditory training sessions that include different types of auditory tasks. * Complete tests that measure how well they understand speech in both quiet and noisy settings. * Complete surveys on personal data like demographics, hearing challenges and other factors to help researchers understand what might influence training results.
The investigators will measure and compare the results of these approaches to find out which ones are most effective. This could help people who are at risk of cognitive decline, like those at risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
18-30 and 60-85 years of age.
No self-reported auditory difficulties and normal or near-normal hearing sensitivity as measured by SRTs.
Older adults aged 50-85 should have no more than typical hearing loss for their age and no evidence of dementia.
Fluent in English and/or Spanish
Disqualifiers
Abnormal vision or hearing prohibitive of training
History of seizures, focal brain lesion, or head injury with loss of consciousness
Physical handicap (motor or perceptual) that would impede training procedures
Medical illness requiring treatment during the study timeline
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
STM Training
BehavioralThis condition consists of an up/down spectral-temporal modulations (STM) presented both in quiet and with competing background noise
Speech Training
BehavioralParticipants will train on the identification of three sets of speech stimuli of increasing linguistic complexity: individual phonemes (vowels), spondaic words, and matrix sentences.
Mixed Training
BehavioralThis condition involves both the STM and the speech training, described above, and an additional module training localization.
Gamified Training
BehavioralThis uses auditory training within a game experience where players control a game avatar (the "wisp") that appears to fly through a landscape. Players were asked to help the wisp avoid obstacles or choose from among options based on a variety of sound cues.
Foraging Training
BehavioralThis adds a component to the game where participants navigate the wisp to the location on the screen that relates to the target stimulus. The concept here is that searching for targets with manual movements, ecologically stimulates sensori-motor loops where the actions of the participants generates the auditory stimuli that are heard.
Treatment groups
1,260 Participants
are divided into 6 treatment groups6
Treatment groupsSee each treatment group below.
Group A: STM TrainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Speech TrainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group C: Mixed TrainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group D: Gamified TrainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group E: Foraging TrainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group F: Business As UsualNo intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Digits-in-Noise (DIN) Task
The DIN tests the ability to identify a series of digits in varying levels of background noise.
Time frame
Pre-test (day 3), mid-test (day 20), post-test (day 36), follow-up (day 66)2
Spatial Release From Masking (SRM)
Tests the ability to identify a target talker in the presence of competing speech signals that are either colocated or spatially separated from the target.
Time frame
Pre-test (day 3), mid-test (day 20), post-test (day 36), follow-up (day 66)3
Dichotic Sentence Identification (DSI)
The DSI test simultaneously presents two nonsense sentences, one to each ear. Participants indicate two sentences heard from a list of 10 alternatives.
Time frame
Pre-test (day 3), mid-test (day 20), post-test (day 36), follow-up (day 66)Secondary outcomes
1
Revised Hearing Handicap Inventory (RHHI)
The Revised Hearing Handicap Inventory (RHHI) is a self-assessment questionnaire designed to evaluate the perceived social and emotional effects of hearing loss on an individual's daily life.
Time frame
Pre-test (day 3), mid-test (day 20), post-test (day 36), follow-up (day 66)2
Auditory Visual Divided Attention Test (AVDAT)
Auditory Visual Divided Attention Test (AVDAT) is a test of working memory that compares conditions when attention is to just a single modality (auditory or visual) or divided across modalities.
Time frame
Pretest (day 3), post-test (day 36), follow-up (day 66)Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Northeastern University
Lead sponsor
Oregon Health and Science University
Collaborator
University of California, Riverside
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov