Formal auditory training in adult hearing aid users

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Neuroscience
• Speech and Hearing Sciences

Background:

• Hearing aids improve some auditory function but don't overcome distortions like impaired frequency resolution or speech understanding in noise.
• Central auditory deficits alongside peripheral hearing loss can cause dissatisfaction with hearing aids, even with normal thresholds.
• Auditory training offers a potential solution for enhancing hearing aid effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the effects of a formal auditory training program.
• To assess improvements in adult hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss.

Main Methods:

• Fourteen bilateral hearing aid users were divided into auditory training and control groups.
• The training program targeted auditory closure, figure-to-ground, and temporal processing.
• Evaluations included electrophysiological and behavioral auditory processing tests and the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB).

Main Results:

• The auditory training group showed a significant reduction in P3 latency.
• Behavioral auditory processing tests and hearing aid benefit in noise improved significantly in the trained group.
• The control group exhibited no significant changes.

Conclusions:

• Auditory training can reduce P3 latency in adult hearing aid users.
• Improvements were observed in sound localization, memory for nonverbal sounds, auditory closure, and figure-to-ground processing.
• Auditory training leads to greater hearing aid benefits in reverberant and noisy environments.