Cognitive interactions with hearing loss: Project 2 (v1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Uncovering how central cognitive pathways interact with hearing loss: Project 2
IRAS ID
292147
Contact name
Emma Holmes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2022/04/61, UCL Data Protection Registration Number
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
When we try to understand what someone’s saying in a noisy place — such as a busy café or open plan office — we use our brains as well as our ears. These noisy environments are particularly difficult for people with hearing loss, even when they use hearing aids. Yet, research into hearing loss has mainly focused on how processes at the ear are affected and has largely ignored its impact on how the brain processes speech.
This project is part of a larger programme of work that aims to better understand how cognitive processes in the brain interact with hearing loss when people listen to speech in noisy places.
This project will measure 7-Tesla functional MRI in people with hearing loss, while they listen to speech-in-noise. This study compares three cognitive effects (auditory spatial attention, semantic context, and voice familiarity) on speech perception. It will identify how brain networks for the relevant cognitive processes operate in people with hearing loss.
Approximately 43 participants with hearing loss will come to the lab at UCL to take part in a single session lasting up to 4.5 hours including breaks (including < 2 hours MRI scanning). Before the study commences, we will gain informed consent from all participants. Participants will complete pre-scanning training then listen to sounds through earphones (without hearing aids) in the MRI scanner. They will be asked to press buttons depending on the sounds they have heard. The techniques pose no substantial risks. They are already approved for healthy volunteers by the UCL Research Ethics Committee.
UCL Hospitals and Guy's Hospital will act as PICs for participants with hearing loss, based on medical records. Eligible patients will be aged 18-45 years with bilateral mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
23/WA/0270
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion