Investigation into auditory nerve function
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation into auditory nerve function
IRAS ID
159163
Contact name
Justine Leonard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Research summary
This study will look at hearing nerve function, and the ability to distinguish speech in noise amongst participants who have normal hearing according to standard clinical tests.
Adults who are found to have hearing within normal limits via routine tests of hearing often have varying skill at distinguishing speech in noisy environments. Pure tone audiometry is the most common method used to assess hearing in clinic, and does so by indicating the quietest sounds a person can detect reliably as a function of frequency. The results are essential in diagnosing hearing level as they indicate how much of the speech spectrum is accessible to listeners, however, they are unable to provide any information on how well sounds can be distinguished at high levels; a skill crucial for hearing in background noise. An electrophysiological test referred to as the 'auditory brainstem response'(ABR) is able to measure the hearing nerves response to high-level sounds. Thus the hypothesis of this study is that auditory nerve function may correlate with speech in noise perception in adults with normal hearing. The study therefore aims to recruit a group of healthy adult volunteers who have hearing within the normal range, measure their ABR and perform speech in noise testing to investigate whether there is any correlation between auditory nerve function and speech in noise scores.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1121
Date of REC Opinion
3 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion