This is an Innovation Seed Fund grant awarded to Professor Stefan Bleeck at the University of Southampton in 2024.
Background
This research proposes a new way to detect hidden hearing loss, a condition where people struggle to hear in noisy environments despite passing standard hearing tests (making it appear that they have normal hearing). Hidden hearing loss is believed to be related to issues in the hearing parts of the brain rather than in the inner ear. Current methods for diagnosing hidden hearing loss are not very accurate or fast.
Aim
The researchers will test whether a new type of speech test called an antiphasic speech test can identify hidden hearing loss more reliably. The antiphasic speech test is a speech in noise test (using full sentences) which tests a person’s ability to understand speech against different levels of background noise.
It differs from other speech in noise tests because it presents the speech and noise sounds differently to the listener (the speech will be the same in both ears, but the noise signal will be different). This should make it easier for the listener to understand the speech. However, making sense of speech in background noise requires central hearing processes (processes in the hearing brain), and these processes are thought to be especially affected in hidden hearing loss.
As a result, the researchers predict that people with hidden hearing less will perform less well on this test than people with normal hearing. They will conduct a preliminary study with people with normal hearing thresholds and people with different levels of hearing loss to see if their new test can successfully identify hidden hearing loss.
Benefit
If successful, this new test could lead to better and faster diagnosis of hidden hearing loss, improving early intervention and management.