Detecting the recruitment phenomenon in adults using 80-Hz auditory steady-state response

Publication date: Available online 29 January 2019

Source: Auris Nasus Larynx

Author(s): Toshinori Kubota, Tsukasa Ito, Yasuhiro Abe, Hiroyuki Chiba, Yutaka Suzuki, Seiji Kakehata, Masaru Aoyagi

Abstract

Objectives

The ASSR is used widely as an objective measurement of hearing in clinical settings because of its high frequency specificity. The recruitment phenomenon is generally detected using subjective evaluations which require direct communication with the patient. If the recruitment phenomenon can be detected with ASSR, it would facilitate diagnosis in patients with developmental disorders and infants.

Subjects and methods

We examined 2 groups of subjects: 10 subjects with unilateral hearing impairment in whom the recruitment phenomenon was detected by the alternate binaural loudness balance test and 12 normal subjects. We compared the relationships between the ASSR response and the stimulus sound pressure level in the 2 groups using the 80-Hz ASSR.

Results

The amplitude of ASSR was significantly higher in the impaired ear in hearing-impaired subjects compared to a normal ear in normal subjects. The latency of ASSR was significantly shorter in the impaired ear in hearing-impaired subjects than in the normal ear in the normal subjects.

Conclusion

This study showed that the recruitment phenomenon caused the higher amplitude and the shorter latency observed in hearing-impaired subjects in the 80-Hz auditory steady-state response (ASSR) in comparison with normal subjects.

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