About
The auditory assessment includes examination of both the peripheral and central auditory systems. In general, functional deficits in the peripheral auditory system correspond to hearing loss and those in the central auditory system reflect impairment in central auditory processing which is related to the detection, discrimination and interpretation of sound stimuli. One of the missions of CERIAH is to establish objective and subjective hearing test batteries capable of identifying hearing disorders, especially those for which some of the conventional tests appear normal and others not. This suggests the need for cross-checking with effective non-conventional tests that have been implemented in research laboratories but for which normative data are not available. Before using these tests for clinical purposes, it is essential to assess the extent of their results in healthy subjects. Previous research has shown that musicians have better hearing performance than non-musicians. The purpose of this project is to compare the results of different hearing tests between participants with and without musical experience.
The measures and tests proposed in this project are complementary and assess the entire auditory system of the participants with musical training compared with non-musicians. For example, tympanometry assesses the functionality of the eardrum and middle ear, acoustic otoemissions assess the condition of the cochlea, particularly the outer hair cells, electrocochleography assesses the inner hair cells, auditory evoked potential measurements assess the function of neural structures from the auditory nerve to the cortex. Collecting audiological measurements in musicians versus non-musicians would provide a better understanding of the auditory system and may help determine if hearing can be improved by musical experience or training.