Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common childhood diseases. While the infections usually clear up, they can disrupt hearing during a critical stage of development. Because early childhood is when the brain learns how to process sound, even temporary hearing loss can have long-lasting effects. Previous research has found that school-age children with a history of middle-ear disease experience problems with speech understanding in spatially complex listening situations, such as classrooms.
To shed light on the underlying mechanisms, this PhD project will explore how children with a history of OM in early childhood compare in their sensitivity to different acoustic cues (interaural time differences (ITDs) in the temporal fine structure and envelope) to normal-hearing controls. It will also relate sensitivity to these acoustic cues to physiological measures of hearing function and speech understanding in noise, to better explain why the difficulties arise. Building on these insights, the project aims to develop and evaluate a new hearing-aid processing strategy for improving sensitivity to these cues in OM children.
The obtained findings are expected to provide a better fundamental understanding of the hearing problems of OM children and new perspectives for rehabilitation strategies, thereby inspiring future research into better hearing healthcare.
Main Supervisor:
Tobias Neher, Professor
Co-Supervisors:
Lindsey Nadine Van Yper, Assistant Professor
Jan Wouters, Professor
Søren Laugesen, PhD
