Introduction Parkinson disease (PD) is a degenerative and progressive neurological disorder characterized by resting tremor, stiffness, bradykinesia, and postural instability. Despite the motor symptoms, PD patients also consistently show cognitive impairment or executive dysfunction. The auditory event-related potential P300 has been described as the best indicator of mental function, being highly dependent on cognitive skills, including attention and discrimination. Objective To review the literature on the application and findings of P300 as an indicator of PD. Data Analysis The samples ranged from 7 to 166 individuals. Young adult and elderly male patients composed most study samples. The Mini-Mental State Examination test, the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale, and the Hoehn and Yahr Scale were used to assess neurological and cognitive function. In terms of testing hearing function, few studies have focused on parameters other than the P300. The factors we focused on were how the P300 was modified by cognitive effects, its correlation with different PD scales, the effect of performing dual tasks, the effect of fatigue, and the influence of drug treatments. Conclusion The use of the P300 appears to be an effective assessment tool in patients with PD. This event-related potential seems to correlate well with other neurocognitive tests that measure key features of the disease.

Introduction Tinnitus is a prevalent condition among many different populations. Since tinnitus is subjective, self-report questionnaires are one way of assessing how much the condition interferes with the quality of life of an individual. Objective The aim of the present study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Skarzynski Tinnitus Scale (STS) into Brazilian Portuguese and validate its psychometric properties. Methods The STS was translated and cross-culturally adapted using five main steps. Fifty-eight individuals who had continuous tinnitus were invited to complete the questionnaire. Pure tone audiometry (air and bone conduction) were also done. Results No major changes were necessary in translating the scale. The overall score was 1.3 (range 0–4). Internal consistency was tested by Cronbach α, which ranged from 0.54 to 0.85. Differences between genders and between subscales and the total score were not significant. A statistically significant difference was only found in the coping subscale, in which normal hearing subjects had higher scores than those with hearing loss. Conclusion The translation and adaptation of the STS established linguistic and cultural equivalence with the original. In addition, it exhibited good internal consistency. Our results suggest that the STS is suitable for use in a clinical setting.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a pathology frequently causing mortality or serious sequelae. About 20% of individuals with TBI will have some degree of auditory alteration. The aim of the present study was to use behavioural and electrophysiological assessments to analyse the hearing of a patient with TBI.Case report: A young male adult who had suffered severe TBI caused by a motorcycle accident was evaluated. The patient underwent a peripheral hearing evaluation and electrophysiological assessment. Pure tone audiometry revealed profound sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear and normal hearing in the right. In the electrophysiological assessment, an ABR click test showed the presence of a response in the right ear at 80 dB HL but no response in the left ear at 90 dB HL. Evaluation of the Middle Latency Response revealed the presence of both an electrode effect (C3) and an ear effect (A1). The P300 wave showed an event-related potential within normal limits in the right ear and no responses in the left. Conclusions:The present case study verifies the importance of assessing the peripheral and central auditory nervous system in cases of patients with a history of TBI. It reinforces the need for diagnosis and audiological monitoring of these patients.

Resumo: As interfaces cérebro máquina auditivas podem ser utilizadas para auxiliar pessoas com deficiências neuro funcionais graves, que prejudicam os movimentos oculares, impedindo-os de utilizarem interfaces visuais de comunicação. Como grande parte das interfaces auditivas são projetadas com resposta binária, visando aumentar as possibilidades de interação do usuário, este artigo tem como objetivo estudar a viabilidade da utilização de sons distribuídos espacialmente como elemento para atuação de interfaces com mais de dois graus de liberdade. Nos testes, os voluntários foram expostos sons advindos da direção 0º e 180º e enquanto isso coletou-se o sinal eletroencefalográfico (EEG Potenciais evocados auditivos (PEAs) são gerados em decorrência da apresentação consecutiva e aleatória de estímulos sonoros diferentes, respeitando o paradigma oddball [6,7]. A atenção direcionada à determinado estímulo gera PEAs ligeiramente diferentes entre os diferentes sons. Este mecanismo de atenção refletida funciona primordialmente ou unicamente sob condições de competição simultânea [8]. Em contrapartida, alguns estudos na última década começaram a pesquisar a resposta cortical relacionada com sons complexos e até simultâneos [9], observando harmônicos complexos, ou respostas simultâneas em estado estacionário [10]. Recentemente, houve um interesse substancial na identificação dos mecanismos pelos quais o sistema auditivo codifica e representa objetos auditivos [11].Estudos analisaram a diferença no potencial evocado obtido de estímulos auditivos apresentados em lugares distintos do ambiente [12,13]. No entanto, a sala precisava estar cercada por autofalantes, o que limita o tamanho mínimo do ambiente. Isto é uma desvantagem principalmente se aplicado em hospitais ou quartos adaptados, já que os pacientes são assistidos por diversos equipamentos médicos que lhes dão suporte à vida. Para superar este empecilho, é possível optar por utilizar fone de ouvido estéreo onde os estímulos de áudio são virtualizados [14]. A virtualização do som é quando conseguimos simular os sons que ouvimos de maneira natural ao nosso redor, em um fone de ouvido. Esta abordagem já foi estudada em [15] para mostrar que a localização espacial pode ser um fator determinante para aplicações de ICM. Entretanto, os estímulos sonoros foram apresentados enquanto o voluntário assistia à um filme de sua escolha, expondo assim, dois estímulos