No abstract

The acoustic quality of classrooms is crucial for children’s listening skills and consequently for their learning. Listening abilities in kids are still developing, and an environment with inadequate acoustic characteristics may create additional problems in speech perception and phonetic recognition. Background noise or reverberation may cause auditory processing problems and greater cognitive effort. There are also other elements which can make difficulty in listening and understanding in noisy environments an even more serious problem, such as learning disabilities, mild to severe hearing loss or bilingualism. Therefore, it is important to improve the acoustic quality of the classrooms, taking into account the specific needs of children in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and reverberation time, in order to ensure a proper quality of listening. The aim of this work is to analyse, through the review of previous studies, the impact that the acoustic of classrooms has on children’s listening skills and learning activities.

No abstract

Epidemiological studies show increasing prevalence rates of cognitive decline and hearing loss with age, particularly after the age of 65 years. These conditions are reported to be associated, although conclusive evidence of causality and implications is lacking. Nevertheless, audiological and cognitive assessment among elderly people is a key target for comprehensive and multidisciplinary evaluation of the subject's frailty status. To evaluate the use of tools for identifying older adults at risk of hearing loss and cognitive decline and to compare skills and abilities in terms of hearing and cognitive performances between older adults and young subjects, we performed a prospective cross-sectional study using supraliminal auditory tests. The relationship between cognitive assessment results and audiometric results was investigated, and reference ranges for different ages or stages of disease were determined. Patients older than 65 years with different degrees of hearing function were enrolled. Each subject underwent an extensive audiological assessment, including tonal and speech audiometry, Italian Matrix Sentence Test, and speech audiometry with logatomes in quiet. Cognitive function was screened and then verified by experienced clinicians using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and further investigations in some. One hundred twenty-three subjects were finally enrolled during 2016-2019: 103 were >65 years of age and 20 were younger participants (as controls). Cognitive functions showed a correlation with the audiological results in post-lingual hearing-impaired patients, in particular in those affected by slight to moderate hearing loss and aged more than 70 years. Audiological testing can thus be useful in clinical

Two hundred and fifty years have passed since the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, and the enigma about his hearing loss and overall health status seems to be not completely solved. However, the admission to the hospital of a 64‐year‐old woman in 2018 with symptoms extremely similar to those experienced by the great composer may add further evidence to a theory previously underestimated. The health issues of the modern patient were found to be due to chronic lead intoxication. The lead was released during daily cooking using a ceramic‐coated frying pan with worn surface that poisoned her breakfast most probably for years. Abdominal pain, asthenia, and hearing loss affecting the high frequencies with a many impact on speech intelligibility tormented the patient, as they had Beethoven. An extensive review of the music and medical literature was performed, as well as re‐examination of manuscripts, correspondence, and autopsy reports of the famous composer; and great similarities have been found. The soundness of the most‐cited classical theories about Beethoven's hearing loss will be discussed. After close scrutiny of the theories, our analysis points toward a progressive sensorineural hearing loss due to lead intoxication as the most probable cause of not only Beethoven's hypoacusis but his overall health status as well. Laryngoscope, 131:179–185, 2021