Introduction Estrogen has a protective role on auditory function. It may have an excitatory action on auditory nerve fibers and can have a neuroprotective effect. Progesterone has a mainly inhibitory action on the central nervous system, which may balance the mainly excitatory action of estrogen. Objective To determine changes in hearing performance with pure tone audiometry (PTA), tympanometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), and auditory brainstem responses (ABR) as hormonal changes occur from follicular to luteal phase. Materials and Methods Twenty healthy female volunteers (age 19 ± 30 years) with normal menstrual cycle and without any hearing problems are included in this case-control study. Hearing evaluation was performed on the 13th day of the menstrual cycle (follicular phase) and then on the 22nd day (luteal phase). Results All of the participants had normal results in follicular phase. In luteal phase, four cases showed abnormalities as follows: reduced hearing thresholds 250 Hz (mean= 15 dBHL), increased amplitudes of DPOAE (mean= 3 dBspl), decreased middle ear pressure (mean= -110 dapa), and delayed ABR interpeak latencies (mean of IPLs I-III= 0.4 and mean of IPLs III-V= 0.6 ms). Conclusions In some women, changing of ovarian hormones may induce fluctuating hearing and increased progesterone in luteal phase can lead to abnormal outcomes in auditory function. However, elevated estrogen modifies its consequences in follicular phase.

There are a wide variety of hearing impairments that part of it is auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony (AN/ AD). So, the object of this study was determination the prevalence and causes of AN/AD in children with hearing impairment. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey. The sample size consisted of 105 hearing impairment children. All them were under hearing screening tests (tympanometry), distortion and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs ? TEOAE) and automated auditory brainstem response (AABR). If they were suspected to AN/AD, for complete diagnostic measurements were referred to our hospital. Four cases (8 ears) with AN/ AD were diagnosed, which had an average age 37 months (SD = 8.67). So, the prevalence of AN/AD was 3.8 % among hearing impaired children. The findings of this study showed that there are the relationships between AN/ AD and fluctuating hearing loss, acoustic reflex, high bilirubin, blood exchange after birth, neonatal intensive (NICU) care unit (P \ 0.05). The simultaneous use of both ABR and OAE tests in the birth screening provide much more useful information than when each of these tests is used alone.

Background and Aim: Researchers in the fields of psychoacoustic and electrophysiology are mostly focused on demonstrating the better and different neurophysiological performance of musicians. The present study explores the imp­act of music upon the auditory system, the non-auditory system as well as the improvement of language and cognitive skills following listening to music or receiving music training. Recent Findings: Studies indicate the impact of music upon the auditory processing from the cochlea to secondary auditory cortex and other parts of the brain. Besides, the impact of music on speech perception and other cognitive proce­ssing is demonstrated. Some papers point to the bottom-up and some others to the top-down pro­cessing, which is explained in detail. Conclusion: Listening to music and receiving music training, in the long run, creates plasticity from the cochlea to the auditory cortex. Since the auditory path of musical sounds overlaps functionally with that of speech path, music hel­ps better speech perception, too. Both percep­tual and cognitive functions are involved in this process. Music engages a large area of the brain, so music can be used as a supplement in rehabi­litation programs and helps the improvement of speech and language skills.