Physics
Hearing Defects
Hearing defects refer to any impairment in the ability to perceive sounds. These can range from mild to severe and may be caused by various factors such as genetics, exposure to loud noises, or certain medical conditions. In physics, understanding the mechanics of sound and how it is perceived by the ear is crucial in studying and addressing hearing defects.
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8 Key excerpts on "Hearing Defects"
eBook - PDFThe Physics of the Ear
International Series of Monographs on Physics
- T. S. Littler, G. H. A. Cole(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Pergamon(Publisher)
CHAPTER XIII DEFECTS OF HEARING AND THEIR MEASUREMENTS DEFECTS of hearing appear at different stages of the auditory path-way and show their effects in various ways. Numerous diagnostic tests have been developed by otologists over the course of the last hundred years, and in modern times these tests have been supple-mented by those of pure tone and speech audiometers. Hearing impairment may be due to obstruction of the meatus by accumulated cerumen or wax, or debris from some disease such as eczema or inflammation and suppuration, and the otologist can obtain information on their nature by observation of the trans-parency of the eardrum and shadows thrown when a beam of light is directed on to it and also by studying its mobility and condition. Another frequent obstructive defect is caused by a disease known as otosclerosis, where an abnormal growth of bone accumulates around the oval window and so interferes with the freedom of movement of the stapes. All these defects are classified as conductive deafness. Other forms of deafness are produced due to impairment or malformation of the mechanism beyond the stapes, and are classi-fied under terms such as perceptive deafness, cochlear deafness and nerve deafness. In addition to damage or disease in the cochlea, deafness can be caused due to defects or damage of the auditory nerve leading from the cochlea, such as is produced by a tumour on the nerve or by a defect in the hearing centre in the brain. It is believed also that some deafness may be hysterical in origin and is classified as psychogenic deafness. In the diagnosis of these defects the otologist makes use of the various phenomena and responses which have been observed for normal subjects, and compares with these the responses of the deaf subject. In general, diagnostic tests have been arrived at as a re-239
eBook - PDF- Stanley A. Gelfand, Lauren Calandruccio(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Thieme(Publisher)
6 Auditory System and Related Disorders This chapter gives an overview of the disorders of the auditory system. We will address the nature of various pathologies, where and when they occur, their major signs and symptoms, how hearing is affected, and the ways they are treated. Further coverage of auditory disorders, their diagnosis, and their treatment may be found in many fine otolar- yngology texts (e.g., Hughes 1985; Paparella, Shumrick, Gluckman, & Meyerhoff 1991; Tos 1993, 1995; Bluestone, Stool, & Kenna 1996; Lalwani & Grundfast 1998; Wetmore, Muntz, & McGill 2012; Van De Water & Staecker 2005; Pensak & Choo 2015; Clarke 2017). 1 Hearing impairments are caused by abnormal- ities of structure and/or function in the auditory system, which are often called lesions. Using this terminology, a hearing loss may be viewed as one of the manifestations of a lesion somewhere in the ear, as are other symptoms such as pain, ringing in the ears, and dizziness. We are interested in the nature of the lesion, as well as its severity, etiology (cause), location, and time course (including when it began and how it has progressed). Disorders are often called idiopathic if a specific underlying cause can- not be identified. The interactions among these various factors can often be important. Consider, for example, the dis- tinction between “congenital” and “hereditary. ” A disorder is congenital if it is present at birth, a mat- ter of timing. On the other hand, a disorder is he- reditary or genetic if it is transmitted by the genetic code that the child inherits from their parents; oth- erwise, it is acquired, which is a matter of causation. A congenital disorder may be caused by a genetic problem or other factors that interfere with normal embryological development or occur during the birth process. Similarly, genetic disorders are often present at birth, but others are delayed, manifesting themselves long after birth.
- Kevin Hayes(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Omnigraphics(Publisher)
12 | Auditory Impairment Sourcebook, First Edition Section 2.1 | Basics of Hearing Loss This section includes text excerpted from “Audiometry Procedures Manual,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), January 15, 2016. Reviewed September 2020. Dysfunctions anywhere along the auditory pathway can cause hear-ing loss. Hearing losses may be divided into several categories based on where in the ear the impairment is located (the type of hearing loss), how severely the impairment affects a person’s hearing sensi-tivity (the degree of hearing loss), and which ears are affected (the laterality of the hearing loss). Hearing losses that are caused by a problem in the external or middle ear are called conductive hearing losses, because the dif-ficulty lies in the conduction of sound to the cochlea. For example, excessive wax in the ear canal, fluid in the middle ear brought on by an infection, or a discontinuity between the ossicles would prevent sounds from reaching the inner ear efficiently. These types of hearing losses are often medically or surgically correctable. Hearing losses that are caused by a problem in the inner ear or along the auditory nerve are called sensorineural hearing losses, because the difficulty lies in the ability of the cochlea to sense the sound or the ability of the nerve to carry the signal to the brain. Damage to the cochlear hair cells due to age-related dete-rioration, repeated noise exposure, or a tumor on the auditory nerve are examples of etiologies that would lead to sensorineural hearing impairment. These types of hearing losses are not usually medically correctable. Often, sensorineural hearing loss can be remediated to a certain extent with hearing aids. However, while hearing aid technology has improved immensely, they do not restore normal hearing in the same sense that eyeglasses restore normal vision. Classifying degree of hearing loss is much more complex.
eBook - PDF- Stanley A. Gelfand(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Thieme(Publisher)
136 Auditory System and Related Disorders This chapter gives an overview of the disorders of the auditory system. We will address the nature of vari-ous pathologies, where and when they occur, their major signs and symptoms, how hearing is affected, and the ways they are treated. Further coverage of auditory disorders, their diagnosis, and their treat-ment may be found in many fine otolaryngology texts (e.g., Hughes 1985; Buckingham 1989; Bluestone, Stool, & Kenna 1996; Paparella, Shumrick, Gluckman, & Meyerhoff 1991; Tos 1993, 1995; Hughes & Pensak 2007; Lalwani & Grundfast 1998; Wetmore, Muntz, & McGill 2012; Van De Water & Staecker 2005). 1 Hearing impairments are caused by abnormali-ties of structure and/or function in the auditory system, which are often called lesions . Using this terminology, a hearing loss may be viewed as one of the manifestations of a lesion somewhere in the ear, as are other symptoms such as pain, ringing in the ears, and dizziness. We are interested in the nature of the lesion, as well as its severity, etiology (cause), location, and time course (including when it began and how it has progressed). Disorders are often called idiopathic if a specific underlying cause cannot be identified. The interactions among these various factors can often be important. Consider, for example, the distinction between “congenital” and “hereditary.” A disorder is congenital if it is pres-ent at birth, a matter of timing. On the other hand, a disorder is hereditary or genetic if it is transmitted by the genetic code that the child inherits from her parents; otherwise it is acquired , which is a matter of causation. A congenital disorder may be caused by a genetic problem or other factors that interfere with normal embryological development or occur dur-ing the birth process. Similarly, genetic disorders are often present at birth, but others are delayed, mani-6 festing themselves long after birth.
eBook - ePub- Alec Webster(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
auditory tract to the brain. We can consider this to be the last, but most complicated stage of the journey which sound vibrations make across the hearing system. It is at this point, when information reaches the brain through the auditory pathway, that an individual may decide to do something about the auditory message just received and made sense of.Conductive hearing problemsHearing difficulties can arise if any one of the three sections of the ear we have outlined is not working properly. A major distinction is usually drawn between hearing losses which arise in the conductive mechanisms of the ear, and those which arise in the inner ear as a result of damage to the nerves in the cochlea or auditory tract. However, as we shall see, it is not uncommon for a conductive loss to exacerbate a hearing loss caused by sensori-neural impairment.Generally speaking, a conductive loss is less-severe in its effects although it may have significant implications, particularly for a child in early infancy. Any difficulty which affects the passing or conducting of sound into the ear and across the middle-ear canal may be referred to as a conductive hearing problem. Fortunately, many kinds of conductive difficulties are amenable to medical or surgical treatment which will improve or restore hearing. Not so fortunately, the more severe effects on hearing caused by sensori-neural difficulties are not often able to be remedied. When the nerves of a child’s hearing system are damaged there is no medical treatment which can restore hearing; the damage is permanent.A few conductive hearing difficulties originate at the pinna or outer ear, the very first structure in the three sections of the hearing system. Occasionally, a child may be born with a malformed ear, no outer ear at all, or no ear canal for the sound to pass along. Some thalidomide-affected babies suffered in this way. The problem for hearing sensitivity, when a child is born without external ears or ear canals, is that the sound waves are not channelled efficiently into the inner mechanisms of the ear. If the inner mechanisms are perfectly normal, as they may be, a surgeon might be able to help by creating an outer ear, canal or drum. However, problems with the external features of the ear are frequently associated with malformations of other parts of the system.
eBook - PDF- Stanley A. Gelfand(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Thieme(Publisher)
157 Auditory System and Related Disorders This chapter gives an overview of the disorders of the auditory system. We will address the na-ture of various pathologies, where and when they occur, their major signs and symptoms, how hearing is affected, and the ways they are treated. Further coverage of auditory disorders, their diagnosis and treatment, may be found in many fine otolaryngology texts (e.g., Hughes, 1985; Bluestone, Stool, & Kenna 1996; Paparella, Shumrick, Gluckman, & Meyerhoff, 1991; Tos, 1993, 1995; Hughes & Pensak, 1997; Lalwani & Grundfast, 1998; Wetmore, Muntz, & McGill, 2000; Van De Water & Staecker, 2006). 1 Hearing impairments are caused by abnor-malities, often called lesions, of either or both structure and function in the auditory system. Using this terminology, a hearing loss may be viewed as one of the manifestations of a lesion somewhere in the ear, as are other symptoms such as pain, ringing in the ears, and dizziness. We are interested in the nature of the lesion, as well as its severity, etiology (cause), loca-tion, and time course (including when it began and how it has progressed). Disorders are often called idiopathic if a specific underlying cause cannot be identified. The interactions among these various factors can often be important. Consider, for example, the distinction between “congenital” and “hereditary.” A disorder is congenital if it is present at birth, a matter of timing. On the other hand, a disorder is heredi-tary or genetic if it is transmitted by the genetic 1 These texts served as references for material used through-out this chapter. Chapter 6 code that the child inherits from her parents; otherwise it is acquired, which is a matter of cau-sation. A congenital disorder may be caused by a genetic problem or other factors that interfere with normal embryological development or oc-cur during the birth process.
eBook - PDFPediatric Audiology
Diagnosis, Technology, and Management
- Jane R. Madell, Carol Flexer(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Thieme(Publisher)
A hearing disorder can occur before (prenatal), during (perinatal), or after (postnatal) birth. Key Points • There are many pathological conditions that cause hearing disorders in childhood, including disease, trauma, and developmental disturbance. • Some hearing disorders are unique to childhood; others impact children to a greater or lesser ex -tent than they do adults. • Conductive hearing disorder results from prob -lems involving structures of the outer and middle ear, including congenital anomalies and otitis media and its complications. • Sensory hearing disorder results from problems involving the cochlea, including congenital inner-ear anomalies, maternal infections, such as cy -tomegalovirus and toxoplasmosis, and acquired infections, such as meningitis and mumps. • Neural hearing disorder results from problems involving the auditory nervous system, including neoplasms and hypoxia. • The impact of hearing disorder on speech and language development varies as a function of degree, type, configuration, and stability of hear -ing loss and when in the course of development hearing loss occurs. A hearing disorder results from a disruption in func-tion of structures that transmit an acoustic signal from the outer ear to the point of perception in the brain. Many pathologic conditions, including disease, trau-ma, and developmental disturbance, cause hearing disorders during childhood. In most cases, the impacts on hearing sensitivity and suprathreshold perception are predictable from the nature of the pathology. Hearing disorders are customarily classified ac -cording to the nature of the interruption in sound transmission. Conductive hearing disorder results Chapter 2 Hearing Disorders in Children Brad A. Stach and Virginia Ramachandran 2 Hearing Disorders in Children 9 Because conductive hearing loss acts primarily as an attenuator of sound, it has little or no impact on suprathreshold hearing.
- Helena Oriešèiková(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- EDUCatt Università Cattolica(Publisher)
b.perceptual impairments (sensorineural, hypacusis perceptiva) caused by the damage of the auditory analyzer in the inner ear, i.e. the part of the auditory analyzer, of which function is the actual perception of sounds (hence the name). This is a malfunction in the organ of Corti and hair cells that convert sound (mechanical signal) into an electromagnetic signal. Sensorineural impairments are further divided into cochlear (localized in the organ of Corti) and supracochlear (localized throughout the further course of the auditory pathway).In the case of perceptual impairments we speak about so-called quality disorder, which means that the level of individual sounds perception is dependent on their frequency. Reducing of this level is not equal in all sounds. Persons with perceptual impairment usually worse perceive high tones, which is practically manifested in the fact that they relatively well perceive ambient noises, voices, but poorly understand speech, because spectra of most speech sounds are characterized just in the area of high tones (formant area) (see Hampl, 2013 Gross, 2009).Perceptual impairments usually represent irreversible and irreparable hearing impairments. The most common causes of sensorineural hearing impairment include age-related partial deafness (presbyacusis), acute or chronic damage of hearing by excessive noise (high risk is the boundary of 80 dB), hearing impairment as a complication of certain infectious diseases (bacterial or viral infections such as meningitis, mumps), congenital syndromes. Other causes include various complications in the prenatal or perinatal period such as a toxic effect of high bilirubin levels in Rh-incompatibility, asphyxia or hypoxia during protracted births, bleeding in the cochlea, low birth weight associated with premature birth etc.c.mixed impairments (hypacusis mixta)
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