Sensitivity to Different Interaural Temporal Cues for School-age Children With and Without a History of Otitis Media

Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common childhood diseases that is characterized by frequently recurring episodes of inflammation of the middle ear, causing clinically significant hearing loss. Although the inflammation usually resolves with time, the induced hearing loss can have long-lasting effects because early childhood constitutes a critical period for auditory development.

Previous research found that school-age children with a history of middle-ear disease experience problems with speech understanding in spatially complex listening situations. To shed light on the mechanisms underlying these problems, this study investigated sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs) in school-aged children with and without (N ≈ 2 x 20) a history of early-childhood OM. Using a clinically feasible psychoacoustic test paradigm, sensitivity to ITDs in the temporal fine structure (TFS), envelope, and enhanced envelope was assessed.

Data collection is currently ongoing. We hypothesize that sensitivity to TFS-based ITDs will be disrupted in children with a history of OM, but that their sensitivity to envelope-based ITDs will be comparable to that of the control group. We also hypothesize that, for both participant groups, sensitivity to enhanced envelope-based ITDs will be better than sensitivity to envelope-based ITDs.