The effect of mild-to-moderate hearing loss on auditory and emotion processing networks

Abstract

We investigated the impact of hearing loss (HL) on emotional processing using task- and rest-based functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two age-matched groups of middle-aged participants were recruited: one with bilateral high-frequency HL and a control group with normal hearing (NH). During the task-based portion of the experiment, participants were instructed to rate affective stimuli from the International Affective Digital Sounds (IADS) database as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. In the resting state experiment, participants were told to fixate on a “+” sign on a screen for 5 min. The results of both the task-based and resting state studies suggest that NH and HL patients differ in their emotional response. Specifically, in the task-based study, we found slower response to affective but not neutral sounds by the HL group compared to the NH group. This was reflected in the brain activation patterns, with the NH group employing the expected limbic and auditory regions including the left amygdala, left parahippocampus, right middle temporal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus to a greater extent in processing affective stimuli when compared to the HL group. In the resting state study, we observed no significant differences in connectivity of the auditory network between the groups. In the dorsal attention network (DAN), HL patients exhibited decreased connectivity between seed regions and left insula and left postcentral gyrus compared to controls. The default mode network (DMN) was also altered, showing increased connectivity between seeds and left middle frontal gyrus in the HL group. Further targeted analysis revealed increased intrinsic connectivity between the right middle temporal gyrus and the right precentral gyrus. The results from both studies suggest neuronal reorganization as a consequence of HL, most notably in networks responding to emotional sounds.

White matter diffusion abnormalities in patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

“…There is a growing body of evidence that the STG is also involved in perception of emotions (de Greck et al, 2012;Husain et al, 2014;Pehrs et al, 2013;Robins et al, 2009). In one fMRI study increased activation in the bilateral STG was observed in response to pleasant or unpleasant sounds when compared to neutral sounds (Husain et al, 2014); HCs showed increased activation in the left STG specifically while listening to pleasant or unpleasant sounds, compared to neutral sounds.…”

Cerebral Processing of Emotionally Loaded Acoustic Signals by Tinnitus Patients

“…This strongly suggests that tinnitus patients process acoustic signals on an emotional level, which is different from the processing by control subjects and independent from the genuine emotional value of the stimuli, suggesting stronger involvement of the limbic (resting state) network. Further evidence supporting such a processing system includes more pronounced involvement of the emotional and auditory network seen in tinnitus patients and advanced involvement of several attention networks (specifically the executive control of attention) in the control subjects [Husain et al, 2014]. These networks possibly contribute to the tinnitus-related stress, insomnia, anxiety, tension and depression, and may have a reinforcing effect on tinnitus or induce formation of negative connections that drive supporting feedback circles.…”

“…In the control subjects, these regions are active only during processing of the affective stimuli (beeps and words) and here show a greater connectivity between limbic areas and other cortical networks. In several studies, tinnitus patients show in resting state networks modifications and increased connectivity between attention and auditory processing in the brain [Husain et al, 2014]. Activation of the frontal regions reflects executive functions together with emotional processing and attention.…”

“…The hypothetical existence of an extended tinnitus-specific distress network has been discussed by various authors [Husain et al, 2014;Kraus and Canlon, 2012;Pattyn et al, 2015] and is defined as a linkage between tinnitus percept in the auditory cortex and the limbic, prefrontal and association brain areas. In this hypothetical network, amplification of the tinnitus percept is modeled as a con- sequence of emotional distress whereas at the same time, the tinnitus percept can intensify the emotional distress.…”

Percepção da perda auditiva: utilização da escala subjetiva de faces para triagem auditiva em idosos

“…Presbycusis is the third most prevalent pathology in this age group, behind only arthritis and arterial hypertension 7 . The high prevalence of hearing loss among the elderly may be explained by numerous factors such as mutations of mitochondrial DNA, genetic disorders, hypertension, diabetes, metabolic and other systemic diseases.…”