简介:IntroductionThenumberofelderlypersonsisincreasingallovertheworld.Thisstrongdemographictrendwillaffectoursocietiesprofoundly.Sincethelargestrelativeincreaseisexpectedtooccurinthegroupofveryoldpersons,over80yearsofage,thedemandsonthesocietyandonrelativesintermsofhealth-andsocialcareareconsiderable.Theinfluenceofageingontheauditoryfunctionispronounced.Age-relatedhearingloss(ARHL),orpresbyacusis,belongstooneofthethreemostfrequentlyreportedchronichealthproblemsinoldage,andisalsothemostprevalentcauseofhearingloss.Communicationwithotherpeople,andtheauditorysystemisthemostimportantlinkincommunication.ARHLhasoftenadevastatingeffectonthesocialcontactsandqualityoflifeofmanyelderlypeople.
简介:Introduction:Theabsenceofvertigoduringthecalorictest,despitearobustresponse,hasbeensuggestedtorepresentacentralvestibularsystemphenomenon.Thepurposeofthisinvestigationwastodeterminetheprevalenceofabsentcaloric-inducedvertigoperceptioninanunselectedgroupofpatientsandtoassesspossiblepredictingvariables.Methods:Prospectiveinvestigationof92unselectedpatientswhounderwentcalorictesting.Inclusioncriteriawerethateachpatientgenerateamaximumslowphasevelocity(maxSPV)15deg/secandacaloricasymmetryof10%.Followingthecaloric,patientswereasked,“Didyouhaveanysensationofmotion?”Results:Resultsshowed75%ofpatientsreportedmotionwithameanageof56.51yearscomparedtoameanageof66.55inthe25%ofpatientsreportinganabsenceofmotion.Alogisticregressionwasperformedandtheoverallmodelwasstatisticallysignificantaccountingfor29%ofthevarianceincaloricperception.ThesignificantpredictorvariableswerepatientageandmaxSPVofthecaloricresponse.Theeffectsizeforbothvariableswassmallwithanoddsratioof.9formaxSPVand1.06forage.Conclusions:ThecurrentinvestigationshowedthatbothageandmaxSPVofthecaloricresponseweresignificantpredictorsofvertigoperceptionduringthecaloricexam.However,theassociationbetweenageandcaloricperceptionisnotconclusive.Althoughthereisevidencetosuggestthatthesefindingsrepresentage-relatedchangesinthecentralprocessingofvestibularsystemstimulation,thereareadditionalunmeasuredfactorsthatinfluencetheperceptionofcaloric-inducedvertigo.
简介:Age-relatedhearingloss(AHL),orpresbycusis,isthemostcommonneurodegenerativedisorderandtopcommunicationdeficitoftheagedpopulation.GeneticpredispositionisoneofthemajorfactorsinthedevelopmentofAHL.Generally,AHLisassociatedwithanage-dependentlossofsensoryhaircells,spiralganglionneuronsandstriavasculariscellsintheinnerear.Althoughthemechanismsleadingtogenetichearinglossarenotcompletelyunderstood,caspase-familyproteasesfunctionasimportantsignalsintheinnerearpathology.ItisnowacceptedthatmousemodelsarethebesttoolstostudythemechanismofgenetichearinglossorAHL.Here,weprovideabriefreviewofrecentstudiesonhearingimprovementinmousemodelsofAHLbyanti-apoptotictreatment.
简介:Noisepollutionisamajorhazardousfactortohumanhealthandislikelyharmfulforvulnerablegroupssuchaspre-terminfantsunderlifesupportsysteminanintensivecareunit.Previousstudieshavesuggestedthatnoiseexposureimpairschildren’slearningabilityandcognitiveperformanceandcognitivefunctionsinanimalmodelsinwhichtheeffectismainlyattributedtotheoxidantstressofnoiseonthecognitivebrain.Thepotentialroleofnoiseinducedhearingloss(NIHL),ratherthantheoxidantstress,hasalsobeenindicatedbyadepressionofneurogenesisinthehippocampuslongafterabriefnoiseexposure,whichproducesonlyatentativeoxidantstress.ItisnotclearifnoiseexposureandNIHLduringearlydevelopmentexertsalongtermimpactoncognitivefunctionandneurogenesistowardsadulthood.Inthepresentstudy,abriefnoiseexposureathighsoundlevelwasperformedinneonatalC57BL/6Jmice(15daysafterbirth)toproduceasignificantamountofpermanenthearinglossasproved2monthsafterthenoise.Atthisage,thenoise-exposedanimalsshoweddeterioratedspatiallearningandmemoryabilitiesandareductionofhippocampalneurogenesisascomparedwiththecontrol.Theaveragedhearingthresholdwasfoundtobestronglycorrelatedwiththescoresforspatiallearningandmemory.Weconsidertheeffectsobservedarelargelyduetothelossofhearingsensitivity,ratherthantheoxidantstress,duetothelongintervalbetweennoiseexposureandtheobservations.