Audiology Flashcards
What is considered a mild hearing loss?
pure tone average that falls between 15 to 40 dB
What is signal to noise ratio?
ratio of the level of the signal you want compared to the level of background noise
What is auditory discrimination?
ability to recognize, compare, and distinguish between specific sounds
What are speech recognition thresholds?
lowest levels of hearing that a person can understand 50% of the words (Called spondee words or words with two syllables with equal stress on them such as downtown) presented
What is Carhart’s notch?
a condition frequently found in patients with otosclerosis and is characterized by a reduced bone-conduction sensitivity predominantly at 2000 Hz.
What are the parts associated with the outer ear?
auricle/pinna and the external auditory meatus
What are the parts associated with the middle ear?
ossicular chain, tympanic membrane, acoustic reflex (middle ear muscles contract when person hears a very loud noise), tensor tympani (CN V innervation) and stapedius muscle (CN VII innervation) (which decreases the vibrations of the tympanic membrane)
What are the parts associated with the inner ear?
cochlea, oval window, vestibular system, basilar membrane,
What range of hearing is considered slight hearing loss?
16 to 25 dB
What range of hearing is considered mild hearing loss?
26 to 40 dB
What range of hearing is considered moderate hearing loss?
41 to 55 dB
What range of hearing is considered moderately severe hearing loss?
56 to 70 dB
What range of hearing is considered profound?
91 dB and greater
What is the difference between big D deaf and little d deaf?
big D deaf is characterized by a person who identifies with the deaf community; little d deaf is characterized by a person who does not identify with the deaf community
What is the pure tone hearing test?
by using an audiometer, you can determine the threshold of hearing at different frequencies
What is the difference betwen a bone conduction test and an air conduction test?
bone conduction test is the placement of bone vibrators on the forehead and back of the ear to evaluate whether the sensorineural portion of the ear is fine, whereas an air conduction test is the use of headphones to deliver sound
What is an impedance bridge?
an instrument used to measure changes in the acoustic energy as the sound stimulates the auditory system in which a sound stimulus is placed in the external ear canal with an airtight closure
What is aural rehabilitation?
helping people with hearing loss achieve their full potential by focusing on speech reading and auditory training
What does aural rehabilitation include?
evaluating hearing loss; assessing communication needs; determining if resources are available; prescribing and fitting a hearing aid; auditory training; counseling; using amplification systems; focus on communication patterns in the environment; addressing impact of social, vocational, psychological, and educational factors
What is acoustic highlighting?
a method that focuses on the speaker using key words; speaking slowly; emphasizing the end of sentences; being near the listener; increased pitch and rhythm; increased repetition and redundancy.
What is auditory training?
teach someone with a hearing impairment how to discriminate different sounds
What is cued speech?
speech produced with manual cues that represent speech sounds
What is the aural/oral method of training?
use amplification methods to activate the child’s residual hearing
What is the manual approach?
nonverbal communication involving signing and fingerspelling
What are tactile aids?
amplification for people who are deaf in which vibrations from the aids they touch are turned into sounds; involves lots of practice
What are cochlear implants?
amplification for individuals with profound hearing loss in which a device is placed in the cochlea and other parts of the ear to send the sound via electrical impulses directly to the acoustic nerve ending in the cochlea.
What is a cochlear implant made of?
microphone; processor; an external transmitter; implanted receiver
What is the difference between pre-lingual and post-lingual with regards to hearing loss?
prelingual is hearing loss that happened before a child learned to talk, whereas post-lingual is hearing loss that happened after a child learned to talk
What is the difference between operant audiometry and localization audiometry?
localization audiometry is presenting a sound and seeing if the infant will turn in the direction to where the sound is coming from
Operant audiometry is conditioning voluntary responses to sound stimuli to test a child’s hearing
What is admittance?
a measure of the amount of energy that flows through the system
What is tympanometry?
a procedure where acoustic immitance is measured using an impedance bridge in which a sound stimulus is placed in the external ear canal with airtight closure and measures the changes in acoustic energy
What is the acoustic reflex?
a reflex response of muscles attached to the stapes bone; measured with an impedance meter
What is auditory brainstem response?
technique used to record the electrical activity in the auditory nerve, brainstem, and cortical areas of the brain; used to test hearing in newborns
What is auditory evoked potentials?
measurable electrical impulses that indicate changes in electrical activity of the brain.
What are the muscles of the middle ear?
tensor tympani (innervated by CN V; stiffens the tympanic membrane to reduce vibrations)
Stapedius muscle (innervated by CN VII; stiffens the ossicular chain to reduce vibrations)
What is involved in the inner ear?
vibrations of the stapes’ footplate causes Reissner’s membrane to move which moves the basilar membrane which causes hair cells on the organ of Corti to shear and generate electrical energy which nerve cells send as electrical energy to the brain
For the basiliar membrane, the ______ is responsive to low frequency sounds and ______ is responsive to high frequency sounds
thickest part or the tip; thinnest part or the base
Two assessments that are used to screen newborn hearing are
otoacoustic emissions (sounds created by the cochlea that pass through the middle ear and the inner ear) and auditory brainstem responses
What is the word recognition test and what is it used for?
It is the ability for a person to discriminate between words and repeat a monosyllabic word that they have heard. It is used to determine individuals who can hear but cannot understand speech, which indicates sensorineural hearing loss
