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Introduction: Emotional words in comparison with neutral words have different hemispheric specialization. It is assumed that the right hemisphere has a role in processing every kind of emotional word. The objective of the present study was the development of a Persian version of the dichotic emotional word test and evaluate its validation among adult Persian speakers. Materials and Methods: The present study was done on 60 adults, with the age ranging from 18-30 years for both genders, who had no history of neurological disorders with normal hearing. The developed test included eight main lists; each had several dichotic emotional/ neutral pairs of words. Participants were asked to recall as many words in each list as they could after they listened to them. A content validity index was used to analyze the validity of the test. Results: The mean content validity index score was 0.94. The findings showed that in the left ear, emotional words were remembered more than neutral ones (P=0.007). While in the right ear, neutral words were remembered more (P=0.009). There were no significant differences in male and female scores. Conclusion: Dichotic emotional word test has a high content validity. The ability to remember emotional words better in the left ear supports the dominant role of the right hemisphere in emotional word perception.

Introduction: Hearing loss from birth up to the age of 3 years has a negative effect on speech/language development and results in sensory, cognitive, emotional, and academic defects in adulthood by causing delayed development of communicative-linguistic abilities. The present study was performed in order to assess the effect of early intervention on language development in Persian children aged 6-7 years with severe sensorineural hearing loss. Materials and Methods: Thirty boys and girls aged 6-7 years participated in this study, all of them had severe congenital sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. All children were using bilateral behind-the-ear hearing aid, and had similar economic/socio-cultural backgrounds. Subjects were categorized into two groups based on the age of identification/intervention of hearing loss (3-6 and 12-15 months of age). The Persian TOLD-P3 test was used to evaluate language development in all subjects. Data collection was accomplished by observation, completion of questionnaires, and speech recording. Results: There was a significant difference in language development in 11 sub-tests and five lingual gains on the Persian TOLD-P3 test between early (3-6 months of age) and late identified/intervened (12-15 months of age) hearing-impaired children (P

Introduction: Parents are such important members of the cochlear-implant team that analysis of their views is essential in orderto improve services and outcomes. The authors developed a tool to assess parental attitudes towards various aspects of cochlear implantation in children who had passed aural rehabilitation sessions. The authors then went on to determine the validity and reliability of this questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire entitled, “Parental attitudes towards various aspects of cochlear implantation”, was prepared and assessed for content validity by experts in the field. The questionnaire comprised six subgroups, each scored using a five-point Likert scale. Parents of children with severe-to-profound congenital hearing loss who had undergone an aural rehabilitation program between 2007 and 2012 were eligible to take part in the questionnaire validation study (n=92, mean age of cochlear implantation 3.97 years). Test-retest reliability was subsequently assessed in 17 patients within 1 month. Results: The content validity index of the questionnaire was 98.68%.The external and internal reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha (0.844 and 0.892, respectively). Mean scores of the six subgroups of the questionnaire, including communication skills, academic skills, social skills, cochlear-implant center services, costs of surgery and rehabilitation programs and decision-making process and total were 84.6%, 75.0%, 84.0%, 78.8%, 83.4%, 67.0% and 79.2%, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, the results supported the validity, reliability and sensitivity of the questionnaire for use both in centers for cochlear implantation or aural rehabilitation clinics. The questionnaire would provide a valuable means of assessing the impact of cochlear implantation on children’s lives.

Introduction: Cochlear implantation (CI) improves language skills among children with hearing loss. However, children with CIs still fall short of fulfilling some other needs, including musical perception. This is often attributed to the biological, technological, and acoustic limitations of CIs. Emotions play a key role in the understanding and enjoyment of music. The present study aimed to investigate the emotional perception of music in children with bilaterally severe-to-profound hearing loss and unilateral CIs. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five children with congenital severe-to-profound hearing loss and unilateral CIs and 30 children with normal hearing participated in the study. The children’s emotional perceptions of music, as defined by Peretz (1998), were measured. Children were instructed to indicate happy or sad feelings fostered in them by the music by pointing to pictures of faces showing these emotions. Results: Children with CI obtained significantly lower scores than children with normal hearing, for both happy and sad items of music as well as in overall test scores (P

Introduction: Cochlear implantation (CI) improves language skills among children with hearing loss. However, children with CIs still fall short of fulfilling some other needs, including musical perception. This is often attributed to the biological, technological, and acoustic limitations of CIs. Emotions play a key role in the understanding and enjoyment of music. The present study aimed to investigate the emotional perception of music in children with bilaterally severe-to-profound hearing loss and unilateral CIs. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five children with congenital severe-to-profound hearing loss and unilateral CIs and 30 children with normal hearing participated in the study. The children’s emotional perceptions of music, as defined by Peretz (1998), were measured. Children were instructed to indicate happy or sad feelings fostered in them by the music by pointing to pictures of faces showing these emotions. Results: Children with CI obtained significantly lower scores than children with normal hearing, for both happy and sad items of music as well as in overall test scores (P

Introduction: Hearing loss is one of the most common problems in elderly people. Functional side effects of hearing loss are various. Due to the fact that hearing loss is the common impairment in elderly people; the importance of its possible effects on auditory memory is undeniable. This study aims to focus on the hearing loss effects on auditory memory. Materials and Methods: Dichotic Auditory Memory Test (DVMT) was performed on 47 elderly people, aged 60 to 80; that were divided in two groups, the first group consisted of elderly people with hearing range of 24 normal and the second one consisted of 23 elderly people with bilateral symmetrical ranged from mild to moderate Sensorineural hearing loss in the high frequency due to aging in both genders. Results: Significant difference was observed in DVMT between elderly people with normal hearing and those with hearing loss (P

Introduction: Hearing loss is one of the most common problems in elderly people. Functional side effects of hearing loss are various. Due to the fact that hearing loss is the common impairment in elderly people; the importance of its possible effects on auditory memory is undeniable. This study aims to focus on the hearing loss effects on auditory memory. Materials and Methods: Dichotic Auditory Memory Test (DVMT) was performed on 47 elderly people, aged 60 to 80; that were divided in two groups, the first group consisted of elderly people with hearing range of 24 normal and the second one consisted of 23 elderly people with bilateral symmetrical ranged from mild to moderate Sensorineural hearing loss in the high frequency due to aging in both genders. Results: Significant difference was observed in DVMT between elderly people with normal hearing and those with hearing loss (P

Introduction: Preterm birth is a risk factor for a number of conditions that requires comprehensive examination. Our study was designed to investigate the impact of preterm birth on the processing of auditory stimuli and brain structures at the brainstem level at a preschool age. Materials and Methods: An auditory brainstem response (ABR) test was performed with low rates of stimuli in 60 children aged 4 to 6 years. Thirty subjects had been born following a very preterm labor or late-preterm labor and 30 control subjects had been born following a full-term labor. Results: Significant differences in the ABR test result were observed in terms of the inter-peak intervals of the I–III and III–V waves, and the absolute latency of the III wave (P

Introduction: Preterm birth is a risk factor for a number of conditions that requires comprehensive examination. Our study was designed to investigate the impact of preterm birth on the processing of auditory stimuli and brain structures at the brainstem level at a preschool age. Materials and Methods: An auditory brainstem response (ABR) test was performed with low rates of stimuli in 60 children aged 4 to 6 years. Thirty subjects had been born following a very preterm labor or late-preterm labor and 30 control subjects had been born following a full-term labor. Results: Significant differences in the ABR test result were observed in terms of the inter-peak intervals of the I–III and III–V waves, and the absolute latency of the III wave (P

Introduction: The family of each hearing-impaired child has its own cultural, social, educational, and financial background, and its own special needs. The objectives of our study were to explore the information and support needs of parents of children with severe-to-profound hearing impairment and to investigate the effects of the parents’ level of education and economic status on the score attained in the parents’-needs questionnaire. Materials and Methods: Fifty-one parents of children with severe-to-profound hearing loss (53% girls, 47% boys; mean age 47.96 months) who used the Auditory-Verbal Therapy approach were asked to complete the parents’-needs questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic information and hearing-loss history and covered six domains which evaluated the information or support needs of parents. Parental needs with regard to different domains were evaluated separately in all participants. Results: Statistical analysis indicated that there was a significant decrease in the score attained in the parents’-needs questionnaire with increasing level of education of the child’s parents (P

Introduction: The family of each hearing-impaired child has its own cultural, social, educational, and financial background, and its own special needs. The objectives of our study were to explore the information and support needs of parents of children with severe-to-profound hearing impairment and to investigate the effects of the parents’ level of education and economic status on the score attained in the parents’-needs questionnaire. Materials and Methods: Fifty-one parents of children with severe-to-profound hearing loss (53% girls, 47% boys; mean age 47.96 months) who used the Auditory-Verbal Therapy approach were asked to complete the parents’-needs questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic information and hearing-loss history and covered six domains which evaluated the information or support needs of parents. Parental needs with regard to different domains were evaluated separately in all participants. Results: Statistical analysis indicated that there was a significant decrease in the score attained in the parents’-needs questionnaire with increasing level of education of the child’s parents (P

Introduction: Cochlear implantation can facilitate the development of communication skills in children with profound hearing loss. The objectives of our study were to determine the average ages at suspicion and diagnosis of hearing loss, amplification, intervention, and performing the cochlear implantation and to investigate the effects of the parents’ level of education and economic circumstances on the age of the child at cochlear implantation. Materials and Methods: The parents of 96 children with profound sensorineural hearing loss who had received a cochlear implant at Amir-Alam Cochlear Implant Center between 2008 and 2010 were asked to complete a survey. The survey included demographic information, and birth, medical, and hearing loss history of their child. Study data were obtained through the patient database in the Cochlear Implant Center and interviews with the parents. Results: The mean times between the age of the children at diagnosis of hearing loss and amplification, beginning the rehabilitation program, and performing the cochlear implantation were 4.05 (±0.86), 2.59 (±0.9), and 25.43 (±1.45) months, respectively; delays that were statistically significant (P≤0.004). In 47.9 percent of cases, the parents were the first people to suspect the occurrence of hearing loss in their child. Statistical analysis indicated that the age at cochlear implantation decreases as the educational level of the parents increases (P≤0.003). There was also a significant difference between parents’ economic circumstances and the age of cochlear implantation (P

Introduction: Cochlear implantation can facilitate the development of communication skills in children with profound hearing loss. The objectives of our study were to determine the average ages at suspicion and diagnosis of hearing loss, amplification, intervention, and performing the cochlear implantation and to investigate the effects of the parents’ level of education and economic circumstances on the age of the child at cochlear implantation. Materials and Methods: The parents of 96 children with profound sensorineural hearing loss who had received a cochlear implant at Amir-Alam Cochlear Implant Center between 2008 and 2010 were asked to complete a survey. The survey included demographic information, and birth, medical, and hearing loss history of their child. Study data were obtained through the patient database in the Cochlear Implant Center and interviews with the parents. Results: The mean times between the age of the children at diagnosis of hearing loss and amplification, beginning the rehabilitation program, and performing the cochlear implantation were 4.05 (±0.86), 2.59 (±0.9), and 25.43 (±1.45) months, respectively; delays that were statistically significant (P≤0.004). In 47.9 percent of cases, the parents were the first people to suspect the occurrence of hearing loss in their child. Statistical analysis indicated that the age at cochlear implantation decreases as the educational level of the parents increases (P≤0.003). There was also a significant difference between parents’ economic circumstances and the age of cochlear implantation (P