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Objectives: This study aims to measure, at two time points, the relationship between self-perceived global stress and the personality traits of the mothers of children who have central auditory processing disorder (APD) and compare it with the results from mothers of typically developing (TD) children. The comparisons were made before the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as late in the pandemic. Methods: The level of stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), while the Short Big Five Markers (IPIP-BFM-20) were used to assess Big Five personality traits. The study used two independent samples: one evaluated before the COVID-19 pandemic and the other late in the pandemic. Each sample consisted of 108 mothers of children with APD and 79 mothers whose children did not have APD (TD children) as controls. Results: The average global stress levels were similar in mothers of children with APD and in mothers of TD children, both before and in the late stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the late stage, both sets of mothers scored similarly on all personality dimensions, but significantly, mothers of TD children exhibited lower emotional stability compared to during the pre-pandemic period. In both groups, emotional stability predicted global stress level at both time points; however, during the pandemic, conscientiousness also became a predictor of global stress level but only in the group of mothers of TD children. Conclusions: Mothers of APD children might be more resistant to additional stressors. It would be prudent to watch mothers of APD and TD children for signs of needing psychological intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looked at the possible effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals who came to our clinic seeking relief from tinnitus. The performance of the subjects during the COVID-19 pandemic was compared with similar individuals who came to our clinic before the pandemic began. The study involved 50 adults with chronic tinnitus, made up of a study group (24 subjects tested during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021) and a control group before the pandemic began (26 subjects tested from 2013 to 2017). None of the 24 reported having contracted COVID-19. Data collection involved the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire, audiological tests, and quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG). In terms of THI scores, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. However, with regard to qEEG, some changes were observed, with significant decreases in alpha and beta band activity in the study group compared to the control group, particularly over the auditory cortex. We conclude that COVID-19 did not have a discernible impact on the general well-being of individuals with tinnitus. However, it did appear to alter brain activity, specifically in the alpha and beta bands over the auditory cortex, and these reults warrant further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The medial olivocochlear (MOC) system is thought to be responsible for modulation of peripheral hearing through descending (efferent) pathways. This study investigated the connection between peripheral hearing function and conscious attention during two different modality tasks, auditory and visual. Peripheral hearing function was evaluated by analyzing the amount of suppression of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) by contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS), a well-known effect of the MOC. Simultaneously, attention was evaluated by event-related potentials (ERPs). Although the ERPs showed clear differences in processing of auditory and visual tasks, there were no differences in the levels of OAE suppression. We also analyzed OAEs for the highest magnitude resonant mode signal detected by the matching pursuit method, but again did not find a significant effect of task, and no difference in noise level or number of rejected trials. However, for auditory tasks, the amplitude of the P3 cognitive wave negatively correlated with the level of OAE suppression. We conclude that there seems to be no change in MOC function when performing different modality tasks, although the cortex still remains able to modulate some aspects of MOC activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]