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Background and Aim: The information related to brain oscillation, head rotation and head orientation relative to gravity is obtained from the vestibular system. An important reference for upright posture and navigation is gravity-based vertical perception. Many studies have been conducted for the determination of cortical areas involved in Subjective Visual Vertical (SVV) perception in healthy people or patients with brain injuries. Their results have indicated an extensive and bilateral cortical area involved in SVV perception. The purpose of this review study is to investigate these cortical areas and their functional role.
Recent Findings: Neuroimaging studies in patients with brain injuries showed that multiple cortical areas have a role in SVV perception. These areas mainly include the occipital cortex, frontal cortex, posterior temporoparietal, temporo-occipital, parieto-occipital, superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobe in temporoparietal junction, posterior insula, cuneus, lingual gyrus, precuneus, ventral dentate nucleus, cerebellum, and brainstem.
Conclusion: The cortical areas involved in SVV perception are a part of the vestibular system, which is distributed bilaterally. These areas have a multi-sensory processing task and play a role in processing of cognitive and motor sensory information.

Background and Aim: Hearing loss often coexists with various comorbidities and is commonly accompanied by tinnitus. Patients frequently report both tinnitus and hearing difficulties, posing challenges in distinguishing between the two complaints. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Tinnitus and Hearing Survey (THS) for distinguishing between tinnitus and hearing problems.
Methods: A psychometric study involved 100 participants aged 18–60, categorized into four groups based on hearing status and tinnitus presence. The Persian translation of a questionnaire underwent content and face validity assessments. Convergent validity for tinnitus and sound tolerance sections was evaluated using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ) respectively, while pure-tone average assessed hearing section validity. Construct validity was confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis, and internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) respectively.
Results: The Persian version had strong face and content validity, with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.82 for tinnitus, 0.90 for hearing, and 0.80 overall. The ICC values for the tinnitus, hearing, and sound tolerance sections were 0.8, 0.83, and 0.82. Convergent validity using the THI and HQ scores were reported 0.76 and 0.6, and the correlation value of the THS score with the PTA was 0.82. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a good 2-factor structure of the THS.
Conclusion: The Persian THS is a valid and reliable tool for separating tinnitus from hearing problems in Persian-speaking people.

Background and Aim: Wideband Tympanometry (WBT) evaluation of the middle ear is a more accurate approach to identifying middle ear disorders, especially in infants and neonates. Therefore, the need to achieve WBT normative values in the infant population seems obvious. This study aims to evaluate the normative wideband tympanometry values measured in birth to 2-months Iranian infants.
Methods: Sixty-four infants participated in this study, including 9 girls and 11 boys in the age group of 0–14 days and 17 girls and 27 boys in the age group of 15–60 days.
Results: The normative range of the mean resonance frequency in the first and second age groups was between 298–323 Hz and 324–339 Hz, respectively. At the frequencies of 500 Hz and 1000 Hz, the effect of age groups, at the frequency of 2000 Hz, the effect of age groups, gender, and ear side, at the frequency of 6349 Hz, the effect of gender and age groups, and finally at the frequency of 8000 Hz, the effect of gender in different modes was observed. The normative range of the mean ear canal volume in the first and second age groups was between 0.41–0.38 ml and 0.42–0.46 ml, respectively. The normative range of mean peak tympanometric pressure in the first and second age groups was between –21 to 32 daPa and –8 to 25 daPa.
Conclusion: The use of separate norms for males and females in different situations may increase the sensitivity and specificity of the wideband tympanometry.

Background and Aim: Misophonia is a condition marked by heightened sensitivity and intense emotional and physiological responses to particular sounds that may not spark the same reactions in others. This study is the first of its kind to assess binaural integration and binaural interaction in misophonia.
Methods: Thirty misophonia and 30 control participants were considered in the age range of 18 to 30 years. All the participants had hearing sensitivity within normal limits and normal middle ear function. Individuals with a history of otological complaints, noise exposure, ototoxic medications, tinnitus, hyperacusis, diabetes, or hypertension were excluded from the study. Misophonia severity was assessed using the Misophonia Assessment Questionnaire (MAQ). Binaural integration was assessed using Dichotic Consonant Vowel (DCV) test, and binaural interaction was assessed using Masking Level Difference (MLD).
Results: The statistical analysis of the independent t-test for DCV and Mann Whitney U test for MLD showed no significant difference between misophonia and the control group for both MLD and DCV.
Conclusion: The results suggest that there is no significant difference in DCV and MLD scores between the control and misophonia groups.

Background and Aim: One of the various measures used in speech audiometry is the speech recognition threshold. The aim of this study is to construct psychometrically equivalent lists containing Azari two-syllable words to evaluate speech reception threshold in Azari-speaking adults.
Methods: This study is a cross-sectional comparative study of test construction. Common two-syllable words were collected from Azari books. Words with features of ease, familiarity, and relatedness as well as phonetic balance and phonetic dissimilarity were included in 5 lists of 10 words. The lists were evaluated for psychometric evaluations and validity and reliability on young Azari population at 5 intensity levels from –5 to 15 dB HL. After two to four weeks, people were tested again under the same conditions.
Results: All 5 lists showed favorable face, content validity index and content validity ratio. The average speech thresholds obtained were 9.62, 9.77, 9.57, 9.67 and 9.57, respectively. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and halving were obtained above 0.8 in all 5 lists. Test-retest reliability was also significant (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The review and analysis performed on the data show that all 5 lists have psychometric homogeneity and alignment and show a high degree of validity and reliability; which makes them suitable for evaluating speech reception threshold in hearing centers of Azari regions.

Background and Aim: Previous research has shown that musicians have better performance in consonant recognition in noise compared to non-musicians. This study aimed to determine the effects of age at onset and years of musical training on consonant recognition in noise in musicians.
Methods: Thirty-six Persian-speaking young musicians with normal hearing whose age at onset of musical training ranged 4–8 years and had at least 10 years of musical training, were asked to listen to Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) tokens presented in 12-talker babble noise and transcribe them. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the ability of age at onset of musical training and years of musical training in predicting the recognition of stops and fricatives.
Results: The age at onset of musical training significantly predicted consonant recognition in noise (p<0.001, R2= 0.614), while years of musical activity had no significant effect (p=0.055).
Conclusion: Early start of musical training seems to improve the ability to recognize consonants in challenging listening environments.

Background and Aim: Individuals who suffer Hearing Loss (HL) from inefficient auditory input will experience difficulty in phonological processing and reading. This study aimed to investigate the phonological processing and word and non-word reading abilities of Farsispeaking children with Cochlear Implants (CIs), Hearing Aids (HAs) and Normal Hearing (NH).
Methods: Sixty-three children with severe to profound HL and NH who were in the first grade participated. Phonological Awareness (PA) and Phonological Working Memory (PWM) tests were used to assess phonological processing. Word and non-word reading abilities were assessed through reading and dyslexia tests reading abilities, phonological processing as well as the correlation between them were compared among three groups.
Results: The PA, PWM and reading abilities of NH children were significantly different from children with HL (p<0.01). Correlations between words and non-words reading ability and some phonological processing tasks were observed in each of the three groups. Phonemic awareness for all three groups and intra-syllabic awareness for children with HA and NH were the most important predictors for word and non-word reading abilities.
Conclusion: Hearing impairment had a critical effect on phonological processing as an important factor in word and non-word reading.

Background and Aim: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the only evidence-based and method for tinnitus management. To assess a patient’s progress during and after CBT, an assessment tool such as a questionnaire is needed. Since there is no validated tool available in Iran for this purpose, this study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Tinnitus Cognition Questionnaire (P-TCQ).
Methods: The TCQ was first translated to Persian based on the international quality of life assessment protocol. participants were 102 tinnitus patients and 7 audiologists. After translation and data collection, psychometric properties (content validity, face validity, construct validity, criterion validity, reliability) of the P-TCQ were evaluated.
Results: The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Item-Content Validity Index (I-CVI) values were higher than the minimum acceptable values (0.74 and 0.79, respectively). Item-level Face Validity Index (I-FVI) and average of Scale-level Face Validity Indexes (S-FVI) were in a range of 0.8-0.96 and 0.88–0.90, respectively, all of which were higher than the acceptable value of 0.7. Furthermore, fit indices had higher than the acceptable values and showed the good fit of the confirmatory factor abalysis model. There was a positive correlations between the TCQ total scores and the tinnitus handicap inventory (r=0.60) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (r=0.61), indicating acceptaiuoble criterion validity. Furthermore, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient showed that the TCQ has acceptable reliability.
Conclusion: The P-TCQ is a valid and reliable questionnaire to evaluate the cognitive aspects of tinnitus in the Iranian samples.

Background and Aim: Regular physical activities, including sports, are associated with improved balance function. The objectives of our study were to conduct cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (cVEMPs) and ocular VEMPs (oVEMPs) in young adult football players and to compare the test results with those who are not involved in regular physical activities as the control group.
Methods: We recruited 11 young football players (9 right-leg and two left-leg dominant) who have been playing football regularly since childhood and have participated in inter-school or college/university-level football tournaments. The age-matched control group consisted of 11 healthy participants not involved in any physical activities regularly or as a hobby. Participants in both groups underwent cVEMP and oVEMP tests in both ears.
Results: The peak-to-peak amplitude of both cVEMP and oVEMP were higher in football players than in the control group. The amplitude for left ear stimulation was higher than the right ear for both cVEMP and oVEMP in football players and it reached statistical significance for oVEMP in left ear stimulation (p<0.05). The n10 latency of oVEMP in both right and left ear stimulations and the p13 latency of cVEMP in left ear stimulation was significantly shorter in football players compared to the control group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Regular football players have stronger vestibule-collic and translational Vestibulo-Ocular Reflexes (t-VOR). The reflex strength, measured as the higher peak-to-peak amplitude of VEMPs, might also be influenced by factors like leg/eye dominance.

Background and Aim: Human blood group system variations may impact the individual’s health and hearing status. It was found that individuals with O-positive blood are more prone to noise-induced hearing loss, and they exhibit reduced amplitude in otoacoustic emissions, elevated Acoustic Reflex Threshold (ART), and a slightly higher resonance frequency of the middle ear. Hence, a study was needed to observe if the same trend is followed for those with Rh-ve blood groups.
Methods: A cross-sectional group post-test-only design with a non-random convenient sample was applied. This study was conducted with forty adult female participants with a pure tone threshold range of less than or equal to 15 dBHL and ages ranging from 18 to 25 years. In each blood group (A–, B–, O–, AB–), 10 participants were recruited. All participants underwent immittance evaluation, pure tone audiometry, and extended highfrequency audiometry.
Results: On analyzing the data, participants with the O negative blood group showed significantly elevated ART in both ipsilateral and contralateral ears. Also, there was no significant difference for pure tone thresholds for the frequencies 250 Hz to 16 kHz and tympanometry findings.
Conclusion: This study indicates that the elevated ARTs in O negative blood group people could be attributed to relatively increased stiffness in the middle ear and fewer outer hair cells compared with other blood groups.

Background and Aim: Executive Functions (EFs) are essential for learning and self-regulation in children. This study explored the transformative potential of Cognitive Rehabilitation (CR) in enhancing EFs among children with Cochlear Implants (CI). The focus was on assessing key areas of cognitive flexibility, rule acquisition, attention, spatial planning, working memory, and strategy use.
Methods: Utilizing a semi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test evaluations, our study focused on children aged 8 to 11 years. A total of 24 children (13 girls and 11 boys) were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group underwent 12 sessions of targeted computerized CR, while the control group received no intervention. Post-intervention, we compared the outcomes of both groups.
Results: The results revealed a significant improvement in the EFs of the experimental group compared to the control group (p=0.01). These findings underscore the effectiveness of CR in enhancing executive functioning in children with CI.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that cognitive rehabilitation could improve and enhance cognitive flexibility, rule acquisition, attentional set shifting, spatial planning, motor control, working memory capacity, and strategy use.