Background and Aim: Numerous studies have investigated the linguistic characteristics of Persian-speaking children with hearing impairment. Given the variability of findings across these studies, a systematic review is required to both identify research gaps and synthesize existing results. This systematic review aimed to answer the following question: in Persianspeaking children with hearing impairment compared to typically hearing Persian-speaking children, what is the profile of linguistic skills (phonology, morphosyntax, semantics, pragmatics) and metalinguistic skills (phonological awareness, syntactic awareness, semantic awareness)?
Recent Findings: Persian-speaking children with hearing impairment experience significant delays across most linguistic domains, particularly in phonetics/phonology (55% of studies), morphosyntax (16%), and semantics/pragmatics (13%). The most consistent deficits were observed in vowel production and perception, phonological awareness, grammatical omissions, tense marking errors, and comprehension of non literal meanings. Children with cochlear implants outperformed hearing aid users, and early implantation (before age 2) was associated with more favorable outcomes.
Conclusion: Persian-speaking children with hearing impairment demonstrate significant and persistent delays in both linguistic and metalinguistic skills compared to typically hearing peers. Early cochlear implantation and linguistically rich educational environments (e.g. mainstream schools) are associated with better language outcomes. Clinically, comprehensive language assessments should include both receptive and expressive skills, with targeted interventions focusing on phonological awareness, morphosyntax, and pragmatic abilities. Future research should prioritize neglected age groups (6–8 years and 10–15 years) and the understudied semantic-pragmatic domain.

Background and Aim: Posterior fossa lesions often present with slowly progressive hearing loss, making diagnosis challenging. Pure-Tone Audiometry (PTA) and Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) are essential tools for assessing retro-cochlear involvement and establishing hearing thresholds. This study aimed to assess the audiometric profiles of patients with posterior fossa lesions and ascertain whether they could distinguish between different types of lesions.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 36 patients aged 23–65 years. Each participant underwent otoscopic examination, tympanometry, PTA, and ABR testing. The data were analyzed using the chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests in SPSS version 25, with Cohen’s f and Cramer’s V for effect size. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Lesion types showed a strong correlation with clinical presentation. Vascular loops were associated with tinnitus, vestibular schwannomas with facial numbness and hearing loss, and meningiomas with vertigo and headache. Schwannoma cases exhibited significantly higher ipsilateral hearing thresholds, especially at high frequencies (p<0.05). ABR results varied by lesion type: vascular loops mostly caused delayed wave III, meningiomas produced prolonged wave V and I-V intervals, while schwannomas showed the most severe abnormalities, including missing or delayed waves and interpeak intervals. Contralaterally, only schwannomas displayed ABR delays in wave V and I-V interval.
Conclusion: Lesion differentiation was aided by the clinical and audiological characteristics of posterior fossa lesions. ABR offers objective data on retro-cochlear involvement, while PTA identifies changes in hearing threshold. When used together, they improved diagnostic precision and patient care.

Background and Aim: Motion sickness, characterized by conflicting sensory signals, negatively impacts attention and cognitive functions. This study investigated the effects of motion sickness on auditory spatial perception and working memory in adults with normal hearing.
Methods: A Standard group comparison was conducted on 100 adults with motion sickness, classified into three groups—normal-minimal, mild-moderate, and severe—based on Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ)-short scores. Standardized assessments were used to evaluate auditory spatial perception, including Interaural Time Difference (ITD), Interaural Level Difference (ILD), and the Virtual Acoustic Space Identification (VASI) test, along with working memory assessed through the forward digit span and 2n-back test. ITD and ILD tests involved a discrimination task using psychoacoustic staircase procedure, VASI required identification of virtual locations within head, and memory tasks involved repetition digits and 2nd last digit in sequence, in forward task, and 2n-back tasks, respectively.
Results: Participants with motion sickness (mild-moderate and severe groups) performed significantly poorer (p<0.05) than those without on the VASI test, forward digit span, and 2n-back. A moderate negative correlation was observed between MSSQ-short and VASI scores. discriminant function analysis revealed that participants with severe motion sickness could be categorized from the other two less severity groups (normal-minimal, mildmoderate), with VASI and forward digit span emerging as the most sensitive indicators of motion sickness induced changes in spatial and working memory.
Conclusion: Findings underscore the importance of monitoring motion sickness, as it can impair spatial processing and working memory tasks in auditory domain.

Background and Aim: Aging leads to noticeable functional changes in central auditory processing and dichotic function. This study aims to compare the dichotic listening function between Persian-speaking younger and older adults under different Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA) conditions.
Methods: Persian syllables were presented dichotically to the participants including 20 normal-hearing younger adults (aged 18-29 years) and 20 normal-hearing older adults (aged 60-75 years). The onset time of the concurrent stimuli differed from 0 to 150 ms between the right and left ear. The effects of SOA changes (0, 30, 60, 90, and 150 ms) on dichotic listening function were investigated. The percentage of Binaural Ear Correct (BEC%), as an indicative of dichotic performance, was measured.
Results: The BEC% scores decreased with the decrease of SOA values in both groups. However, this decline was more pronounced and significant in the elderly group. In contrast, younger adults achieved higher BEC% scores in all SOA values compared to older adults.
Conclusion: The reduced BEC% in older adults (particularly at lower SOA levels) indicate a decline in their central auditory system function. This study highlighted the impact of aging on central auditory processing and dichotic function. The results can be useful in designing and improving rehabilitation programs for older people.

Background and Aim: Inflammatory processes play a key role in vestibular neuritis (VN) pathogenesis, and recent research has associated vitamin D deficiency with various audio-vestibular conditions, including reduced serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) concentrations in individuals with acute VN. Given its notable immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory actions, vitamin D may serve as an adjunct to enhance Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) outcomes. The present study examined the impact of combining 25(OH)D supplementation with VRT on vestibular function among patients with VN.
Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 41 patients with VN were allocated into two groups. The VRT group (n=20) received individualized vestibular rehabilitation for 30 minutes, three times daily for 12 weeks. The VRT+VitD group (n=21) received the same VRT protocol plus a weekly oral dose of 50,000 IU of 25(OH)D for 12 weeks. Outcomes were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), Vertigo Symptom Scale-short form, and affected canal Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR) gains with video head impulse test, within- and between-groups.
Results: Both groups improved significantly across all measurements. The VRT+VitD group showed a normal serum level of vitamin D post-intervention (39.36±3.06; p<0.001) and greater improvements in subjective symptom reduction (DHI; p=0.023; partial η²=0.126), and VOR gains (p<0.001 with partial η²=0.459, 0.576, and 0.197 for lateral, anterior, and posterior canals, respectively) compared to the VRT group.
Conclusion: Correcting vitamin D deficiency supports and potentially enhances the effects of vestibular rehabilitation in patients with vestibular neuritis, although these outcomes should be interpreted with caution due to the study’s limitations.
Trial Registration Number: The trial was registered with the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20240512061714N1).

Background and Aim: Controversy exists regarding the link between the psychoacoustical measures and the perceptual rating of musical skills. The study aimed to determine whether the perception of musical abilities, as rated by music teachers, is associated with specific psychoacoustical abilities.
Methods: Twenty-seven children who had undergone Carnatic music training for a duration of 2 months to 1 year were assessed using three psychoacoustical tests: Gap Detection Test (GDT), Duration Discrimination Test (DDT), and Difference Limen of Frequency (DLF) tests. Two music teachers, with different teaching experiences, rated their pitch, rhythm, tempo, auditory memory, and overall musical abilities.
Results: The inter-rater reliability was found to be excellent, suggesting that the ratings given by both teachers were similar. A Spearman’s rank correlation test showed a moderate significant correlation between rating scores awarded by the teachers and the thresholds obtained by the trainees on the psychoacoustical tasks. These correlations were seen between temporal resolution (GDT) with the rating of the teachers for auditory memory (r=-0.55, p=0.003), and between frequency discrimination at mid-frequency stimuli (DLF at 1000 Hz) and the rating by the teachers for tempo (r=0.62, p<0.001). A principal component analysis also grouped GDT and DLF at 1000 Hz with the ratings of the teachers, substantiating the findings of the correlation.
Conclusion: The findings indicated that music teachers are able to provide information only on a few acoustical aspects when rating music trainees. Hence, to get more specific information about the musical abilities of trainees, they should be evaluated using psychoacoustical measures.

Background and Aim: Speech audiometry assesses functional hearing beyond pure-tone thresholds, reflecting real-world speech perception. The present study compared wholeword and phoneme scoring methods for the Persian monosyllabic word lists of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU-1) presented in speech-spectrum noise to determine their psychometric equivalence and sensitivity to Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNRs) changes.
Methods: Twenty-two young adults with normal hearing participated. 150 ConsonantVowel-Consonant (CVC) words were presented binaurally at six SNRs of -5, 0, +5, +10, +15, +20 dB in speech-spectrum noise at 60 dB HL. Recognition performance was analyzed using whole-word and phoneme scoring. List equivalency and scoring effects were examined using Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Bonferroni correction.
Results: Speech recognition improved systematically with increasing SNR for both scoring methods. Phoneme scoring consistently yielded higher scores than whole-word scoring, especially under low SNRs, revealing a 10–20% performance advantage. At high SNRs, the two methods converged. Across lists, differences were minor and list-specific, confirming the general equivalency of SBMU-1 lists in noise.
Conclusion: Phoneme scoring provides a more sensitive measure of perceptual performance in noise by capturing partial recognition, whereas whole-word scoring better represents functional communication ability. The SBMU-1-word lists are psychometrically balanced and suitable for both clinical and research applications in Persian speech audiometry.

Background and Aim: Previous research has linked personality traits to noise perception, yet the role of temperament, a fundamental determinant of emotional and sensory processing, remains insufficiently explored. This study aimed to examine the impact of various temperament types on hyperacusis, noise sensitivity, and noise annoyance among industrial workers.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 participants aged 20–60, selected via strict criteria. Variables were assessed using validated questionnaires, including Mojahedi Temperament, Weinstein Noise Sensitivity, Noise Annoyance, and Khalfa Hyperacusis. Data were analyzed using SPSS, with descriptive statistics, correlation, ANOVA, and MANCOVA employed for relationships and group differences.
Results: The results indicated that Melancholic individuals exhibited the highest hyperacusis (mean=28.99), sensitivity (mean=44.33), and annoyance (mean=61.46), whereas phlegmatic individuals showed the lowest sensitivity (mean=41.45), and annoyance (mean=55.06). The dryness-wetness temperament dimension correlated positively with hyperacusis (r=0.275, p<0.01) and annoyance (r=0.184, p<0.05), indicating greater noise reactivity in individuals with drier temperaments. The effect of temperament on hyperacusis (η²=0.11) was stronger than its impact on sensitivity (η²=0.03) and annoyance (η²=0.07).
Conclusion: In conclusion, this study highlights the significant role of temperament in shaping individuals’ responses to noise, with melancholic and choleric individuals exhibiting the highest levels of noise sensitivity and annoyance, and phlegmatic individuals reporting the lowest levels. These findings underscore the necessity of personalized noise mitigation strategies in occupational settings to protect worker health.

Background and Aim: Early intervention with cochlear implantation for deaf children helps them acquire receptive and expressive language. Word learning is one aspect of language acquisition. The current study aimed to evaluate receptive vocabulary knowledge of deaf children who had received Cochlear Implant (CI) compared to their Normal-Hearing (NH) peers.
Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study with a cross-sectional design that was conducted on 90 Persian-speaking children (30 with CIs and 60 with NH). The Hearing Age (HA) of children with CIs ranged from 2 to 57 months, and their Chronological Age (CA) was in the range of 32-71 months. The Receptive Picture Vocabulary Test in Persian (RPVT-P) was used to evaluate the children’s vocabulary knowledge. The t-test and Pearson’s correlation test were used to analyze and compare the data.
Results: There was a significant relationship between the RPVT-P total scores and CA in both NH children (r=0.842, p<0.001), and CI children (r=0.824, p<0.001). There was a significant relationship between the RPVT-P total scores and HA in children with CI (r=0.658, p<0.001). There was a significant difference between the two groups of children in the scores of each RPVT-P item (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Persian-speaking children with CI gradually develop their receptive vocabulary knowledge, but they do not reach the same level of skills as their NH peers. Children with CI can learn various vocabularies.

Background and Aim: Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD) is a chronic functional vestibular disorder characterized by persistent non-spinning dizziness aggravated by motion and visually complex environments. Multimodal management including Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is recommended; however, evidence supporting cognition-integrated tele-vestibular rehabilitation remains limited. This case aimed to examine the clinical utility of a CBTinformed tele-vestibular rehabilitation model in PPPD secondary to peripheral vestibular dysfunction.
The Case: A 31-year-old female presented with a history of persistent dizziness, episodic vertigo, motion sensitivity, and visual dependence, along with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Audiological findings were normal. Vestibular evaluation revealed spontaneous left-beating nystagmus, right-sided utricular involvement on ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP) (prolonged latencies, reduced amplitudes), and corrective saccades in the right lateral canal on video Head Impulse Test (vHIT); MRI findings were unremarkable. Baseline scores indicated severe handicap (Dizziness Handicap Index (DHI): 76/100) and high functional limitation (Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale (VADL); Niigata PPPD questionnaire: 83/114). The patient underwent a structured program comprising four months of tele-VRT followed by six months of cognition-integrated telerehabilitation incorporating psychoeducation, self-monitoring, and cognitive restructuring. Post-intervention outcomes demonstrated reduced symptom severity (Nigata PPPD Questionnaire (NPQ) 45/114), improved VADL scores, decreased DHI (53/100), increased right oVEMP amplitudes, and resolution of corrective saccades on vHIT.
Conclusion: Cognition-integrated tele-vestibular rehabilitation was associated with meaningful functional, psychological, and partial objective vestibular improvements. This case highlights the feasibility and potential benefit of remotely delivered, multidimensional rehabilitation in PPPD and underscores the need for larger controlled studies.