Background and Aim: Untreated hearing loss can severely impact quality of life, mental and physical health, and cognitive performance. Digital hearing aids can mitigate these effects, with the filter bank being a crucial component. It divides signals into frequency bands, compresses, amplifies, and processes speech based on the user's hearing profile. This study focuses on optimizing filter bank architecture in terms of hardware cost, processing speed, and adaptability to enhance the efficiency of digital hearing aids.
Recent Findings: Each filter bank in digital hearing aids relies on Finite Impulse Respons (FIR) filters, and optimizing their architecture is crucial for optimal device performance. Literature suggests that reconfigurable digital FIR filters are preferred for filter bank structures. However, their performance may vary based on specifications such as filter length, bandwidth, sampling frequency, and coefficients. Therefore, this review aims to identify an optimized reconfigurable FIR filter design that improves hearing aid performance while ensuring its parameters remain independent of these specifications.
Conclusion: A hardware-efficient, optimized, and adaptable parallel computing architecture for hearing aid filter banks has been identified from the literature survey. This proposed architecture features reconfigurable sub-band frequencies tailored to the user’s specific hearing loss, utilizing a Coefficient Scanning Mechanism (CSM) and Floating Point-Computation Sharing High-speed Mechanism (FP-CSHM). The CSM dynamically adjusts sub-band selection and reorganizes the FIR structure in each filter bank to reduce multiplication counts based on coefficient matching. The FP-CSHM enhances computation speed by eliminating redundant calculations through parallel processing.

Background and aim: Air pollution has a negative impact on various body systems, including auditory system. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of research investigating the effects of air pollution on various levels of the auditory system, including peripheral and central components, as well as related cognitive processing and associated disorders.
Recent finding: Air pollution includes a diverse and complex mixture of chemicals, particulate matter or biological substances in ambient air. Air pollution can be harmful to humans and other living things. It has become a major environmental concern in recent decades, especially in developing and industrialized countries. There is a lot of evidence showing that air pollution can harm different parts of the body, like the lungs, heart, brain, and ears. Hearing loss is the second most common non-infectious disorder, and its effects can lead to serious issues in communication, speech, language, education, social interactions, finances, and mental well-being.
Conclusion: This study examines various research studies that link air pollution to hearing problems, highlighting how air pollutants can harm different aspects of the auditory system.

Background and Aim: Temporal fine structure (TFS) sensitivity and working memory (WM) abilities have been widely studied individually as the contributing factors for deciding compression speed in hearing aids.The study aimed to develop a clinical framework for setting optimal compression speed using combination of TFS sensitivity and WM abilities.
Methods: Participants were 25 native Kannada-speaking adults (Mean age 70 years). We evaluated the participant's TFS sensitivity using the TFS -adaptive frequency (-AF) and WM abilities using reading span test. Further, aided sentence recognition in noise was tested to obtain find the signal-to-noise ratio 50% (SNR50) correct identification happens in fast acting compression (FAC) and slow acting compression (SAC) modes.
Results: Individuals with good TFS sensitivity demonstrated significantly lower SNR50 scores with FAC and individuals with poor WM showed significantly lower SNR50 with SAC. However, individuals with poor TFS sensitivity and individuals with good WM ability showed no significance on SNR50 obtained between FAC and SAC. A strong negative correlation existed between TFS sensitivity and SNR50 in both SAC and FAC modes even after accounting for WM abilities. There was a mild negative correlation between WM abilities and SNR50 in FAC mode only, but this was not significant after accounting for TFS sensitivity.
Conclusion: Using the results of the present study along with the literature findings, a clinical framework was devised to enable the selection of appropriate compression speed for optimal speech understanding with hearing aids.

Background and Aim: Listening in Spatialized Noise Sentence (LiSN-S) is one of the auditory processing disorder test battery that specifically diagnose spatial processing disorders. This research aimed to develop The Persian version of the LiSN-S, for assessing auditory processing disorders in the Persian speakers’ population.
Methods: The PLiSN-S test was developed based on its original Australian version. The speech stimuli were convolved with head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) to generate speech in the presence of spatialized noise. In total, 120 target sentences (consisting of five 1-3-syllable words) and competing stories were presented in four conditions. These included the Same Voice co-located condition (SV0°), Different Voice co-located condition (DV0°), Same Voice separated condition (SV±90°), and Different Voice separated condition (DV±90°). Then, data from 30 adults aged 18–23 with normal hearing were obtained.
Results: The results from the normal-hearing subjects showed that the Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) scores, expressed as Signal to Noise Ratios (SNR), varied across the four conditions (SV0°, DV0° SV±90°, DV±90°) the highest and lowest SRTs belonged to the first and last conditions, respectively. The amount of advantage in all conditions was lower than in the previously published English versions.
Conclusion: Considering the impact of spatial separation on the SRTs, PLiSN-S appears to be an effective tool for measuring spatial processing skills.

Background and Aim: Musical training causes neuroplasticity changes which are transferred to other modalities like- audition, cognition. All the musical tests uses musical stimulus, thus making it hard for the children without musical training due to the unfamiliarity of the stimulus. Dynamic stimulus like pitch contour, mimics musical stimulus. Hence the present study aimed to investigate the  perception of pitch contour for different tonal stimuli in typically developing children with and without musical training.
Methods: Children aged  9-13 years  were categorized into two groups: group-I with formal musical training and group-II without musical training. Musical abilities were assessed using the Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Music Abilities (MBEMA) test with melody, rhythm, and memory subtests. The melody and rhythm subtests had discrimination of musical tones, while the memory subtest had identification of familiar melodies from previous subtests. The pitch contours for tonal stimulus were generated using PRAAT software . The pitch contour consisted of tones sweeps representing nine patterns (rising, rising-flat,rising-falling, flat, flat-rising, flat-falling, falling, falling-flat, and falling-rising) for 500Hz, 1kHz, and 2kHz tones. Children were familiarized with these contours and then tested using closed-set identification task  using DMDX software
Results: Group I performed better than group-II in both musical ability and pitch contour identification tests. MANOVA revealed significant differences in MBEMA  and  pitch contour identification between the groups.
Conclusion: The contour perception of the different pitch shows evident differences induced by musical training. It is proposed to assess the musical ability of the individual with the tonal pitch contours.

Background and Aim: Acceptance of tinnitus may play a role in the perception of its intensity and the distress caused by it. Therefore, the Tinnitus Acceptance Questionnaire (TAQ) is useful in therapeutic processes. This study aimed to translate the TAQ into Persian, verify its validity, and reliability and determine the correlation between questionnaire scores and psychoacoustic measurements in patients with chronic tinnitus.
Methods: After confirming face validity and translation, the Persian version of the TAQ (P-TAQ) was acquired. Then, the P-TAQ and the Persian Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI-P) were completed by 85 patients with chronic tinnitus. The P-TAQ’s reliability was assessed in 30 patients after two weeks. Psychoacoustic tinnitus evaluations including pitch matching, loudness matching, and minimum masking level were conducted for all patients.
Results: The P-TAQ had high face validity. The internal consistency was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α=0.92). The Interclass Correlation Coefficient confirmed reliability (0.994). A strong correlation was observed between the P-TAQ’s total score with the THI’s total score (r=-0.788) and the score of each of the HADS anxiety (r=-0.623) and depression (r=-0.728) subscales. There was a weak negative correlation between the P-TAQ’s total score and the subjective loudness of tinnitus (r=-0.322). There is no significant correlation between age, tinnitus duration, pitch and, minimum masking level of tinnitus with the P-TAQ’s total score.
Conclusion: The P-TAQ has excellent validity and reliability. Therefore, it can be used to assess the acceptance of tinnitus among Persian-speaking patients with chronic tinnitus.

Background and Aim: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) impacts the quality of life of affected people, especially the elderly. The Epley maneuver and the Gans maneuver are used to treat posterior canal BPPV (PC-BPPV). The effectiveness of the Epley maneuver has been verified, but further studies are required to prove the effectiveness of the Gans maneuver. The main purpose of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of the Gans maneuver with the Epley maneuver in the treatment of the elderly with PC-BPPV, considering emotional, physical, and functional symptoms by assessing anxiety, dizziness, and quality of life after treatment.
Method: Sixty-three elderly patient (74.38±5.34 years) with unilateral PC- BPPV were recruited in this study. They were randomly assigned to two groups. The experimental group received the Gans maneuver, and the control group received the Epley maneuver. All patients completed the Persian version of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and Vestibular Rehabilitation Benefit Questionnaire (VRBQ) before, 48 hours and 1 month after treatment. Recurrence rate was assessed after the 2-month follow up.
Results: Significant differences were observed between pre-treatment and post-treatment questionnaire outcomes for both study groups; nevertheless, in each phase of the study, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the DHI and VRBQ scores.
Conclusion: Both the Gans maneuver and Epley maneuver were almost equally effective and made elderly with PC-BPPV report a better condition in terms of anxiety, emotional factors and quality of life after receiving the maneuvers.

Background and Aim: Many older adults experience difficulty in speech perception in noisy environments and fast speech. Speech perception is dependent on bottom-up and top-down auditory processing information. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Interaural Time Difference (ITD) and speech processing speed in older adults with difficulty in speech perception in noise.
Methods: In this study, 36 Iranian older adults with normal hearing (23 men and 13 women) aged 65–75 years who had complaints about the difficulty with speech perception in noise, participated. The ITD test with two stimuli (high-pass and low-pass noise) was used to asess the auditory localization ability. Time-Compressed Speech Test (TCST) and reaction time test were used to measure their speech processing speed. Pearson correlation test was performed to examine the relationship between ITD and speech processing speed.
Results: The auditory localization errors were more significant for ITDs with low-pass noise than high-pass noise. The results showed a negative correlation between localization errors and the TCST score at time compression ratios of 40% (p=0.005) and 60% (p=0.002). The highest correlation was observed between ITD (low-pass noise) and the TCST score at the time compression ratio of 60% in the right ear (r=–0.66). The mean ITD errors were not significantly correlated to the reaction time test score (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Word recognition in the elderly declines with increasing speech rate. The findings of this study can be used in clinical practice for consultation and rehabilitation of older adults with communication difficulties.

Abstract
Introduction: The present research was conducted to develop the Persian Staggered Spondaic Word (P-SSW) test using perceptual simultaneity, analyze its psychometric properties, and obtain normative data.

Materials & Methods: The test was developed by optimizing the materials and using perceptual simultaneity. The test psychometric properties were also assessed and the test-retest reliability was evaluated after four weeks. This study recruited 380 participants. Twenty-four experts evaluated the content validity.  Forty-two individuals provided comments for the face validity verification. Two hundred and thirteen healthy individuals were recruited to evaluate the psychometric properties.

Results: The content and face validity were confirmed. Insignificant differences were observed between the two genders. Significant differences were found in the total score and different conditions among specific age groups. Significant and positive correlations were observed between the test and retest scores (r>0.8).

Conclusion: Auditory processing can be assessed in Persian speakers using the P-SSW test as a valid and reliable instrument. Perceptual simultaneity might be the most appropriate technique to develop this test given the potential effects of other methods on the results

Background and aim: Many tinnitus sufferers have reported significant difficulties in social situations. Nobody knows for sure if this disability is a direct consequence of tinnitus or not. Due to the possibility of controlling longitudinal data in animal studies (pre and post tinnitus induction and its duration), this study set out to examine how acute and chronic salicylate-induced tinnitus influences on rat social interactions and aggressive behaviors.
Methods: Seven rats have been assigned to the acute salicylate group and seven to the chronic salicylate group with separately sham/salin peers (n=7) for each of them to examine the effects of duration of salicylate-induced tinnitus on social behaviors. Rats has been evaluated using the following measures: auditory brainstem response (ABR), pre-pulse inhibition (PPI), gap pre-pulse inhibition of acoustic startle (GPIAS), social interaction and aggressive behaviors tests. These assessments were conducted at baseline, 6 hours post salicylate injection in acute group and one day after salicylate injection in chronic group (400mg/kg, per day).
Results: GPIAS test was significantly decreased after acute and chronic salicylate injection, which confirmed the induction of tinnitus. Some social contact and aggressive behaviors after salicylate injection were significantly different in both acute and chronic groups. However, other social interactions and aggressive behaviors were significantly increased only after chronic salicylate injections.
Conclusions: According to the findings, salicylate induced tinnitus may have an effect on social behavior and aggression. Rats' aggressive behavior increased following chronic tinnitus induction, suggesting that the duration of tinnitus has an effect.

Background and Aim: Generally, peripheral hearing loss in the elderly is associated with decreased auditory processing ability. Researchers have drawn attention to the role of auditory processing in the success of hearing amplification. The present study investigates the relationship between auditory processing and the benefit and satisfaction of binaural hearing aids in the elderly.
Methods: Forty-seven elderly users (aged 58–85 years) of binaural hearing aids, all of whom presented symmetrically mild to moderate sensory-neural hearing loss, completed the International Outcome Inventory-Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) and Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) questionnaires and the Persian version of Words-in-Noise (WIN), and two-pair Dichotic Digits (DD) tests.
Results: Signal-to-Noise Ratio-50% (SNR-50) and Non-Dominant Ear Score (NDES) collectively explained 16% of the binaural hearing aid benefit variance. NDES accounted for 14% of the variance observed in satisfaction.
Conclusion: Binaural hearing aid benefit and satisfaction in the elderly were not similarly related to auditory processing abilities. NDES alone is a weak but significant predictor of satisfaction and in combination with WIN SNR-50 is a moderate predictor of benefit.

Background and Aim: Deaf individuals in India face significant auditory impairment, leading to challenges in accessing services. Studies highlight the need to enhance communication services and accessibility to ensure fair access to resources for the deaf community. The present study aimed to address the barriers faced by deaf individuals while availing speech and hearing services in India.
Methods: A total of 325 deaf individuals were considered in the age range of 18–30 years, and a survey research design was employed. A 25-item questionnaire was developed under three domains: communication barriers, service access barriers, and psychological barriers. The questionnaires were given to the participants to fill, and the responses were calculated.
Results: The overall results revealed that service access barriers were more compared to communication barriers and psychological barriers. In services-related barriers, the results revealed communication barriers, 74% of the participants preferred sign language during speech and hearing consultations and required counselling by professionals in sign language. Further, in terms of psychological barriers, 70% of participants lacked confidence in visiting speech and hearing institutes/clinics. Moreover, 78.8% of participants reported a need for more materials in sign language at the appointment sections and a lack of sign language interpreters while accessing services in terms of service access barriers.
Conclusion: Addressing these barriers faced by deaf individuals is critical to ensure equitable access to services and promote positive experiences while they are availing speech and hearing services.

Background and Aim: Structural and functional changes in the auditory and cognitive system caused by aging can lead to impaired speech perception and speed processing, especially in the presence of noise. This study aimed to enhance cognitive system performance including speed processing and speech perception by improving the temporal information through lateralization training.
Methods: In this interventional study, 36 participants aged 65–75 years with normal hearing, who complained about speech perception in noise, were randomly assigned to the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group received twelve 45-minute sessions of auditory lateralization training. The quick speech-in-noise, words-in-noise, and consonant-vowel-in-noise tests are used as behavioral tests of speech perception in noise at the sentence, word and phoneme levels, respectively. The time-compressed speech test was adopted to measure processing speed. The repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze the test results before, after, and one month after rehabilitation.
Results: A significant decrease in the lateralization errors, and signal-to-noise ratio loss in both the quick speech-in-noise and words-in-noise tests were observed in the intervention group (p<0.001). Moreover, a considerable increase in the word recognition score in the time-compressed speech test and the consonant-vowel in noise test were observed (p<0.001). Coefficient effects were obtained for the quick speech-in-noise test (0.74), the words-in-noise test (0.59) and the consonant-vowel in noise test (0.12). Statistical analyses revealed the stability of the outcomes one month after rehabilitation.
Conclusion:  Auditory lateralization training can improve the speed of processing and speech perception in noise in the elderly.

Background and Aim: Motion sickness is common during various forms of transportation. The Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire-Short form (MSSQ-Short) is a self-report tool designed to assess this problem. This study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of MSSQ-Short.
Methods: The questionnaire was translated to Persian and culturally adapted as the P-MSSQ-Short. After confirming face validity, the P-MSSQ-Short was administered to 354 university students (274 non-pilots, 80 pilots). One hundred participants were categorized into low-, moderate-, and high-susceptibility groups based on their Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores. Construct, concurrent, and discriminant validity were assessed. Test-retest reliability was analyzed with 113 participants, along with measurements of Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), and Smallest Detectable Change (SDC).
Results: The P-MSSQ-Short demonstrated good face validity. Total score showed strong correlations with sections A and B. Four factors were identified, with no ceiling effect but some floor effect observed. Scores significantly differed across NRS-based groups. The P-MSSQ-Short correlated strongly with NRS scores. Cronbach’s α for the total questionnaire, and sections A and B were 0.93, 0.88, and 0.86, respectively. Strong test-retest correlation was noted. ICCs for total, and sections A and B were 0.82–0.84. SEMs were 2.48, 2.15, and 4.29 while SDCs were 4.43, 4.18, and 5.65 for sections A, B, and total scores, respectively. Pilot students were significantly less susceptible than non-pilots (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The P-MSSQ-Short exhibits high validity and reliability, making it a useful tool for predicting motion sickness susceptibility in Persian-speaking individuals.

Background and Aim: A Specific Learning Disability (SLD) is a neurological disorder thought to arise from dysfunctions within the central nervous system. Children with SLD often exhibit cognitive, linguistic, and auditory processing challenges, including deficits in binaural processing. Considering the overlapping elements of binaural processing and the areas evaluated by the Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire (APDQ) —such as auditory, linguistic, and attentional skills —this study sought to examine the correlation between binaural listening, as measured by auditory tests, and the subscales of the APDQ in children with SLD.
Methods: A sample of 20 children aged 8–12 years with diagnosed SLD was selected. The Persian version of the APDQ (APDQ-P) was used to assess some auditory processing, attention, and language skills. Binaural processing abilities were evaluated through Binaural Masking Level Difference (BMLD), Persian Auditory Recognition of Words in Noise (PARWIN) and three dichotic tests. Statistical analysis was conducted to investigate the correlation between APDQ-P scores and binaural processing test results.
Results: A positive correlation was identified between the results of dichotic listening tests and APDQ-P scores. Specifically, the results of the left-ear competing sentence test showed a significant correlation with all the APDQ-P subscales.
Conclusion: The study's results likely demonstrate the validity of the APDQ-P in representing dichotic listening skills. The findings of this study also highlight the significance of integrating both behavioral auditory tests and questionnaire-based evaluations to achieve a deeper understanding of how auditory behaviors, relate to the outcomes of binaural processing assessments in children with SLD.

Background and Aims: Tinnitus is a complex, multifactorial condition involving auditory and non-auditory systems. Individuals with bothersome tinnitus often report various associated problems, reflecting its diverse impact. This study aimed to evaluate the overall effect of tinnitus and correlate these findings with standard auditory measures using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework.
Methods: The study included 117 individuals with tinnitus (Mean age = 39.7 years, SD = 12.58; 52.1% female). Participants completed the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). Hyperacusis and misophonia were assessed using the Khalfa Hyperacusis Questionnaire and the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale-Revised. Retrospective data on pure-tone audiometry and speech identification scores were collected. Two open-ended questions—the Problem Effects Question and the Life Effects Question—were used to explore the impact of tinnitus on daily functioning and quality of life.
Results: A total of 221 responses were collected for the Problem Effects Question and 140 for the Life Effects Question. Results showed that affected domains differed between the two questions: activity limitation was most prominent in the Problem Effects responses, while body function was most affected in the Life Effects responses.
Conclusion: No significant correlations were found between ICF-based responses and auditory measures like pure-tone audiometry or speech identification scores. However, strong correlations were observed between the Problem Effects, Life Effects, and THI scores, emphasizing the importance of self-reported measures in understanding the impact of tinnitus.

Background and Aim: Speech perception in noise involves recognizing speech sounds. Given the importance of working memory in speech perception and the lack of an auditory Working Memory (WM) test in Persian with appropriate lexical load, this study aimed to validate the Persian version of the Word Auditory Recognition and Recall Measure (WARRM) in normal-hearing Persian speakers.
Methods: The study involved two main stages: developing the Persian version and evaluating its validity and reliability. Participants included 59 monolinguals, Persian-speaking, normal-hearing college students aged 18–25 in Tehran, Iran, in 2023. Persian words were selected with the help of a linguistics expert based on phonetic and semantic features. Face and content validity were assessed by 10 experts. The WARRM test and the forward and backward digit span tests were administered. To assess the test-retest reliability, the test was performed by 30 participants at a 2-week interval and measured by the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC).
Results: The WARRM test showed good face and content validity. The internal consistency was 0.72 for the overall test, 0.49 for the recognition subtest, 0.73 for the judgment subtest, and 0.87 for the recall subtest. The ICC values were 0.88 (overall), 0.89 (recall), and 0.48 (recognition). Significant positive correlations were found between the WARRM score and the scores of the forward digit span (r=0.65, p<0.001) and backward digit span (r=0.43, p<0.001).
Conclusion: The Persian version of the abbreviated WARRM has good validity and reliability for use in clinical and rehabilitation studies on Persian speaker.

Background and Aim: Due to the annoying nature and prevalence of dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance, the need for rapid diagnosis, and challenges in the differential diagnosis of various vestibular disorders, this study  aimed to translate the dizziness symptom profile (DSP), which is a self-report tool that helps clinicians differentiate the most common vestibular system disorders, into the Persian language and evaluate its validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity.
Methods: The profile was translated into Persian as DSP-P. Face, known-groups, and concurrent validities, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, sensitivity, and specificity were determined. 253 patients with dizziness and 59 healthy individuals completed the DSP-P before visiting the otolaryngologist, and the agreement between the proposed diagnoses of DSP-P and the final diagnosis of the otolaryngologist (our gold standard) was examined.
Results: The qualitative face validity of DSP-P was confirmed. There was a significant difference between the mean scores of the study groups (p < 0.001). The diagnosis of DSP-P was completely in agreement with the gold standard in 53.3% of cases. Internal consistency was excellent (α≥0.81) for all categories except the persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, superior canal dehiscence and unspecified unsteadiness categories (0.62≤α≤0.69). Generally, the test-retest reliability of the DSP-P scores and diagnoses was very good. The sensitivity of DSP-P was 94.4% for diagnosing benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, 93.5% for Meniere’s disease, 100% for vestibular neuritis, 86.3% for vestibular migraine, and 84.2% for persistent postural-perceptual dizziness.
Conclusions: The DSP-P was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable history-based diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and specificity.

Background and Aim: Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a chronic vestibular disorder characterized by persistent dizziness, non-spinning vertigo, or unsteadiness exacerbated by moving visual stimuli and upright postures. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) has shown favorable outcomes. While noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) has been associated with improvements in various psychiatric and neurological conditions, its efficacy in PPPD remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of VRT, nGVS, and their combination on patients with PPPD in terms of postural control, dizziness, anxiety, and depression.
Method: Twenty-seven patients diagnosed with PPPD were randomly assigned to three groups receiving treatment for six weeks: 1) VRT, 2) GVS, and 3) VRT+GVS. Outcome measures included static postural control parameters, Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores.
Results: All groups demonstrated significant improvements in subjective measures (DHI and HADS) following treatment. Postural control improvements were observed only in specific conditions within each group, with no overall significant differences between the groups except for mediolateral (ML) path length with eyes closed on a soft surface. Significant correlations were observed between improvements in postural control outcomes and questionnaire scores within each group. 
Conclusion: VRT and GVS, both individually and in combination, were effective in subjective measurements but had minimal impact on static postural control. Adding nGVS to VRT did not provide additional benefits for PPPD patients. The correlations between postural control and psychological outcomes suggest that improvements in perceived dizziness, anxiety, and depression may be linked to postural stabilization.
Trial Registration Number: The study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials on 18 September 2023 (IRCT20160131026279N6).

Background and Aim: To understand the difficulties of elderly in natural listening situations, the present study assessed the ability of participants to extract phonetic information and semantic information in noise. The main objective is to evaluate the relationship between age and performance in Semantic Information Processing (SIP) and Phonetic Information Processing (PIP) tasks.
Methods: Fifty-three normal hearing participants aged 40 to 65 years were categorized into five age groups. Participants underwent information processing assessments using standardized semantic and phonetic questions from Kannada stories under signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) i.e., quiet, 0 dB SNR, and -4 dB SNR conditions.
Results: Younger participants outperformed older participants in both SIP and PIP tasks. Performance was optimal in quiet conditions, followed by 0 dB and -4 dB SNR. Except at -4 dB, PIP scores exceeded SIP scores. A significant differences was observed between the groups 1-4 and group 5 at 0 dB SNR in PIP condition only. A moderate negative correlations indicated that performance in both SIP and PIP declined with age, with linear regression revealing reductions of 0.216 and 0.210 each year in SIP and PIP respectively.
Conclusion: Age-related declines in PIP were noted at one SNR, while SIP remained stable, aligning with the Transmission Deficit Hypothesis (TDH). Nonetheless, regression analyses indicated a general decline in both SIP and PIP with age, supporting the Inhibitory Deficit Hypothesis (IDH).

Background and Aim: Effective communication relies on understanding speech in noise, which can be challenging, especially for hearing-impaired children. Auditory attention influences speech perception in noise, and Auditory attention training can help improve this critical auditory skill. Today's neuromodulation methods are used in rehabilitation. Transcranial-direct-current-stimulation(tDCS) is a promising approach among these methods. Our hypothesis is that combining electrical stimulation with behavioral auditory training could accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of auditory training, improving speech comprehension in noise.
Methods: A pilot study was conducted on 8 children with moderate to severe hearing loss. In this study, tDCS was administered to the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in addition to behavioral auditory attention training. The participants were divided into two groups, one receiving real stimulation and the other receiving sham stimulation. 20 minutes of intervention were conducted through ten sessions. The test-of-everyday-attention-for-children (TEA-CH) and the monaural-selective-auditory-attention-test (mSAAT) tests were used as behavioral assessments, and the auditory P300 were recorded as an electrophysiological test to measure attention. Also, speech-in-noise tests were utilized. All tests were conducted before, immediately, and one month after training.
Results: Children in both groups demonstrated noticeable progress in all tests following the training sessions. There was a significant difference in the level of improvement in mSAAT, TEA-CH, word-in-noise, and P300 latency between the two groups. Improvement was more remarkable in children receiving real stimulation.
Conclusion: When behavioral attention training is combined with attention neuromodulation through tDCS, it may enhance rehabilitation effectiveness and increase the stability of tDCS effects.

Background and aim: Speech prosody, the nonlinguistic elements of speech that convey emotions, is crucial for social interactions and speech comprehension. This study aimed to investigate the Validity and reliability of the Speech Prosody Comprehension Test (SPCT) for Persian-speaking children aged 7-10.
Method: The Persian version of the Speech Prosody Comprehension Test (P-SPCT) was investigated. Face, construct, and discriminant validity, Test-retest reliability, and Internal consistency were examined on 32 children in age 7-10 with 22 (mean age ± SD = 8.63 ± 1.04) normal hearing and 10 (mean age ± SD = 9.20 ± 0.78)with cochlear implant )CI).
Results: Our result demonstrated good face validity. Construct validity revealed strong correlations in intra-sub score items and between subscales and the total score. A significant difference in mean scores was found between normal hearing and cochlear implant user, supporting discriminant validity (P<0.001). High test-retest reliability was demonstrated, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.91 to 0.99 for total and all subscales. The measure demonstrated good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha 0.89 for total score.
Conclusion: The Persian version of Speech Prosody Comprehension Test was found to be a valid and reliable clinical tool for assessing speech prosody comprehension in children aged 7-10. Further research with larger samples can confirm the generalizability of these findings.

Background and Aim: The concept of Musical Competence (MC) encompasses a unique amalgamation of innate aptitude and cultivated skill, encompassing elements of formal training, informal practice, and real-time musical performance. While musical attitude and training influence speech processing abilities and Working Memory (WM), the study examines whether the self-perceived MC plays any role in these processes. This study aimed to investigate whether an individual's self-perceived MC has an impact on their WM, Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN), and Listening Effort (LE) abilities.
Methods: A non-experimental, standard group comparison research design was employed. Various cognitive tasks, including WM tests, SPIN, and National Aeronautics Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), are administered to gauge different skills within groups.59 musicians were categorized into high self-perceived MC (MC_high) and low self-perceived MC (MC_low), as assessed on scores of Edinburgh lifetime musical experience questionnaire, were evaluated for their WM and SPIN abilities.
Results: Mann Whitney U test was carried out to find group differences, while Fisher Discriminant Analysis (FDA) was performed for group membership prediction. MC_high scored significantly greater scores WM and SPIN scores than MC_low, but there were no significant group differences in LE. Cognitive tasks effectively distinguish between groups. Fisher discrimination analysis confirmed the predictive value of tasks like 2n-back and backward-span in group differentiation.
Conclusion: This study underscores potential cognitive and auditory processing benefits derived from the self-belief of musicians. Musicians with higher MC exhibit enhanced cognitive skills, particularly in WM tasks and auditory processing.

Background and Aim: Auditory discrimination is one of obstacles for low performance of phonological processing in Down syndrome. Here, this study aimed to evaluate auditory acuity in Down syndrome to explore a possible underlying deficit for phonological processing in this population.
Methods: Phonetic gap detection test was used to evaluate auditory temporal threshold of sixteen male students with Down syndrome. They were asked to discriminate sounds of six syllables at 20, 50, 100, 200 and 300 ms temporal gap.
Results: The mean of phonetic gap detection threshold for participants was 246.8 ms in the range of 183.3-300 ms. There was no significant correlation between auditory temporal thresholds and age or intelligence quotient.
Conclusion: Participants discriminated sounds of syllables at higher threshold compared to typically-developing children examined in previous studies. Increased gap detection threshold might be an underlying deficit for low performance of phonological processing in Down syndrome. 

Background and Aim: Cochlear implants in post-lingually deaf patients often result in reduced hearing naturality compared to their previous acoustic hearing, making adaptation and speech perception challenging. This study aimed to evaluate participants' perceptual ratings using Speech, Spatial Qualities (SSQ) 12 and the sound quality rating scale, alongside speech and pitch perception, across four different Frequency Allocation Tables (FAT).
The Cases: Four post-lingual Cochlear Implant (CI) users completed subjective ratings using the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ 12) and the speech quality rating scale, while objective tests, including speech perception scores in quiet and noise, and psychophysical assessments like pitch perception tasks, were conducted across the four FATs.
Results: Performance using logarithmic FAT was better across all the domains of SSQ 12 and speech quality rating scale and in Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) at both 0 and +10 dB. Pitch perception across four FATs reveals a statistically significant difference noted in the apical electrode score when compared with medial and basal electrodes across all the FATs.
Conclusion: The default FAT provided by the manufacturer may not be suitable for all users due to several factors such as length of the electrode array, shallow insertion of electrodes. Thus, all the FAT options must be utilized and tested for subjective, objective, and psychophysical performance and the best suitable FAT should be set for the specific patient.