Effect of visual attention on distortion product otoacoustic emissions

ABSTRACT

Effects of attention on afferent auditory information were studied by many researchers. Although researchers had used different auditory tests, yet OAEs are considered the most sensitive measurements for cochlear functions. Aim of this work was to study the effect of visual attention task on cochlear function by using DPOAEs. Eighteen normal hearing young adults were included. DPOAEs amplitude was measured in three conditions before the visual attention task [VAT], during and after the end of the visual attention task. Statistically significant decrease in the DPOAEs amplitude during the VAT. While, there was no significant difference in DPOAEs amplitude before and after the VAT. Results of this work will help clinically in the accuracy of DPOAEs recording especially in young subjects. Moreover, this result may be also helpful in subjects with hearing loss of mild to moderate degree as their hearing level is critically detected by DPOAEs