Abstract

Aim: The hormone levels during the menstrual cycle, directly and indirectly, affect the hearing system. In our study, it was aimed to examine the effects of changing hormone levels during the menstrual cycle on auditory middle latency responses in healthy individuals with different stimuli types and the psychosomatic effects of premenstrual complaints on auditory performance.

Methods: In the study, 20 healthy women aged 18-35 years, with regular menstrual cycles and no auditory or vestibular complaints were evaluated for auditory middle latency responses with click and level-specific (LS) CE-Chirp® stimuli during the menstruation period of the follicular phase (1-5 day, menstrual phase), the ovulation phase (14-17 day) and the luteal phase (21-28 day). To evaluate the effect of premenstrual complaints on auditory performance, the participants were asked 5 questions.

Results: In the auditory middle latency assessment with click stimuli, a statistically larger Na-Pa amplitude was obtained in the menstruation phase compared to the ovulation phase in both ears. In the auditory middle latency evaluation with LS CE-Chirp® stimulus, statistically shortened Nb latencies were obtained in the right ear in the menstruation phase compared to the ovulation phase.

Conclusion: Although the clear effect of changing gonadal hormone levels on auditory evoked middle latency responses could not be determined, the findings show that neural transmission increases in the menstrual phase when the estrogen level is low. Click stimulus is more sensitive to hormonal changes, and the use of click stimulus has been recommended in the later side of lesion studies. In our study, no psychosomatic effect of complaints in the premenstrual period on auditory performance was observed. 

Keywords: auditory middle latency response, menstrual cycle

Copyright and license

Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open-access article published by Bolu İzzet Baysal Training and Research Hospital under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Bal N, Tas Elibol N, Ayan A, Soğancı İN, Başöz Behmen M, Gedik Toker Ö. Evaluation of auditory middle latency response during the menstrual cycle. Northwestern Med J. 2024;4(4):238-45. https://doi.org/10.54307/2024.NWMJ.92

References

  1. Picton TW. Human auditory evoked potentials. Plural Publishing; 2010.
  2. Musiek FE, Geurkink NA, Weider DJ, Donnelly K. Past, present, and future applications of the auditory middle latency response. Laryngoscope. 1984; 94(12): 1545-53. https://doi.org/10.1288/00005537-198412000-00002
  3. Katz J, Chasin M, English KM, Hood LJ, Tillery KL. Handbook of clinical audiology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health; 2015.
  4. Walpurger V, Pietrowsky R, Kirschbaum C, Wolf OT. Effects of the menstrual cycle on auditory event-related potentials. Horm Behav. 2004; 46(5): 600-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.07.002
  5. Mann N, Sidhu RS, Babbar R. Brainstem auditory evoked responses in different phases of menstrual cycle. J Clin Diagn Res. 2012; 6(10): 1640-3. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2012/4896.2621
  6. Coleman JR, Campbell D, Cooper WA, Welsh MG, Moyer J. Auditory brainstem responses after ovariectomy and estrogen replacement in rat. Hear Res. 1994; 80(2): 209-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-5955(94)90112-0
  7. Stenberg AE, Wang H, Fish J, Schrott-Fischer A, Sahlin L, Hultcrantz M. Estrogen receptors in the normal adult and developing human inner ear and in Turner's syndrome. Hear Res. 2001; 157(1-2): 87-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-5955(01)00280-5
  8. Tremere LA, Jeong JK, Pinaud R. Estradiol shapes auditory processing in the adult brain by regulating inhibitory transmission and plasticity-associated gene expression. J Neurosci. 2009; 29(18): 5949-63. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0774-09.2009
  9. Laugel GR, Dengerink HA, Wright JW. Ovarian steroid and vasoconstrictor effects on cochlear blood flow. Hear Res. 1987; 31(3): 245-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-5955(87)90194-8
  10. Hagemann G, Ugur T, Schleussner E, et al. Changes in brain size during the menstrual cycle. PLoS One. 2011; 6(2): e14655. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014655
  11. Carneiro CDS, Almeida AAF, Ribas A, et al. Hormones and Auditory Perception: Study of Dichotic Listening in Women during the Menstrual Cycle. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2019; 23(1): 70-6. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1626701
  12. Khaliq F, Tandon OP, Goel N. Auditory evoked responses in postmenopausal women on hormone replacement therapy. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2003; 47(4): 393-9.
  13. Khaliq F, Tandon OP, Goel N. Differential effects of exogenous estrogen versus a estrogen-progesterone combination on auditory evoked potentials in menopausal women. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2005; 49(3): 345-52.
  14. Meuleman C, Vandenabeele B, Fieuws S, Spiessens C, Timmerman D, D'Hooghe T. High prevalence of endometriosis in infertile women with normal ovulation and normospermic partners. Fertil Steril. 2009; 92(1): 68-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.04.056
  15. Formby C, Korczak P, Sherlock LP, Hawley ML, Gold S. Auditory Brainstem and Middle Latency Responses Measured Pre- and Posttreatment for Hyperacusic Hearing-Impaired Persons Successfully Treated to Improve Sound Tolerance and to Expand the Dynamic Range for Loudness: Case Evidence. Semin Hear. 2017; 38(1): 71-93. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0037-1598066
  16. Prabhu P, Banerjee N, Anil A, Abdulla A. Role of sex hormones produced during menstrual cycle on brainstem encoding of speech stimulus. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2016; 273(11): 3647-50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-016-4009-2
  17. Upadhayay N, Paudel BH, Singh PN, Bhattarai BK, Agrawal K. Pre- and postovulatory auditory brainstem response in normal women. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014; 66(Suppl 1): 133-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-011-0378-4
  18. Kilicdag EB, Yavuz H, Bagis T, Tarim E, Erkan AN, Kazanci F. Effects of estrogen therapy on hearing in postmenopausal women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2004; 190(1): 77-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2003.06.001
  19. Batta M, Dhir SK, Kumar A, Singh KD. Effect of different phases of menstrual cycle on brainstem auditory evoked response. Int J Appl Basic Med Res. 2017; 7(1): 44-7. https://doi.org/10.4103/2229-516X.198522
  20. Sao T, Jain C. Effects of hormonal changes in temporal perception, speech perception in noise and auditory working memory in females. Hearing Balance Commun. 2016; 14(2): 94-100. https://doi.org/10.3109/21695717.2016.1155837
  21. Pleil KE, Cordes S, Meck WH, Williams CL. Rapid and acute effects of estrogen on time perception in male and female rats. Front Integr Neurosci. 2011; 5: 63. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2011.00063
  22. Tucker DA, Dietrich S, Harris S, Pelletier S. Effects of stimulus rate and gender on the auditory middle latency response. J Am Acad Audiol. 2002; 13(3): 146-53.
  23. Atcherson SR, Moore PC. Are chirps better than clicks and tonebursts for evoking middle latency responses? J Am Acad Audiol. 2014; 25(6): 576-83. https://doi.org/10.3766/jaaa.25.6.7
  24. Stewart MG, Jerger J, Lew HL. Effect of handedness on the middle latency auditory evoked potential. Am J Otol. 1993; 14(6): 595-600.
  25. Hood LJ, Martin DA, Berlin CI. Auditory evoked potentials differ at 50 milliseconds in right- and left-handed listeners. Hear Res. 1990; 45(1-2): 115-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-5955(90)90187-t
  26. Mohebbi M, Mahmoudian S, Alborzi MS, Najafi-Koopaie M, Farahani ED, Farhadi M. Auditory middle latency responses differ in right- and left-handed subjects: an evaluation through topographic brain mapping. Am J Audiol. 2014; 23(3): 273-81. https://doi.org/10.1044/2014_AJA-13-0059
  27. Woldorff MG, Gallen CC, Hampson SA, et al. Modulation of early sensory processing in human auditory cortex during auditory selective attention. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993; 90(18): 8722-6. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.90.18.8722