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Completed Not applicable Interventional

The Effect of Sound Stimulation on Pure-tone Hearing Threshold

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01184248

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01184248. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.

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Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if sound stimulation could improve pure-tone hearing threshold. In the late 1990s, researchers discovered that acoustic stimuli slow progressive sensorineural hearing loss and exposure to a moderately augmented acoustic environment can delay the loss of auditory function. In addition, prolonged exposure to an augmented acoustic environment could improve age-related auditory changes. These ameliorative effects were shown in several types of mouse strains, as long as the acoustic environment was provided prior to the occurrence of severe hearing loss. In addition to delaying progressive hearing loss, acoustic stimuli could also protect hearing ability against damage by traumatic noise. In particular, a method called forward sound conditioning (i.e., prior exposure to moderate levels of sound) has been shown to reduce noise-induced hearing impairment in a number of mammalian species, including humans. Interestingly, recent report has suggested that low-level sound conditioning also reduces free radical-induced damage to hair cells, increases antioxidant enzyme activity, and reduces Cox-2 expression in cochlea, and can enhance cochlear sensitivity. Specifically, increased cochlear sensitivity was observed when distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and compound action potentials (CAPs) were measured. In addition to forward sound conditioning, backward sound conditioning (i.e., the use of acoustic stimuli after exposure to a traumatic noise) has been shown to protect hearing ability against acoustic trauma and to prevent the cortical map reorganization induced by traumatic noise. Based on the results of animal studies, the investigators conducted a human study in 2007 and observed that sound stimulation could improve hearing ability. On average, the pure-tone hearing threshold decreased by 8.91 dB after sound stimulation for 2 weeks. In that study, however, the investigators observed only the hearing threshold changes by sound stimulation. To verify the previous ameliorative effect of sound stimulation, the investigators included a control period in this study.

Study identification

NCT ID
NCT01184248
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Not applicable
Lead sponsor
Earlogic Korea, Inc.
Industry
Enrollment
30 participants

Conditions and interventions

Interventions

Behavioral

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
Healthy volunteers
Healthy volunteers not accepted

This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.

Study timeline

Start date
Apr 30, 2010
Primary completion
Nov 30, 2010
Completion
Dec 31, 2010
Last update posted
Sep 7, 2011

2010 – 2011

United States locations

U.S. sites
1
U.S. states
1
U.S. cities
1
Facility City State ZIP Site status
Earlogic Corporation Los Angeles California 90005

Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.

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About this trial record page

What this page shows
Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01184248, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
What this page does not do
No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
Where the data comes from
Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
Last refresh
Last update posted Sep 7, 2011 · Synced Sep 10, 2026

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Open the official record

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