rTMS of the auditory association cortex improves speech intelligibility in patients with sensorineural hearing loss

Objective: Sensorineural hearing-loss (SHL) is accompanied by changes in the entire ear-brain pathway and its connected regions. While hearing-aid (HA) partially compensates for SHL, speech perception abilities often continue to remain poor, resulting in consequences in everyday activities. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) promotes cortical network plasticity and may enhance language comprehension in SHL patients.

Methods: 27 patients using HA and with SHL were randomly assigned to a treatment protocol consisting of five consecutive days of either real (Active group: 13 patients) or placebo rTMS (Sham group: 14 patients). The stimulation parameters were as follows: 2-second trains at 10 Hz, 4-second inter-train-interval, and 1800 pulses. Neuronavigated rTMS was applied over the left superior temporal sulcus. Audiological tests were administered before (T0), immediately after (T1), and one week following treatment completion (T2) to evaluate the speech reception threshold (SRT) and the Pure Tone Average (PTA).

Results: In the context of a general improvement likely due to learning, the treatment with real rTMS induced significant reduction of the SRT and PTA at T1 and T2 versus placebo.

Conclusions: The long-lasting effects on SRT and PTA observed in the Active group indicates that rTMS administered over the auditory cortex could promote sustained neuromodulatory-induced changes in the brain, improving the perception of complex sentences and pure tones reception skills.

Significance: Five days of rTMS treatment enhances overall speech intelligibility and PTA in SHL patients.