By Erin Jester
A team of researchers from the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions received a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study the effect of vagus nerve stimulation on speech in noise perception in military veterans with traumatic brain injury.
The study is led by Tracy Centanni, Ph.D., an associate professor in PHHP’s Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, along with co-investigators John Williamson, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry in the College of Medicine, and Emily Gaines, Au.D., CCC-A, an audiologist at UF Health The Oaks.
The two-part study will first investigate the impact of military service-related brain injury on the brain’s ability to understand speech in noise, then examine whether the addition of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation can improve the brain’s response.
Up to 20% of military service members experience a traumatic brain injury related to their service. As a result, speech perception through background noise may become difficult for these individuals, even if they pass a typical tone-based hearing test.
“Such a deficit may present a significant challenge to continuing in their service, especially for individuals who need to listen to instructions in loud environments, including on the battlefield,” Centanni said. “Missing or misunderstanding instructions in these scenarios may pose such risk that the individual is re-assigned or no longer able to serve.”
The pilot study will use electroencephalography to measure the brain’s response to speech in noise and evaluate transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation as a potential intervention for improving perception of sound in noisy environments. The study will examine traumatic brain injuries caused by physical trauma as well as blast impact to determine if the different conditions change the way the brain processes speech in unique ways.
If the study is successful, Centanni said, the research could support the use of portable, affordable noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation devices for rehabilitating speech in noise perception in the field as well as at home.