Hearing Disorder clinical trials

Connectivity Analysis for Investigation of Auditory Impairment in Epilepsy

Background: - People with epilepsy often have auditory processing disorders that affect their ability to hear clearly and may cause problems with understanding speech and other kinds of verbal communication. Researchers are interested in developing better ways of studying what parts of the brain are affected by hearing disorders and epilepsy, and they need better clinical tests to measure how individuals process sound. These tests will allow researchers to examine and evaluate the effects of epilepsy and related disorders on speech and communication. - A procedure called a magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be used to measure the electrical currents involved in brain activity. Researchers are interested in learning whether MEG can be used to detect differences in the processing of simple sounds in patients with epilepsy, both with and without hearing impairments. Objectives: - To measure brain activity in hearing impaired persons with epilepsy and compare the results with those from people with normal hearing and epilepsy as well as people with normal hearing and no epilepsy. This research is performed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Hospital and epilepsy patients must be candidates for surgery at Johns Hopkins. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 to 55 years of age who (1) have epilepsy and have hearing impairments, (2) have epilepsy but do not have hearing impairments, or (3) are healthy volunteers who have neither epilepsy nor hearing impairments. - Participants with epilepsy must have developed seizures after 10 years of age, and must be candidates for grid implantation surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.. Design: - This study will require one visit of approximately 4 to 6 hours. - Participants will be screened with a full physical examination and medical history, along with a basic hearing test. - Participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain, followed by a MEG scan to record magnetic field changes produced by brain activity. - During MEG recording, participants will be asked to listen to various sounds and make simple responses (pressing a button, moving your hand or speaking) in response to sounds heard through earphones. The MEG procedure should take between 1 and 2 hours. - Treatment at NIH is not provided as part of this protocol.