Auditory Plasticity Training

NCT ID: NCT06628505

Last Updated: 2025-11-21

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

80 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-09-15

Study Completion Date

2027-09-30

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The investigators are working on a project to help people who have had mild brain injuries hear better. Sometimes, these injuries can make it hard for people to hear clearly, especially in noisy places or when trying to tell where sounds are coming from.

The project is testing special training exercises that have helped healthy people improve their hearing in these situations. The goal is to see if these exercises can also help people with mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI).

If these exercises work, they could help doctors give better treatment to people with hearing problems after a brain injury. This would be especially helpful for soldiers who need to stay ready for duty. It could also make life better for veterans who struggle with hearing issues and help lower the cost of healthcare.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

The study has two aims:

1. Aim 1 - Speech in noise (SPiN) training: The training group will receive the SPiN training, while the active control group will play a variation of the main Listen game (frequency discrimination) that is not expected to improve speech recognition in noise. Participants will receive a tablet and earphones. The instructions will be explained, and they will practice and work with the experimenter to verify they understand how to run the training at home. Participants will do SPiN and Active Control training at home over 8 days, with up to two, 10 min sessions each day, for a total of 15 training sessions.
2. Aim 2 - Spacial hearing training: Two groups will be tested: training and control, and participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. The training group will receive Spatial Hearing training, which will be compared to no-contract controls. The study team will avoid withholding training from the controls by considering them a waitlist control group, which will then be offered the training after completing the study as a control participant.The training group does the same spatial hearing task on two days, but on every trial they are given feedback about how the location they thought the sound came from differed from the actual sound location.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

A randomized controlled trial which will randomize subjects into one of two aims. Each aim will have a 1:1 randomization of participants into either the investigational or the control group
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Speech in Noise Training (SPiN)

Young to middle-age mTBI patients (age 18-55 yrs.) with various degrees of central hearing impairment will be randomly assigned to this training group

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Speech in Noise Training

Intervention Type OTHER

The active controls will receive frequency discrimination training that uses the same visual landscape and basic task of controlling the wisp based on judgments about acoustic cues. The task requires participants to avoid obstacles by swiping upward or downward on the touchscreen to indicate whether a test frequency associated with the obstacle was higher or lower, respectively, than a target sound presented slightly before the test sound.

SPiN Control Group Treatment as Usual (TAU)

Young to middle-age mTBI patients (age 18-55 yrs.) with various degrees of central hearing impairment will be randomly assigned to a treatment as usual group

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Spatial Hearing Training

Young to middle-age mTBI patients (age 18-55 yrs.) with various degrees of central hearing impairment will be randomly assigned to this training group

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Spatial Hearing Training Group

Intervention Type OTHER

Stimulus presentation and response measurement (Aim 2): Acoustic stimuli will be presented with a 360° speaker array that are fixed in place behind an opaque, nearly sound transparent, acoustic fabric curtain to avoid visual influences. Manual responses will be collected using a keyboard. Custom Matlab scripts control all relevant variables with millisecond precision. A webcam monitors the participant (not recorded) for the sole purpose of making sure the participant is always facing straight ahead.

Sound localization task and training: Participants will judge the location of a target white noise sound (1000 ms, 70 dB SLP, 10-10,000 Hz) by moving an auditory pointer that appears 2 seconds after the offset of the target sound.

The training group are given feedback about how their perceived location related to the actual sound location.

Spatial Hearing Training Control Group Treatment as Usual (TAU)

Young to middle-age mTBI patients (age 18-55 yrs.) with various degrees of central hearing impairment will be randomly assigned to a treatment as usual group

Group Type OTHER

Spatial Hearing Control Group

Intervention Type OTHER

Stimulus presentation and response measurement (Aim 2): Acoustic stimuli will be presented with a 360° speaker array that are fixed in place behind an opaque, nearly sound transparent, acoustic fabric curtain to avoid visual influences. Manual responses will be collected using a keyboard. Custom Matlab scripts control all relevant variables with millisecond precision. A webcam monitors the participant (not recorded) for the sole purpose of making sure the participant is always facing straight ahead.

Sound localization task and training: Participants will judge the location of a target white noise sound (1000 ms, 70 dB SLP, 10-10,000 Hz) by moving an auditory pointer that appears 2 seconds after the offset of the target sound.

The training group are NOT given feedback about how their perceived location related to the actual sound location.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Speech in Noise Training

The active controls will receive frequency discrimination training that uses the same visual landscape and basic task of controlling the wisp based on judgments about acoustic cues. The task requires participants to avoid obstacles by swiping upward or downward on the touchscreen to indicate whether a test frequency associated with the obstacle was higher or lower, respectively, than a target sound presented slightly before the test sound.

Intervention Type OTHER

Spatial Hearing Training Group

Stimulus presentation and response measurement (Aim 2): Acoustic stimuli will be presented with a 360° speaker array that are fixed in place behind an opaque, nearly sound transparent, acoustic fabric curtain to avoid visual influences. Manual responses will be collected using a keyboard. Custom Matlab scripts control all relevant variables with millisecond precision. A webcam monitors the participant (not recorded) for the sole purpose of making sure the participant is always facing straight ahead.

Sound localization task and training: Participants will judge the location of a target white noise sound (1000 ms, 70 dB SLP, 10-10,000 Hz) by moving an auditory pointer that appears 2 seconds after the offset of the target sound.

The training group are given feedback about how their perceived location related to the actual sound location.

Intervention Type OTHER

Spatial Hearing Control Group

Stimulus presentation and response measurement (Aim 2): Acoustic stimuli will be presented with a 360° speaker array that are fixed in place behind an opaque, nearly sound transparent, acoustic fabric curtain to avoid visual influences. Manual responses will be collected using a keyboard. Custom Matlab scripts control all relevant variables with millisecond precision. A webcam monitors the participant (not recorded) for the sole purpose of making sure the participant is always facing straight ahead.

Sound localization task and training: Participants will judge the location of a target white noise sound (1000 ms, 70 dB SLP, 10-10,000 Hz) by moving an auditory pointer that appears 2 seconds after the offset of the target sound.

The training group are NOT given feedback about how their perceived location related to the actual sound location.

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

SPiN The training group performs the same spatial hearing task, but on every trial they are given feedback about how their perceived location related to the actual sound location.

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Age 18-55 years
* English is the primary language
* History of mTBI by self report

Exclusion Criteria

* Pure tone threshold (mean of 0.5-4.0 kHz) \> 40dB HL
* Major neurological or psychiatric conditions besides mTBI
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

55 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

United States Department of Defense

FED

Sponsor Role collaborator

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Rocio Norman, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Rocio Norman, PhD

Role: CONTACT

(210) 450-8352

Alicia Swan, PhD

Role: CONTACT

(210) 671-5300

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Rocio Norman, PhD

Role: primary

210-450-8352

Alicia Swan, PhD

Role: backup

210-671-5300 x14028

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

TP230338P1

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

STUDY00000423

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.