Optimisation of an MRI protocol to assess the effects of noise exposure on the auditory pathway

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Recent findings suggest that noise exposure can cause substantial damage to the auditory nerve, without damage to the sensory hair cells or loss of threshold sensitivity. It is unclear which physiological measures are most sensitive to neural damage. Here, a comprehensive MRI protocol (neurography, high-resolution DTI of the auditory nerve and brain, morphometry, T1-myelination mapping, and resting-state functional connectivity) to study the ascending auditory pathway (auditory nerve, auditory brainstem, and cortex) is described. 200 participants will be recruited with varying noise exposure levels, with the aim of identifying diagnostic tests indicative of future hearing loss.