Late-Onset Auditory Deprivation: A Review of Past Research and an Assessment of Future Research Needs

This paper includes an overview of the research on late-onset auditory deprivation, an evaluation of the evidence from retrospective and prospective studies, recommendations for future research, and a consideration of the theoretical and clinical implications of the research. The studies reviewed offer convincing evidence of the late-onset auditory deprivation effect both in groups of listeners and in substantial numbers of individual listeners included in the group studies. The effect appears to be reversible in some cases with the use of amplification in the previously unaided ear. This preliminary evidence supports the recommendation of binaural amplification for persons with bilateral symmetric sensorineural hearing loss. There is much that is still unknown about the deprivation effect and recovery from deprivation. Longitudinal prospective studies are needed to obtain a better understanding of the role of subject-related variables and amplification-related variables on the magnitude and time course of the deprivation effect. Behavioral and electrophysiologic measures of monaural and binaural performance using speech and nonspeech stimuli would also further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying late-onset auditory deprivation.