Age-related hearing loss accelerates the decline in fast speech comprehension and the decompensation of cortical network connections

Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life.The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing,central processing,and cognitive-related abilities.Furthermore,the factors by which aging relates to hearing loss via changes in audito ry processing ability are still unclear.In this cross-sectional study,we evaluated 27 older adults(over 60 years old) with age-related hearing loss,21 older adults(over 60years old) with normal hearing,and 30 younger subjects(18-30 years old) with normal hearing.We used the outcome of the uppe r-threshold test,including the time-compressed thres h old and the speech recognition threshold in noisy conditions,as a behavioral indicator of auditory processing ability.We also used electroencephalogra p hy to identify presbycusis-related abnormalities in the brain while the participants were in a spontaneous resting state.The timecompressed threshold and speech recognition threshold data indicated significant diffe rences among the groups.In patients with age-related hearing loss,information masking(babble noise) had a greater effect than energy masking(speech-shaped noise) on processing difficulties.In terms of resting-state electroencephalography signals,we observed enhanced fro ntal lobe(Brodmann’s area,BA11) activation in the older adults with normal hearing compared with the younger participants with normal hearing,and greater activation in the parietal(BA7) and occipital(BA19) lobes in the individuals with age-related hearing loss compared with the younger adults.Our functional connection analysis suggested that compared with younger people,the older adults with normal hearing exhibited enhanced connections among networks,including the default mode network,sensorimotor network,cingulo-opercular network,occipital network,and frontoparietal network.These results suggest that both normal aging and the development of age-related hearing loss have a negative effect on advanced audito ry processing capabilities and that hearing loss accele rates the decline in speech comprehension,especially in speech competition situations.Older adults with normal hearing may have increased compensatory attentional resource recruitment represented by the to p-down active listening mechanism,while those with age-related hearing loss exhibit decompensation of network connections involving multisensory integration.

Characteristics and mechanisms of subthreshold voltage hysteresis in 4H-SiC MOSFETs

In order to investigate the characteristics and mechanisms of subthreshold voltage hysteresis(ΔV_(th,sub)) of 4 H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors(MOSFETs),4 H-SiC planar and trench MOSFETs and corresponding P-type planar and trench metal-oxide-semiconductor(MOS) capacitors are fabricated and characterized.Compared with planar MOSFEF,the trench MOSFET shows hardly larger ΔV_(th,sub) in wide temperature range from 25 0 C to 300 0 C.When operating temperature range is from 25 ℃ to 300 ℃,the off-state negative V_(gs) of planar and trench MOSFETs should be safely above-4 V and-2 V,respectively,to alleviate the effect of ΔV_(th,sub) on the normal operation.With the help of P-type planar and trench MOS capacitors,it is confirmed that the obvious ΔV_(th,sub) of 4 H-SiC MOSFET originates from the high density of the hole interface traps between intrinsic Fermi energy level(E_(i)) and valence band(E_(v)).The maximumΔV_(th,sub) of trench MOSFET is about twelve times larger than that of planar MOSFET,owing to higher density of interface states(D_(it)) between E_(i) and E_(v).These research results will be very helpful for the application of 4 H-SiC MOSFET and the improvement of ΔV_(th,sub) of 4 H-SiC MOSFET,especially in 4 H-SiC trench MOSFET.