The development of support systems for children with hearing loss in Fukuoka Prefecture has evolved through sustained collaboration among medical, educational, and therapeutic professionals since the 1970s. Early cooperation between hospitals and schools for the deaf expanded with the introduction of pediatric cochlear implantation, which required close information sharing and coordinated decision-making with educators and families. Although conflicting guidance on communication modalities caused confusion at one time, the establishment of the "Fukuoka Children's Hearing Support Association" fostered shared understanding and strengthened regional networks. In the maturation phase, public systems such as newborn hearing screening and the Fukuoka Infant Hearing Support Center have enabled seamless, multidisciplinary support for children with diverse needs, including cochlear implant users, hearing-aid users, and deaf children using sign language. Current challenges that warrant addressing include resource constraints due to increasing developmental comorbidities, variability in professional expertise, and reduced opportunities for collaboration under work-style reforms. To ensure optimal listening environments and developmental outcomes, new models of cooperation adapted to contemporary conditions are required.

　　We examined how aging affects frequency selectivity and auditory attention in older adults with normal hearing by measuring the N100 component of event-related potentials (ERPs). Twelve omit adults aged 65 years or older and eleven young adults with normal hearing participated in the present study. A 1,000-Hz pure tone (target stimulus) and band-eliminated broadband noise (BEN) with eliminated bandwidths of 1 critical band (1 CB), 1/2 CB, and 1/4 CB centered on the pure tone were presented simultaneously. The N100 responses were recorded under attended and unattended listening conditions to examine the effects of attention on auditory processing. The results showed no significant differences in the N100 amplitude between the older and younger adults under the attended condition. In contrast, significant reductions in the N100 amplitude were observed in older adults exposed to narrow-band BEN stimuli under the unattended condition. These results suggest that in older adults with normal hearing, frequency-specific auditory neural processing can be enhanced to a level comparable to that in younger adults when their attention is directed toward auditory stimuli. However, under unattended conditions, aging-related declines in frequency-specific neural processing may emerge, indicating a potential disruption in speech information processing in complex listening environments.

　　Individuals with HL often find speech perception more difficult in noisy environments than in quiet environments. This study was aimed at comparing the characteristics of hearing awareness in children with HL enrolled in regular classrooms, where the acoustic environment is challenging, with those in children with TH. To assess hearing awareness, a questionnaire designed to reflect the daily lives of children was developed, with items selected based on the nonparametric item response theory. Hearing awareness was evaluated in three domains: hearing, auditory comprehension, and emotional feeling. The subjects included 40 hearing aid (HA) users and 25 cochlear implant (CI) users enrolled in elementary or junior high schools, along with 254 children with TH. The results showed a significant difference in the average response rates between children with HL and TH for hearing and auditory comprehension. As for emotional feeling, a significant difference was observed between children with CI and TH, but no difference was found between children with HA and TH. Differences among the children were highlighted when percentile profiles were drawn for each domain. A mediation analysis was used to examine how hearing affects emotional feeling through auditory comprehension, which suggested that the mediating processes might be different between children with HL and TH.

　　Objective: To investigate age-related differences and longitudinal changes in consonant misperception patterns in adult cochlear implant (CI) users.

　　 Methods: A total of 19 postlingually deafened adult CI users (22 ears) were divided into an elderly group (10 patients, 11 ears) and a younger group (9 patients, 11 ears). Speech perception was evaluated using the Japanese monosyllable test CI-2004 at 3 and 12 months after cochlear implantation. Consonant identification accuracy and misperception patterns were analyzed using confusion matrices. Longitudinal changes in consonant perception were assessed separately for each group.

　　 Results: At 3 months postoperatively, while the overall monosyllable recognition scores were comparable between the two groups, consonant-specific analyses revealed differences. High identification accuracy was observed for consonants such as /s/, /j/, and /k/ in both groups, whereas lower accuracy rates were observed for voiced plosives (/b/, /g/), particularly in the elderly group. In the younger group, significant improvements in the identification of /b/, /m/ were observed between 3 and 12 months post cochlear implantation. In contrast, no significant longitudinal improvement for the identification of any consonant was observed in the elderly group.

　　 Conclusions: Consonant misperception patterns in CI users are influenced by both the acoustic characteristics of the electrical stimuli and age-related differences in auditory learning. Younger CI users exhibited greater longitudinal improvements, suggesting more efficient auditory plasticity. These findings highlight the importance of age-specific rehabilitation strategies in cochlear implant users.

　　A questionnaire survey was conducted regarding the actual support provided in hearing loss resource rooms and special classes for children with hearing loss at elementary and junior high schools in Niigata Prefecture. Responses were obtained from teachers at 16 hearing loss resource rooms, 11 special classes for hearing loss, and 2 special-needs education schools for the hearing impaired. During academic year 2024, 157 children received instruction in hearing loss resource rooms, 119 children received educational counseling in hearing loss resource rooms, 16 children were enrolled in special education classes for the hearing impaired, 6 children received educational counseling in special education classes for the hearing impaired, and 43 children enrolled at special-needs education schools for the hearing impaired. These figures indicate that a large number of children in Niigata Prefecture receive instruction in hearing-impaired resource rooms and that educational counseling is provided to many children. These classrooms provide support not only to children using hearing aids or cochlear implants, but also to those not using them (113 cases), children with unilateral hearing loss (70 cases), children with functional hearing loss or listening disorder/auditory processing disorder, preschool-aged children, and children who had already graduated. This demonstrates that there is a demand for educational counseling support for a wide range of children.

Objective:

　　 To describe the clinical features and hearing progression associated with the autosomal dominant TMC1 p.Asp572Asn variant.

Methods:

　　 We report two brothers with progressive hearing loss caused by the TMC1 c.1714G>A (p.Asp572Asn) variant. Longitudinal audiological data from childhood to adolescence were reviewed. In addition, audiograms of previously reported cases harboring the same variant reported in the literature were reviewed. Hearing thresholds at each frequency were plotted against age, and regression analyses were performed to estimate age-related typical audiograms.

Results:

　　 Both brothers developed hearing loss in early childhood, with marked progression during adolescence, eventually resulting in severe to profound hearing loss. Cochlear implantation provided favorable speech perception outcomes. Analysis of 55 audiograms from multiple families suggested a characteristic pattern of hearing deterioration, with onset in childhood and rapid progression during the teenage years. High-frequency hearing loss progressed relatively consistently across families, whereas changes in low-frequency hearing loss varied. Repeated identification of this variant in multiple unrelated populations supports its classification as a mutational hotspot.

Conclusion:

　　The TMC1 p.Asp572Asn variant is characterized by onset of hearing loss in childhood with hearing loss progression to severe hearing impairment during adolescence. Early genetic diagnosis may be useful for anticipating the disease course and for planning timely auditory interventions, including cochlear implantation.

　　This study evaluated the equivalence of the proposed method using an audiometer for measuring earplug attenuation to the reference method defined in JIS T 8161-1. Sixteen normal-hearing subjects were tested using two types of earplugs. Attenuation values at six frequencies were measured using both methods and the values measured by the two methods were compared. Equivalence was assessed using two one-sided tests with an equivalence range of ±6dB. Frequency-specific equivalence testing confirmed equivalence at 500Hz and above, but not at 250Hz. The mean difference between the proposed method and the reference method was -2.6dB, and the 90% confidence interval (-3.6 to -1.7dB) was entirely within the equivalence range, indicating overall statistical equivalence. Attenuation values at each frequency showed significant differences at 250, 500 and 1,000Hz, whereas no significant differences were observed at the other frequencies. These findings indicate that the proposed method provides attenuation values comparable to those of the reference method within a clinically acceptable range and may serve as a practical tool for on-site assessment of earplug performance.

　　In this study, we examined divided attention in individuals with listening difficulties/auditory processing disorder (LiD/APD) while processing multimodal sensory information, namely, visual and auditory inputs, as compared with that in normal control individuals. The study participants consisted of 11 individuals with significant listening difficulties in daily life (LiD/APD group) and 38 control participants. The task was administered under two conditions: meaningful words and meaningless words conditions. A dual-task paradigm was employed, consisting of a visual task (copying visually presented words on a computer screen) and an auditory task (repeating words presented auditorily through a speaker). The relationship between task performance and subjective questionnaire measures was also investigated. The results showed significantly lower accuracy in both visual and auditory tasks in the LiD/APD group as compared with the control group, indicating difficulty in appropriately allocating attention across tasks involving different sensory modalities in the former group. In addition, accuracy for nonwords was significantly lower in the meaningless words condition than in the meaningful words condition, suggesting that processing meaningless words required greater attentional resources. No significant correlation was found between the accuracy of the dual-task performance and subjective questionnaire measures, suggesting that further investigation is needed to determine how everyday listening difficulties are reflected in controlled experimental tasks.