There was a lot of confusion in the mid-’80s between hearing and understanding. I was 14 years old so hearing loss was the furthest thing from my mind and nothing my parents thought of either. I could hear but I had trouble understanding what I heard. 

An audiologist shares the science behind Halloween’s eeriest noises.

What moved me most was not just the science. It was the joy. I will never forget an older man who heard his grandson’s voice clearly for the first time in years.

My area of study is auditory neuroscience, and I’m especially passionate about how neuroscience can reveal the underlying mechanisms behind why hearing outcomes vary so much from person to person.