These findings are important because they provide valuable insight into the interaction between the learner’s age (developmental period effect) and their linguistic experience (quality and quantity of linguistic input) in early development.
Why Children With Autism May Experience Auditory Sensory Overload
The successful navigation of complex everyday environments with multiple sensory inputs—such as restaurants, busy streets, and other social settings—relies on the brain’s ability to organize the barrage of information into discrete perceptual objects on which cognitive processes, such as selective attention, can act.
3D-Printed Tumor Guides Brain Surgery for Vestibular Schwannoma
Published in the journal Otology & Neurotology in June 2021, our study details a new, 3D-printed, patient-specific tumor model for quantitatively assessing the accuracy of facial nerve tractography in vestibular schwannoma patients.
Measuring Children’s Ability to Hear Speech in Different Competing Backgrounds
Young children spend much of their day listening in noise. However, it is clear that, compared with adults, infants and children are highly susceptible to interference from competing background sounds.
Mass Spectrometry Imaging Reveals Effect of Blasts on Neurotransmitter Levels in the Chinchilla Model
To date there are no clear, definitive management recommendations for tinnitus, whether non-pharmacological or pharmacological. This is mainly due to a poor understanding of the pathomechanism (causes) of tinnitus. An imbalance in the excitation and inhibition of neurotransmitters is implicated, but more research is warranted.
Evaluation of a New Method for Measuring Pediatric Hearing
In our method, a child is trained to perform a play-based task when a signal is heard. An experimenter—called an observer—watches the child’s behavior to determine when the signal was played. In contrast to clinical testing methods, the signal is randomly placed in one of two intervals for each trial by the computer program.
Effects of Premature Birth on the Auditory System
In our August 2020 paper in The Hearing Journal, we review causes of prematurity and the typical development of the auditory system. The sensory system, which includes the auditory system, develops in a very specific way inside the womb. This process is interrupted and occurs differently when development continues outside of the womb due to a premature birth.
Register for the Inaugural Hearing Health Hour Webinar
On Monday, October 26 at 5 PM EDT, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) will host its first Hearing Health Hour event on Zoom. Presented quarterly, Hearing Health Hour is a lay-friendly webinar series about managing hearing loss and related conditions and research updates presented by Emerging Research Grants (ERG) recipients.
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Overcome Pediatric Listening Difficulties
Listening difficulties occur in children diagnosed with auditory processing disorders (also known as central auditory processing disorders) and may co-occur in children who have developmental language disorder or attention/memory deficits. Persistent listening difficulties negatively affect children's learning and functioning. Studying factors that influence children’s listening performance using a unified multidisciplinary approach is crucial to better identify and manage deficits that contribute to listening difficulties in children.
2020-2021 Scientific Grantees Announced
Scientific researchers have, like all of us, faced numerous challenges over the past months of the COVID-19 crisis, but have continued the science throughout, whether in reduced occupancy labs or remote, driven by their dedication to advance knowledge and contribute to the treatment and, ultimately, cure for hearing loss and other hearing and balance disorders. HHF’s donors have shown similar dedication, and HHF is happy to provide research funding to the exceptionally promising projects below.