Hearing Health Blog
Royal Arch Research Assistance
A better understanding of how our brains process patterns with aging and hearing loss, and when neural responses are exaggerated versus diminished, can aid in developing treatments and devices to improve age- and hearing loss-related hearing difficulties.
As of this year, our general hearing health grants have been renamed Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Awards in recognition of Keithley’s impact on the field and long service to HHF, and the awards’ focus on supporting the next generation.
Our results hold the promise to advance understanding of the cortical mechanisms underlying disorders associated with maladaptive cortical plasticity after peripheral damage, such as tinnitus, hyperacusis, and difficulty hearing in noisy environments.
These findings suggest that by inhibiting PARP1, a protein, it may be possible to maintain the health and survival of hair cells following blast injuries. The restoration of energy production from both mitochondria and glycolysis contributes to this protective effect.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder had different patterns of brain connectivity between areas involved in speech processing, particularly in the parietal region, which is important for combining different sounds into speech objects.
We found that tetanization does not produce reliable changes in brain activity. Some studies report increased brain activity, some report decreased brain activity, and still others report no changes in brain activity following tetanization.
This data in aging mice strongly suggests that topical or oral nicotine or nicotine-like substances may be profoundly beneficial for aging humans with central auditory processing disruptions.
The use of hearing aids or cochlear implants was “associated with a 19 percent decrease in hazards of long-term cognitive decline such as incident dementia over a duration ranging from 2 to 25 years,” JAMA Neurology says.
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.
Vijaya Prakash Krishnan Muthaiah, PT, Ph.D., works with members of the military as part of his research. This inspired him to join the U.S. Coast Guard as a reservist. We cannot think of a more meaningful way to show dedication to the service our military provides.
