Congratulations to the 14 scientists awarded Emerging Research Grants for 2025.
Lower Frequencies Boost Ability of Older Adults to Separate Sounds
These findings mean lower-frequency sounds may help older adults better understand complex sound environments. This may be useful for designing better hearing aids or other devices to help older people hear more clearly.
Changes in the Brain with Age and Hearing Loss
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.
Meet the 2024 Emerging Research Grants Scientists
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.
Brain Targets for Hearing Recovery After Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
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.
Potential Therapy for Blast-Induced Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
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.
Brain Connectivity Patterns in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
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.
A Method to Measure Neuroplasticity Found to Be Unreliable
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.
Nicotine Injections Reduce Age-Related Auditory Processing Changes in the Older Mouse Brain
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.
Cut Dementia Risk by Testing for and Then Treating Hearing Loss
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.