These findings show that even with appropriate amplification via hearing aids, children with hearing loss still have trouble processing certain aspects of sound, particularly the basic pitch of voices. These objectively measurable brain responses may explain why children with hearing loss struggle more in noisy or echoey environments.
Brain Response Test Reveals Hearing Clarity
Babies are too young to do hearing tests until 8 to 10 months of age, and at such young ages, tracking brain waves to sounds is the only reliable way to assess hearing.
Neural Test Assesses Hearing Aid Success Among Young Patients
Our results demonstrated that neural responses were sensitive to the improved audibility provided by hearing aids among the 5- to 17-year-old children assessed.
How Can We Measure Hearing Aid Success in the Youngest Patients?
We found that the use of neural responses to sound to infer how well hearing aids—a common first form of intervention—provide access to speech is similar in children to that found in adults.
First-Generation College Students and More Highlights From Meet the Researcher
Each year Hearing Health Foundation’s (HHF) Emerging Research Grants (ERG) program funds innovative hearing and balance projects from promising early-career scientists. A program created by Collette Ramsey Baker, in 1958 when HHF was founded, ERG continues to be a cornerstone of our mission. We eagerly look forward to applications from potential grantees, due this year on Feb. 10, 2020, and publicizing their projects and careers.