While it is well known that hearing loss degrades speech perception, especially in noisy environments, less is understood as to why some individuals with typical hearing may also struggle with speech perception in noise (SPiN). Several factors appear to contribute to SPiN abilities in adults with typical hearing, including the top-down cognitive functions of attention, working memory, and inhibition.
USC Stem Cell Study Shows When to Quit “Yapping”
It turns out that to hear a person yapping, you need a protein called Yap. Working as part of what is known as the Yap/Tead complex, this important protein sends signals to the hearing organ to attain the correct size during embryonic development, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences (PNAS) from the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Neil Segil.
Study Charts Developmental Map of Inner Ear Sound Sensor in Mice
Scientists at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their collaborators analyzed data from 30,000 cells from mouse cochlea, the snail-shaped structure of the inner ear. The results provide insights into the genetic programs that drive the formation of cells important for detecting sounds. The study also sheds light specifically on the underlying cause of hearing loss linked to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and Loeys-Dietz syndrome.
Tinnitus and Noise Trauma to the Inner Ear
Tinnitus itself is not a disease but rather a symptom of an underlying condition that can be classified into subtypes based on its many causes. In our article in the April 30, 2020, volume of the journal Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America, we focus primarily on noise-induced tinnitus, whether acute or chronic, which is most likely the most common type.
Data Made Visual
Over the past several years, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF)’s Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) has generated a significant amount of data. Part of the challenge for HRP consortium members, as for many life scientists, comes not only from the amount of data they need to analyze but also the need to examine multi-omic datasets.
Validating an Animal Model of Hyperacusis
To learn what is happening in the brain and nervous system when hyperacusis is present, we used sound-evoked, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to locate regions of abnormal activity in the central nervous system of rats with behavioral evidence of hyperacusis induced with an ototoxic drug (sodium salicylate). We observed enhanced central auditory gain and were able to confirm this electrophysiologically.
‘Chemical earmuffs’ could prevent hearing loss
Once you start to lose your hearing, you can’t get it back. But what if you could prevent hearing loss by blocking in advance the effects of loud noises? That’s a route a team of biologists at the University of Iowa and Washington University, St. Louis, says may be possible.
HHF Connects with Researchers at the World’s Largest Conference on Hearing & Balance Science
Nearly 1,800 hearing and balance researchers and related experts gathered Jan. 25–29, 2020, in San Jose, CA for the 43rd annual Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO), the largest academic association in the field. This included a number of Hearing Health Foundation (HHF)-affiliated researchers, members of the HHF Board of Directors and scientific advisory bodies, and HHF staff.
HHF Board Chair John Dillard Participates in Congressional Hearing Research Program
The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs’ (CDMRP), Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) consumer advocate John Dillard participated in January the evaluation of research applications submitted to the HRRP in January.
A Key Molecule Required for the Regeneration of Auditory Hair Cells in the Avian Inner Ear
Hair cells in the cochlea are the only cells in our body specialized to encode the energy in sound waves. As a result, we lose our hearing when hair cells die, which occurs during aging and after exposure to excessive noise or ototoxic drugs. Research indicates that no adult mammals replace their auditory hair cells once they are lost.