The underlying mechanism of bone conduction sound transmission to the inner ear has been elusive and poorly understood because bone conduction sound transmission is complex—multiple frequency-dependent mechanisms may be involved.
Discovery of a New Type of Neuron Holds Clues About Tinnitus
The goal of this study was to take a closer look at the VCN, which may reveal new types of inhibitory neurons with functions that could be of clinical significance. By carefully examining the diversity of inhibitory neurons in the VCN using transgenic mice, super-resolution microscopy, and the latest tools to study the structure and properties of individual neurons, we discovered a novel class of inhibitory cell.
Study Suggests Smart Assistant Design Improvements for Deaf Users
In their study, Blair and Saeed Abdullah, assistant professor of information sciences and technology, conducted in-depth interviews with deaf users of smart assistants and collected survey data from individuals with mild to profound hearing loss.
Webinar Recap: New Developments in Treating Hearing Loss and Related Conditions: Digital Therapeutics
This presented focused on rehabilitation, to show how digital therapeutics can help people with hearing loss improve word discrimination, familiarity with everyday words, listening confidence, and auditory cognitive skills, including auditory processing speed, auditory word memory, and auditory attention
Remote Tinnitus Counseling
We’ve developed several tools to help the tinnitus patient, who is typically an older adult. We first ask them to complete the Tinnitus Primary Functions Questionnaire. These are 20 questions that my team and I developed and validated to help detail patient experiences. The questions cover four categories: Thoughts and Emotions, Hearing, Sleep, and Concentration.
Hearing Speech Requires Quiet – In More Ways Than One
Perceiving speech requires quieting certain types of brain cells, report a team of researchers from UConn Health and University of Rochester in the Journal of Neurophysiology. Their research reveals a previously unknown population of brain cells, and opens up a new way of understanding how the brain hears.
Hearing Health Foundation Names Lisa Goodrich, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the Hearing Restoration Project
Hearing Health Foundation (HHF), the largest nonprofit funder of hearing and balance research in the U.S., announced today the appointment of Lisa Goodrich, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School to the role of Scientific Director of the Hearing Restoration Project (HRP).
Meet the 2020 ERG Researchers
These seven early career scientists were chosen through a rigorous review by HHF’s Scientific Review Committee and Council of Scientific Trustees, comprising senior expert scientists and physicians from across the U.S. The researchers are investigating a range of hearing and balance areas and also, as demonstrated in our Meet the Researcher column, have diverse interests in their free time, which more often than not informs their work.
Chloroquine to Fight COVID-19: Mechanisms and Adverse Effects
The COVID-19 outbreak emerged in December 2019 and has rapidly become a global pandemic. A great deal of effort has been made to find effective drugs against this disease. Two structurally related quinoline drugs, chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), were widely adopted in treating COVID-19, but the results were contradictory.
Age-Related Hearing Loss and Brainwave Changes
Brain oscillations (brainwaves) are associated with specific cognitive and sensory processes. How age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) alters the oscillations is unclear. Age-related speech recognition problems can be caused by changes in neurotransmission (chemical messaging between nerve cells) and temporal processing (the perception of sound within a defined time frame).