We often hear about the devastating injuries sustained by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their suffering is profound and should be a bigger part of our national consciousness. We Americans should also talk about the most common disabilities experienced by veterans—hearing loss and tinnitus. These are less visible but insidious conditions that can seriously upend every aspect of veterans’ lives: their overall physical and psychological wellness, along with social interactions, even work performance.
Make Your Smartphone Even Smarter
If you are any age and have both a hearing loss and a smartphone, “get smart” is how to educate you and your phone. Smartphones have allowed us a degree of freedom and communication access undreamed of in the not too distant past.
Novel Small Molecule Promotes Synaptic Regeneration In Vitro
This work furthers the development of an effective drug delivery platform for the inner ear that uses the cochlear bone as a depot for prolonged neurotrophic stimulation of spiral ganglion neurons. Our method may bypass the pitfalls of systemic administration—increased risk of side effects and insufficient levels of drug delivery—and the dangers related to opening the cochlea.
Cochlear Organoids Reveal HIC1’s Role in Hair Cell Differentiation
Emerging Research Grants scientist Dunia Abdul-Aziz, M.D., of Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear coauthored a study that reveals how the gene Atoh1 in the cochlea can be repressed by the protein HIC1, inhibiting hair cell differentiation. It also demonstrates the power of combining the organoid model with the genetic toolkit to study key regulators of hair cell differentiation, which may help advance the understanding of hair cell development and regeneration.
Verifying a Novel Method for Assessing Speech Motor Skills in Children With Cochlear Implants
By combining principles and tools from engineering and computer science with cognitive and linguistic science, we envision developing robotic devices to deliver speechlike patterns of somatosensory input to the vocal tracts of children who use cochlear implants as they learn to listen to speech sounds through their implant processor.
‘I Have to Change My Battery, Again?’
Taking charge of hearing aid batteries with these helpful strategies—inspired by in-depth interviews with hearing aid users—means never being left without power.
Lost Between Words and Laughter
I always had auditory training to focus and listen in a noisy environment. However, as I entered the high school years, I realized that I enjoy socializing and being among friends despite the background noise.
Postural and Head Control Given Different Environmental Contexts
Fall risk in people with hearing loss has been shown in older adults, and our pilot data suggest balance impairments in people with single-sided hearing are more likely to arise in older participants with moderate dizziness.
Emerging Research Grants Applications Open Today
Applications for the 2022–2023 Emerging Research Grants (ERG) cycle opens today, Monday, October 18, 2021.
From Dark Days to a Bright Future
Networking among parents of children with cochlear implants who live all over the world leads to a solution for a young girl.