Children who have cochlear implants (CI) rank their quality of life (QOL) equal to their normally hearing (NH) peers, indicates new research in the February 2010 issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. A cochlear implant is an electronic device that restores partial hearing to the deaf. It is surgically implanted in the inner ear and activated by a device worn outside the ear…
New research shows our brains are a lot more chaotic than previously thought, and that this might be a good thing. Neurobiologists at the University of Maryland have discovered information about how the brain processes sound that challenges previous understandings of the auditory cortex that suggested an organization based on precise neuronal maps…
In 2009 a student research project investigating a low frequency therapy for temporary tinnitus was joint runner-up in the 2009 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, held in Dublin, Ireland. The student research project which has now evolved into a web-based company, Restored Hearing was one of the companies which showcased recently at the 2010 exhibition…
Deafness is the most common disorder of the senses. Tragically, it commonly strikes in early childhood, severely damaging an affected child’s ability to learn speech and language…
Advances in hearing aid design and technology mean more and better choices for consumers. The October issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource covers the pros and cons of various styles, from those that are barely noticeable to others that resemble the latest phones and come in stylish colors…
An innovative four-year project to help families, service providers and policy makers understand the effectiveness of the different types of support available for young deaf children has come to an end, with some interesting findings…
More needs to be done to prevent and treat otitis media (otherwise known as middle ear inflammation), which is a major health problem in Indigenous communities and can lead to permanent hearing loss, according to the editor of a supplement on the condition published in the 2 November issue of the Medical Journal of Australia…
As many as one in seven people will experience tinnitus, or ringing in their ears, at some time of their life, but not enough is being done to support patients who experience this distressing condition, according to an extensive research review in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing…
Specialists in HIV and in hearing at the University of Rochester Medical Center are teaming up to measure the hearing of people with AIDS. The five-year study is believed to be the first large study of its kind testing the hearing of people with HIV/AIDS and comparing the results with those from people without HIV. The new effort, supported by a $1…
Age-related hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder among the elderly. But scientists are still trying to figure out what cellular processes govern or contribute to the loss…
Becoming “hard of hearing” is a standard but unfortunate part of aging: A syndrome called age-related hearing loss affects about 40 percent of people over 65 in the United States, and will afflict an estimated 28 million Americans by 2030…
What do you get when you cross a mouse with poor hearing and a mouse with even worse hearing? Ironically, a new strain of mice with “golden ears” – mice that have outstanding hearing as they age…
New research reveals that children with developmental dyslexia have a deficit in a brain mechanism involved in the perception of speech in a noisy environment…
The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University…
Maney Publishing is pleased to announce the purchase of two quarterly journals from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Cochlear Implants International and Deafness & Education International, which together establish a decisive publishing commitment to the clinical treatment and education of the deaf…
A new study led by scientists in The Netherlands has revealed the mechanisms through which the brain creates “auditory continuity illusion”, where a physically interrupted sound is heard as continuing through background noise; thus when we try to listen to conversation in a noisy room, the brain fills in the gaps between interrupted sound fragments to create what we p…
It is relatively common for listeners to “hear” sounds that are not really there. In fact, it is the brain’s ability to reconstruct fragmented sounds that allows us to successfully carry on a conversation in a noisy room. Now, a new study helps to explain what happens in the brain that allows us to perceive a physically interrupted sound as being continuous…
A new study from Canada shows that our skin helps us hear speech by sensing the puffs of air that the speaker produces with certain sounds…
Parents and children giving or receiving an electronic device with music this holiday season should give their ears a gift as well by pre-setting the maximum decibel level to somewhere between one-half and two-thirds maximum volume…
Pioneering new research funded by RNID has revealed hope for the early treatment of tinnitus. The study, led by researchers at the University of Western Australia, has revealed that for a certain period, spontaneous nerve activity in the brain previously shown to be associated with some types of tinnitus is dependent on signals from the ear…
A gene associated with a rare form of progressive deafness in males has been identified by an international team of researchers funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The gene, PRPS1, appears to be crucial in inner ear development and maintenance. The findings are published in the Dec. 17 early online issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics…
A new study into hearing has uncovered the secret of our extraordinary ability to perceive a range of sounds – from a pin dropping to the roar of a jet engine – and could lead to a better understanding of deafness and hearing loss…
Envoy Medical, a Minnesota corporation, has developed the first Fully Implantable Hearing Restoration System known as the Esteem®. On December 18th, an Advisory Panel of independent ENT experts unanimously recommended that the FDA approve the Esteem®…
Music therapy can assist in the speech acquisition process in toddlers who have undergone cochlear implantation, as revealed in a new study by Dr. Dikla Kerem of the University of Haifa. The study was carried out in Israel as a doctoral thesis for Aalborg University in Denmark (supervised by Prof. Tony Wigram) and presented at a “Brain, Therapy and Crafts” conference at the University of Haifa…
Parents and children giving or receiving an electronic device with music this holiday season should give their ears a gift as well by pre-setting the maximum decibel level to somewhere between one-half and two-thirds maximum volume…
