Loud Noise Risk For Children

Dominic Lucia, MD, at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. How do loud noises impact children? (SOT@ :14, TRT :43) How do we know if something is…

Beyond Necessity, Hearing Aids Bring Enjoyment Through Music #ASA184

At the 184th ASA Meeting, Emily Sandgren and Joshua Alexander of Purdue University will describe experiments to determine the best hearing aids for listening to music. To test and compare, they took over 200 recordings of music samples as processed by hearing aids from seven popular manufacturers. They asked study participants to rate the sound quality of these recordings and found that the hearing aids had lower ratings for music than their control stimuli. The researchers found bigger differences in music quality between hearing aid brands than between speech and music programs.

Study: Hearing Loss Disproportionately Impacts People of Color

A new study by a researcher at New York Institute of Technology reveals that people of color report a higher incidence of hearing loss. The research, published on April 13 in the journal Safety, highlights hearing loss as a public…

Hairs that help fish feel–and humans hear

Brian McDermott, a Case Western Reserve scientist, is reporting a discovery about unexpected asymmetry on the hair cells of zebrafish that allow them to detect movement with greater sensitivity from the back than the front. “This shows that fish have hair cells that are actually tuned to sense different water directions,” McDermott said. “In humans, our cochleas have hair cells that are similarly tuned to be able to hear different frequencies.” McDermott said the finding also advances our understanding of “the long-sought mechanotransduction (Mec) channel” in living creatures.

Eartest by Eartone Application Detects Dementia Risk by Checking the Hearing of Words in Thai language

The Faculties of Medicine and Science, Chulalongkorn University, in collaboration with University College London (UCL), the United Kingdom, together with industrial partner have developed Eartest by Eartone Application that examines hearing with Thai words processing that the public can use to screen dementia by themselves before consulting physicians to help prevent and reduce future risk of dementia.

Program That Trains Community Health Workers to Deliver Hearing Care Shows Success Among Low-Income Older Adults

A first-in-kind program that trains trusted older adult community health workers to fit and deliver low-cost hearing technology to peers with hearing loss significantly improved communication function among participants, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

Shhhh … Speaking More Quietly in Restaurants Means Everyone Can Be Heard #ASA183

In a crowded restaurant, the sounds of conversations bounce off walls, creating background noise. Each individual wants to be heard, so they end up talking a little bit louder, which increases the overall din. Eventually – barring an interruption – the system gets loud enough to reach the limit of the human voice. Braxton Boren will discuss this cycle, called the Lombard effect, and how it can be disrupted in his presentation, “A game theory model of the Lombard effect in public spaces.”

New study shows spiders use webs to extend their hearing

A newly published study of orb-weaving spiders — has yielded some extraordinary results: The spiders are using their webs as extended auditory arrays to capture sounds, possibly giving spiders advanced warning of incoming prey or predators.

Telehealth Makes Hearing Health Care More Equitable

In The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, scientists explore how digital health solutions can expand audiology services in clinical and research settings. Audiology assessment via telehealth would allow patients to access care while a specialist is located hundreds of miles away and, as a research tool, telehealth would allow for more representative and decentralized data on hearing, without compromising results. The team is currently scaling up several studies they conducted in rural areas of Alaska; their mission is to close the gap on hearing health disparities.

Mayo Clinic expert provides tips for reducing dementia risk

More than 55 million people worldwide are believed to be living with dementia, according to the World Health Organization. Ronald Petersen, M.D., a neurologist and director of Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, says you can’t prevent dementia, but you can reduce your risk.

Listening Can Be Exhausting for Older Cochlear Implant Users #ASA182

In her presentation, “Aging effects on listening effort in cochlear-implant users,” Kristina DeRoy Milvae will discuss the results of two experiments that examined impacts on listening effort. The session will take place May 24 at 12:50 p.m. Eastern U.S. at the 182nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

Hackensack Meridian Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge Expands Services with The Center for Hearing

“We are excited to open up this new service to our growing community,” said William DiStanislao, interim president, chief hospital executive, Raritan Bay Medical Center Old Bridge. “Our certified audiologist will work closely with our medical director to interpret findings and recommend appropriate treatment.”

Examining Correlation Between Occupational Noise, Heart Disease

Hearing conservation programs and policies aim to protect workers from noise-induced hearing loss, but it remains unclear whether stress reactions caused by noise exposure might also lead to other negative health outcomes. In The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, researchers describe how data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey do not support an association between loud noise exposure and changes in biomarkers for cardiovascular disease or outcomes.

Acoustics in Focus: Virtual Press Conference Schedule for 180th Meeting of Acoustical Society of America

Press conferences at the 180th ASA Meeting will cover the latest in acoustical research during the Acoustics in Focus meeting. The virtual press conferences will take place each day of the meeting and offer reporters and outlets the opportunity to hear key presenters talk about their research. To ensure the safety of attendees, volunteers, and ASA staff, Acoustics in Focus will be hosted entirely online.

University of Miami Hearing Professionals Present Latest Research at American Cochlear Implant Alliance Conference

From the impact of COVID-19 on parents, to speech differences between English- and Spanish-learners, and advanced ear surgery techniques, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine hearing professionals presented their latest studies at CI2021, the annual conference of the American Cochlear Implant (ACI) Alliance, from April 28 to May 1.

Translational Hearing Center awarded largest NIH grant in Creighton University history

Researchers will be dedicated to battling hearing loss resulting from numerous causes. They will tackle hearing loss in children whose hearing is compromised by antibiotics or other medical treatments, to persons suffering hearing loss in the wake of cancer therapies, those who suffer deafness due to such infections as meningitis, through to natural hearing loss caused by aging.

Neandertals had the capacity to perceive and produce human speech

Neandertals — the closest ancestor to modern humans — possessed the ability to perceive and produce human speech, according to a new study published by an international multidisciplinary team of researchers including Binghamton University anthropology professor Rolf Quam and graduate student Alex Velez.

How Loud Is Too Loud? Identifying Noise Levels That Deter Older Restaurant Patrons

As restaurants get noisier, the increasing noise levels could deter older patrons, especially those with mild to severe hearing loss. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will discuss their work on investigating acceptable noise levels that won’t cause restaurant visitors to stay away from certain establishments. Identifying acceptable noise levels helps establish truly “age-friendly” communities. The session will take place as part of the 179th ASA Meeting.

How Does Eye Position Affect ‘Cocktail Party’ Listening?

Several acoustic studies have shown that the position of your eyes determines where your visual spatial attention is directed, which automatically influences your auditory spatial attention. Researchers are currently exploring its impact on speech intelligibility. During the 179th ASA Meeting, Virginia Best will describe her work to determine whether there is a measurable effect of eye position within cocktail party listening situations.

Acoustics Virtually Everywhere: 25 Scientists Summarize Research They’re Presenting This Week at ASA’s December Meeting

As part of the 179th ASA Meeting, 25 sound scientists summarize their innovative research into 300-500 words for a general audience and provide helpful video, photos, and audio. These lay language papers are written for everyone, not just the scientific community. Acousticians are doing important work to make hospitals quieter, map the global seafloor, translate musical notes into emotion, and understand how the human voice changes with age.

Hearing loss linked to neurocognitive deficits in childhood cancer survivors

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are studying how hearing loss can affect the neurocognitive abilities of childhood cancer survivors. Findings show that survivors with severe hearing loss are at a significant increased risk for neurocognitive deficits, independent of what type of therapy they receive.

ASA, CDC Plan Revamp of Sound-Related Wikipedia Pages for International Year of Sound 2020

As harmful effects of noise are becoming more widely known, popular internet websites are increasingly being used as resources of information. For the International Year of Sound 2020 (#IYS2020), the Acoustical Society of America and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the CDC, took the lead in designing the online event Wiki4YearOfSound2020. The event will facilitate the improvement of Wikipedia content in topics related to acoustics, communication, music, noise and soundscapes.

For better research results, let mice be mice

Animal models can serve as gateways for understanding many human communication disorders, but a new study from the University at Buffalo suggests that the established practice of socially isolating mice for such purposes might actually make them poor research models for humans, and a simple shift to a more realistic social environment could greatly improve the utility of the future studies.