Dr. Frank Musiek

Frank E. Musiek, PhD, is a renowned hearing researcher, scholar, teacher and clinical audiologist. His research on electrophysiology and central auditory processing has led to the discovery and implementation of numerous tools that are widely used for assessment of the auditory brainstem and central auditory pathways. His research career has contributed in a substantial way to our fundamental understanding of the anatomy, physiology and neurophysiology of the human auditory system. Dr. Musiek has published over 140 refereed articles and presented more than 220 invited lectures and seminars and nearly 300 papers at national and international conferences, research symposia and other venues around the world. He has developed four clinical audiologic tests, three of which are mainstays of the clinical central auditory test battery. He has published nine books and authored no fewer than 35 book chapters.

The Contralateral Ear Effect on Tests of Central Auditory Function: An Introduction

Dr. Frank Musiek

Frank Musiek Introduction Back in the 1950’s Ettore Bocca and his Italian colleagues (Bocca, Calearo, Cassinari, 1954) were the first to develop and make significant clinical use of central auditory tests. They had learned that the pure tone audiogram was not useful in reflecting deficits of the central auditory nervous system (CANS). They then proceeded to develop

An Account of Some Relationships Between Otoacoustic Emissions and the Olivocochlear Bundle

Dr. Frank Musiek

Aaron Whiteley The focused examination of otoacoustic emissions began in the 1940s with Georg von Bekesy. Inspired, yet unconvinced by Helmholtz’ idea that the cochlea consisted of resonant structures, Bekesy developed an intricate method of examination that would lead to the place theory and traveling wave theory (Hall, 2000). Bekesy’s experiments built the foundation for a common understanding that

Reflections on the cochlear nucleus (CNu) and some early clinical studies

Dr. Frank Musiek

Frank E. Musiek There is no question that considerable research has been conducted on the cochlear nucleus in recent years. Anatomists, physiologists, psycho-acousticians, audiologists and others have made contributions to our understanding of the CNu. However, in reflection on some current research of the CNu I kept thinking about some very early research which was clinical in nature that

Anatomy of Acoustic Neuroma

Dr. Frank Musiek

Elissa H. Kawamoto, B.S. Graduate Student, Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Science, University of Arizona In order to develop strong diagnostic and clinical skills, one must have a deep understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the entire system related to ones field of study. Considerable attention must be directed towards understanding the region where vestibular schwannomas grow. This is

Time Compressed Speech

Dr. Frank Musiek

Herbert Jay Gould, Ph.D. School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis Compressed speech has been studied since the early 1950s (Garvey 1953) and has been suggested as a tool for the diagnosis of APD since at least 1977 (Beasley and Freeman 1977). The general consensus is that abnormal performance on compressed speech material reflects a deficit in

Requiem for the Golden Goose

Dr. Frank Musiek

By Mike Webb The goose is dead…or at least partially cooked. I use this metaphor, of course, as the goose who laid the golden eggs: in our audiology context, the “hearing aid” goose. I, for one, believe it may be a positive, pivotal moment for strengthening the field of audiology. A similar pivotal moment occurred in 1978 for audiology

What about the Insula?

Dr. Frank Musiek

By Frank Musiek, Ph.D. The insula (meaning island and sometimes called the Island of Reil) is located medial to the temporal lobe. If one were to pull away the temporal lobe in a lateral manner, the insula would be observed behind it. It looks like another cortex and is situated of course, close to the temporal lobe – the

Neuroanatomy at the Neuroaudiology Lab at the University of Arizona

Dr. Frank Musiek

by Barrett St. George {Editor’s note: I have asked Barrett St. George, an Au.D. – Ph.D. student in our lab to write this commentary on the neuroanatomy projects in our lab. Several topics are covered and I thought it would be of interest to our Pathways/HHTM readership. – FM} A detailed understanding of the central auditory nervous

The Clinical Utility of P300 Evoked Responses in Post-Sport-Related Concussion Evaluation

Dr. Frank Musiek

By: Stephanie A. Waryasz, Au.D., CCC-A, F-AAA Sport-related concussion is a type of injury that tends to produce subtle anatomical abnormalities on the microscopic level within the brain (Gaetz & Weinberg, 2000; Gaetz, Goodman, & Weinberg, 2000; Barth, Freeman, Broshek, & Verney, 2001). These types of injuries may be asymptomatic and remain unidentified through standard clinical neuropsychological testing, consequently

Binaural Improvement in Normal and Defective Ears in a Background of Other Voices: A Historical Article Review from the Archives

Dr. Frank Musiek

by Nicole Denny, Alyssa Everett, and Frank Musiek, The University of Arizona Binaural Improvement in Normal and Defective Ears in a Background of Other Voices is a classic article from 1971 by J. D. Harris and C. Myers. Previous research by Harris in 1965 demonstrated that when a subject is asked to answer a set of questions in a