News You Can Use: A Quick Summary of Some Recently Published Clinical Research
by Brian Taylor, AuD, Editor-at-Large Healthcare professionals worth their salt know their clinical decisions often rely on the availability of high-quality research, as well as their ability to interpret and consume it. Below is a smattering of recently published audiology research that should garner the attention of conscientious clinicians. How Hearing Loss and Education…
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New Study Sheds Light on Discrepancy Between Self-Reports of Hearing Difficulty and Audiogram
In the perfect world, periodically, every adult would have their hearing measured by a licensed hearing care professional using standard pure tone audiometry. For patients this routine measurement would serve as a baseline when monitoring any changes in hearing sensitivity that results from aging, noise exposure or a medical condition. For practitioners and researchers, objective…
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Boys Town Receives $11 Million Grant for Pediatric Hearing and Communication Research
OMAHA, NEBRASKA — Boys Town National Research Hospital has been awarded an $11 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The five-year Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant will “expand the range of existing, highly successful research programs at the Boys Town…
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UCSF Scientists Translate Brain Signals into Speech Sounds
In a study, recently published in the journal Nature, scientists used brain signals recorded from epilepsy patients to program a computer to mimic natural speech — an advancement that could one day have a profound effect on the ability of certain patients to communicate. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Brain…
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Hearing Loss in Older Adults Tied to Increased Risk for Depression
A research review, recently published in the journal The Gerontologist, suggests that older adults with hearing loss may be more likely than their peers without hearing difficulty to develop symptoms of depression. Compared to people without hearing loss, the study found older adults with some form of hearing loss were 47 percent more likely to…
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BU Engineers Send Loud and Annoying Sound Back to Where it Came
Getting an MRI can be an extremely nerve-wracking experience. In addition to the confining space, the noise can be highly annoying and anxiety provoking. Fortunately, acoustic engineers at Boston University have created a possible solution. Relying on their mathematical prowess and 3D printing technology, Reza Ghaffarivardavagh and Xin Zhang developed an open, ring-like structure that…
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Researchers Restore Hearing in Deaf Mice Using Gene Therapy
PARIS, FRANCE — Researchers have announced the successful restoration of hearing in an adult mouse model of DFNB9 deafness — one of the most frequent cases of congenital, genetic deafness. Individuals with DFNB9 deafness are profoundly deaf due to a deficiency in the gene coding for otoferlin, a protein which is essential for transmitting sound…
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MIT Researchers Use Laser to Transmit Sound into People’s Ears
Laser technology has been used for several decades and has a wide of applications, including bar code scanning, Lasix eye surgery, and industrial cutting and engraving. Now, laser might be used in hearing technology. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory report using two different laser-based methods to transmit various tones, music and…
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Hearing Loss, Dementia and Cargo Cult Science
The preeminent American physicist, Richard Feynman, coined the term “cargo cult science” to describe practices that on the surface appear scientific, but upon closer scrutiny lack any of the precepts of the scientific method. A January 25th JAMA viewpoint article raises the red flag on the rise of pseudoscience in the care of older adults…
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Ida Institute Now Accepting Proposals for 2019 Research Grant
NAERUM, DENMARK — The Ida Institute Research Committee announced that it is now accepting proposals for the 2019 Ida Research Grant. Funding will be awarded to projects that develop evidence related to Ida Institute methods and tools and aim to demonstrate the effect of person-centered practice in hearing care. In 2019, the Research Committee is particularly interested in projects…
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