Study Reveals Brain Region’s Previously Unknown Role in Planning Movements Exclusively in Response to Sounds
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, provides evidence that neurons in the middle frontal gyrus — a part of the brain’s frontal lobe — may play a role in planning body movements, but only when those movements are in response to auditory stimuli. The findings represent what could be a…
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Researchers Identify Role of Crucial Protein in Development of New Inner Ear Hair Cells
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND — Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have conducted a study that has determined the role that a critical protein plays in the development of hair cells. These hair cells are vital for hearing. Some of these cells amplify sounds that come into the ear, and others transform sound…
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Research Finds Sense of Hearing Persists at End of Life
Hearing is widely thought to be the last sense to go in the dying process. Now University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers have evidence that some people may still be able to hear while in an unresponsive state at the end of their life. This research, published recently in Scientific Reports, is the first to investigate…
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Researchers Use Sound Waves Transport Droplets on Rewritable Biomedical Chip
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – Engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a “versatile microfluidic lab-on-a-chip that uses sound waves to create tunnels in oil to touchlessly manipulate and transport droplets”. According to an announcement on the University’s website, the technology could form the basis of a small-scale, programmable, rewritable biomedical chip that is completely reusable to…
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Using Research to Fill in Clinical Gaps: A Summary of Recently Published Hearing Research
by Brian Taylor, Editor-at-Large Gamblers, paramours and clinicians all deal in uncertainty. No matter which of those groups you belong, you make better decisions when relevant and timely information, based on sound scientific principles, is available. Sometimes you might even find a kernel of truth that changes your outlook or behavior. Here are five recently…
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Audiology and Covid-19
by Brian Taylor, Editor-at-Large Although the Corona virus is a life-threatening condition and hearing care is deemed non-essential service in many places, there are aspects of the pandemic germane to audiology. Recently, the Washington Post reported on the rise in Covid-19 cases in American meatpacking plants. In the article, epidemiologists speculate the high levels of…
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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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