Pathways Society

Bill Keith, QSO, PhD   As audiologists we sometimes have to spend time persuading individuals that a member of their family does actually have a hearing disorder and isn’t just wilfully unresponsive. How often have you heard a significant other say of their partner with a sensorineural hearing loss “He can hear if he wants to. He just doesn’t listen.”?

by Bill Keith, QSO, PhD  One of the most exciting research findings in the treatment of auditory processing disorder (APD) is the neuroplastic benefit of amplification. Whereas hearing aid benefits are purely assistive in the case of peripheral hearing losses, it is now well established that, in the case of APD, amplification with remote microphone hearing aid systems (RMHAs) over

Frank Musiek, Ph.D.  It is well-known that highly reverberant rooms make communication difficult for all people.  This is especially the case for individuals with hearing loss and those with central auditory dysfunction. Highly reverberant rooms or hallways are often termed “echoey” by the lay public. Schools have recognized   this problem and do their best to reduce reverberation time in

Frank Musiek, Ph.D.   Some effects of temporal lobe damage and auditory perception is perhaps one of the most important articles in regard to the knowledge on not only dichotic listening, but also the effect of various auditory disorders and the related neural substrate on dichotic listening. Dr. Kimura was one of the first to actually test patients with confirmed

Editors note: On occasion, we will devote a Pathways column to asking questions to an expert in a particular area of audiology/hearing that may be interest to our readers. We are fortunate to pose questions to Dr. Pete Scheifele of the University of Cincinnati one of the foremost animal audiologists in the world. What is animal audiology? Animal audiology is

Frank Musiek, Ph.D. This commentary is one that is consistent with the mission of the Pathways column. It brings attention to topics that perhaps have been underplayed in the audiology community. This Pathways article will focus on an auditory evoked potential (AEP) that should be considered more than it has been – especially for use in preschool-aged children – the

A Historical Vignette . . . Editor’s note: Occasionally Pathways will issue a review and discussion of a historical article that at the time of publication that was innovative and of significant value. The following is such an article – with its value carrying over to the present day. This article was brought to our attention by Jim Jerger and

Andrew Stuart1 & Sarah P. Faucette2 1Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 2Department of Otolaryngology & Communicative Sciences, The University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson, MS   Clinicians typically evaluate auditory function with behavioral testing. When patients cannot be assessed with behavioral techniques, auditory evoked potentials are often employed. Auditory evoked potentials provide “objective”

Andrew Stuart1 & Alyson Butler Lake2 1Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 2Blue Ridge Ear, Nose, Throat & Plastic Surgery, Lynchburg, VA   Electrocochleography (ECochG) has been employed to assess stimulus-related cochlear potentials and the compound action potential (AP) of the auditory nerve. The cochlear potentials include the cochlear microphonic (CM) and summating potential (SP). ECochG

Editor’s note: I am most pleased to have Jim Jerger make a contribution to our Pathways Column. Correctly considered the “father of diagnostic audiology”, Dr. Jerger has seen and reported on many fascinating diagnostic cases. He has always been a champion for the clinical audiologist, supporting the practitioner in many positive ways. Dr. Jerger’s excellent experimental clinical studies have laid