Research
Gene-editing fix for progressive hearing loss comes closer
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- Published on 27 July 2019
genetics
Progressive hearing loss is just one of around 5,000 diseases linked to single-gene changes, but geneticists have so far lacked the precision tools to stop us developing these conditions. A genetic cure for this kind of deafness just came a huge step closer.
Children who say hand dryers ‘hurt my ears’ proved right by "real world" study
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- Published on 09 July 2019
noise
A study in the journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society suggests that hand dryers in public washrooms may be damaging to children's hearing. The published research was carried out by a 13-year-old.
Premature babies neurally lifted by snake-charmer music
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- Published on 08 July 2019
music
Swiss-based research suggests that a music-enriched environment for very premature babies can help build them brain architecture similar to that of full-term newborns.
Is treatable neuroinflammation the trigger for tinnitus?
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- Published on 02 July 2019
tinnitus
Inflammation could be the mechanism driving tinnitus, suggests newly published US research. If so, it is more than likely treatable.
Seoul breakthrough in diagnosis of congenital auditory neuropathy
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- Published on 20 June 2019
auditory neuropathy
©yacobchuk - iStockFaster cochlear implant therapy for children suffering from auditory neuropathy (AN) should result from the development of a new protocol for identifying certain genetic variants in the congenital version of the disorder.
Pitch perception is why we don't monkey around with sound, study finds
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- Published on 18 June 2019
perception
©GlobalP - iStock New US brain research has shown that humans are more sensitive to pitch differences in sound than certain apes, suggesting possible links between the musicality of human speech and our evolutionary development.
Quito, the mapping of a noise inferno
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- Published on 15 June 2019
noise
Noise levels in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, have been mapped by students from the private Universidad de Las Américas (UDLA), revealing many areas with day and night levels way above limits recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Will listening in noise be solved by this "brain-reading" hearing aid?
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- Published on 14 June 2019
intelligibility
The long-unsolved "cocktail party" problem of how to listen to a specific speaker in noisy surroundings may have a neuroengineered solution: a brain-controlled AI hearing aid developed in a Columbia University lab.
The blind bit of difference in the sharper hearing of the visually-impaired
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- Published on 13 June 2019
Brain
The greater hearing acuity of blind people is a mystery that science is closer to understanding thanks to two newly published studies led by the University of Washington (UW).
Lower hearing loss in chocolate eaters, but no sweet news for tinnitus sufferers
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- Published on 23 May 2019
Prevention
A possible otoprotective effect from one of our favourite foodstuffs has been highlighted by the results of the first large cohort study of the effect of chocolate on hearing loss in middle-aged people.