Research

Infants at risk for prelingual sensorineural hearing loss

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Published on 13 February 2013

Research

Infants are more susceptible to suffering from sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), particularly NICU newborns, according to an Italian study. The authors found a high SNHL prevalence (10.03%) in their cohort, with 33% of NICU newborns having a greater chance of developing SNHL because of the presence of multiple risk factors (or=1.33) and their interaction. As the number of coexisting risk factors increases, the prevalence of SNHL

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Detecting conductive hearing loss

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Published on 06 February 2013

Conductive hearing loss (CHL) in young infants can be detected well with Wideband reflectance (WBR) or tympanometry using probe frequencies of 678 and 1000 Hz, according to a joint study of American researchers. The goal of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of tympanometry and WBR in detecting conductive hearing loss (CHL) in young infants. The researchers found that

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First discovery of lipids in auditory system of an insect

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Published on 04 February 2013
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Researchers have discovered a lipid synthesizing organ in the auditory system of a tree weta, an insect endemic to New Zealand, which has a fossil record dating back 270 million years. Very little is known about the hearing abilities and modes of communication of most weta species. Studies and observations indicate they communicate using both far-field hearing and vibration. Weta produce sound by stridulation and the calls produced are broadband with frequency peaks between 2–14 kHz, depending on the type of stridulation being produced. Weta are thought to produce four different behavioural stridulations. However, a complete repertoire of sound is only known for one weta species, Hemideina crassidens. The aim of this research project was to

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AT decreases care burden

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Published on 31 January 2013

A Canadian-American team of researchers have conducted the first experimental study which demonstrates that the provision of assistive technology decreases care burden. “If confirmed and extended by subsequent research, the findings will have significant policy and practice implications and may enable health care providers to advocate for improved access to AT provision and related follow-up services,” according to the study. This study was a delayed intervention, randomized control trial. Baseline data were collected

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Education key to newborn screening follow up

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Published on 30 January 2013
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Educating parents about the importance of follow up after newborn screening could make a difference for early intervention, according to a study from the Medical University of South Carolina Colleges of Nursing. Newborns and mothers completed a demographic survey and an appointment in writing was made with the hospital’s audiologist. A retrospective chart review

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Analgesics bad for hearing

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Published on 29 January 2013

Popping pills to ease your aches and pains can be bad for your hearing. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) discovered that women who took ibuprofen or acetaminophen two or more days a week had an increased risk of hearing loss and the more often a woman takes either medication, the higher

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Tinnitus and oscillatory brain activity

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Published on 29 January 2013
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Different clinically-relevant tinnitus characteristics show distinctive associations with spontaneous brain oscillatory power, according to a German study. The study revealed that

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Phonemes in running speech versus isolation

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Published on 28 January 2013

In the past decade, aided speech evoked cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) have been proposed for validation of hearing aid fittings. However, unlike in running speech, phonemes presented as stimuli during CAEP testing are preceded by silent intervals of over one second. Researchers at the National Centre for Audiology conducted a study

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Older adults with hearing impairment suffer memory loss

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Published on 25 January 2013
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A new study from Johns Hopkins reveals that older adults who suffer hearing loss are more at risk to develop thinking and memory problems. In a study conducted over six years, researchers discovered that volunteers with cognitive problems showed a 30 to 40% faster decline than those with normal hearing. They found that levels of declining brain function

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Stressed out women are more sensitive to sound

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Published on 18 January 2013
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Stress-related exhaustion can cause hypersensitivity to sound in women, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University's Stress Research Institute in Sweden. Even the sound level of normal conversation can be painful. The study was published in the online scientific journal PLoS One. The subjects were 208 women and 140 men with low, medium and high levels of “emotional exhaustion”. It found that men and women with low levels of exhaustion were less

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