Search

Could social isolation be a factor in the link between hearing loss and dementia?

In 1802, Beethoven wrote to his brothers Carl and Johann about his hearing loss: “You men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn, or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause...

Combined use of a hearing aid and a cochlear implant: a case study

When multi-channel cochlear implants (CIs) were first introduced in the 1980s, their use was restricted to people who derived no benefit from conventional amplification. Over the past three decades, however, the criteria for CIs has been relaxed considerably, and it...

Plasticity with cochlear implants: individual factors in the outcomes

Andrej Kral gives us an overview of neuronal plasticity in congenital hearing loss, and discusses why it is core to our clinical interventions in hearing loss and rehabilitation. The brain is born immature and undergoes extensive shaping during early development....

How I lost my hearing aid…and other patient experiences

All audiologists, I am sure, would claim that they give full explanations of hearing aid controls and use of the devices at all fitting appointments. However, we know that patients do not always absorb all that they are told and...

Health related quality of life measures as outcome parameters in middle ear diseases

Surely the only outcome needed for post-surgical ears is a better PTA? Marcus Neudert argues there should be more to it than that. To draw a comprehensive picture of the disease-associated restrictions in patients with chronic otitis media, audiometric outcome...

Hidden hearing loss in humans

Awareness of cochlear synaptopathy (‘hidden hearing loss’) is growing. Chris Plack gives us an introduction to the condition, defining it and reviewing recent research in humans and animals with respect to noise exposure. The main cause of hearing loss is...

A binaural detection task that reveals deficits in listeners having ‘slight’ or ‘hidden’ hearing loss

The association of degraded binaural processing in adults with clinically defined ‘slight’ or ‘hidden’ high frequency hearing loss is of great interest to clinicians if it can be measured. Leslie R Bernstein and Constantine Trahiotis share their findings in measurements...

What’s hidden in hidden hearing loss?

In order to truly understand the many key aspects of acquired sensorineural hearing loss, the role of cochlear synaptopathy or ‘hidden hearing loss’ must be considered. Dan Guo and Sharon Kujawa review and summarise what we know to date, including...

Hidden hearing loss in humans: cochlear synaptopathy is superseded by cognitive effects when listening to speech in noise

Elizabeth Beach presents an overview of the recent research being undertaken at the National Acoustic Laboratories on speech in noise and its relationship to cochlear synaptopathy. Our team at the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) has been investigating hidden hearing loss...