In Tinnitus, Imaging Reveals How Brain Fails To Tune Out Phantom Sounds

About 40 million people in the U.S. today suffer from tinnitus, an irritating and sometimes debilitating auditory disorder in which a person “hears” sounds, such as ringing, that don’t actually exist…

CASLPA Applauds Government For Reintroduction Of Consumer Product Safety Legislation, Canada

The Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA) commends the Government of Canada on the recent introduction of Bill C-36, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA). C-36 builds on the efforts of similar legislation from the last session of parliament in updating Canada’s consumer and product safety legislation…

Deafblind College Students Report Need For Experiences And Academic Supports

Attending college is not only about academics, but also about new experiences and gaining self-reliance. When students are deafblind, they may face additional complications. For a successful college experience, both students with disabilities and their instructors must make more adjustments…

Visual System Interprets Sign Languages

Spanish sign language is used by over 100,000 people with hearing impairments and is made up of hundreds of signs. CVC-UAB researchers Sergio Escalera, Petia Radeva and Jordi Vitria selected over twenty of these signs to develop a new visual interpretation system which allows deaf people to carry out consultations in the language they commonly use…

Scientists Probe Formation Of Auditory Memories

New research uses “noise,” sound waves formed from many thousands of completely unpredictable random numbers played as a sound, to probe how the human brain acquires auditory memories. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 27 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that learning new sounds is quick, robust, and long-lasting, resembling a sudden insight…

Cochlear Implants Slightly Less Beneficial In Older Patients

Older adults appear to benefit significantly from cochlear implants, but not as much as younger patients who had similar levels of hearing impairment before surgery, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals…

Study Links Hearing Loss And Viagra Use

Research by a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) professor shows an association between hearing loss and the use of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra…

Aiming To Cure Deafness, Stanford Scientists Create Functional Inner-Ear Cells

Deep inside the ear, specialized cells called hair cells detect vibrations in the air and translate them into sound…

Hearing Loss In One Ear Leads To Speech-Language Delays

While bilateral hearing loss - in both ears - has been known to cause speech-language and academic delays, health and education professionals have often discounted the effect of hearing loss in a single ear on a child’s language skills. These children may not be fitted with hearing aids or receive accommodations for disability…

Kids With Hearing Loss In One Ear Fall Behind In Language Skills

By the time they reach school age, one in 20 children have hearing loss in one ear. That can raise significant hurdles for these children, say the results of a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, because loss of hearing in one ear hurts their ability to comprehend and use language…