Research

Increasing Our Understanding of Avian Hair Cell Regeneration   

We provide evidence that in the regenerating basilar papilla, the expression of immune-related genes is tightly controlled, such that four days after damage, they are no longer expressed in newly regenerated hair cells. This is important because the JAK/STAT signaling pathway is highly potent, leading to inflammation, cytokine storms, and fibrosis.

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Explanations for Cochlear Implant Hesitancy—and What to Do About It

Despite the benefits of cochlear implantation, adoption is low. Current cochlear implant (CI) usage among adults who are indicated for them is about 5 percent. Uncertainty surrounding the outcome of cochlear implantation drives top patient concerns.

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From Reading Faces to Publishing Research

I spent the first 20 years of my life attempting to hide my congenital hearing loss. Like most kids, I just wanted to fit in and be like everyone else, so my younger self could have never predicted that I would have ended up focusing on disability and hearing health within my career.

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The Role of Spontaneous Electrical Activity in the Developing Auditory System

Specific ion currents have been identified as major players supporting this electrical activity in developing and regenerating chick hair cells. This research details the role of small-conductance, calcium-ion-activated potassium channels (SK) in developing and regenerating chick hair cells.

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Harnessing the Power of Tinnitus Patients’ Experiences

I learned that little was known about the mechanisms causing tinnitus, and treatments were hard to test because they seemed to have very different effects on different people. Researchers call this heterogeneity, and it simply means that your tinnitus is likely different from mine.

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Honokiol Presents a Potential Paradigm Shift for Reducing Cisplatin Ototoxicity

We expect a paradigm shift in cisplatin chemotherapy based on the current study and future clinical trials, where honokiol is applied to reduce side effects including hearing loss.

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Limited Clinical Utility of Auditory Brainstem Responses for Detecting Tinnitus in Humans

Despite the small sample size and diverse tinnitus population, the present result suggests that the clinical utility of conventional ABR measurement is limited in detecting tinnitus in humans.

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Pinpointing How Older Adults Can Better Hear Speech in Noise

In real-world listening situations, we always listen to speech in the presence of other sources of masking, or competing sounds. One of the major sources of masking in such situations is the speech signal that the listener is not paying attention to. The process of understanding the target speech in the presence of a masking speech involves separating the acoustic information of the target speech and tuning out masker speech.

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Why Children With Autism May Experience Auditory Sensory Overload

The successful navigation of complex everyday environments with multiple sensory inputs—such as restaurants, busy streets, and other social settings—relies on the brain’s ability to organize the barrage of information into discrete perceptual objects on which cognitive processes, such as selective attention, can act.

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Silent Owls Inspire Quiet Design

Night owls produce about 18 decibels lower sound than other birds at the same speeds. This, the scientists explain, is largely due to their “unique wing formation.”

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