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EEG as a measure of neuroplasticity in children

Measuring changes in neural activity can teach us a lot about hearing loss and the effect of gained functional hearing. In this article, the authors describe how electroencephalography (EEG) is being used to effectively measure such changes in children with...

What you need to know about recent advances in genetics of hearing loss in the newborn

Identifying the underlying genetic cause of hearing loss in newborns can improve dramatically the early diagnosis and appropriate intervention. Hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder at birth, affecting approximately two out of 1000 newborns [1]. Congenital impaired hearing...

Measuring the pitch and loudness of tinnitus

Matching the characteristics of tinnitus Many researchers and clinicians have explored the subjective nature of tinnitus by asking people with tinnitus to adjust a sound so that it matches their tinnitus in some way. This can be useful both for...

Physiological mechanisms of hyperacusis: an update

Hyperacusis is a heterogeneous and complex clinical entity, and proposals about physiological mechanisms should reflect these issues. Ben Auerbach helps us navigate through present knowledge in this area, and proposes future directions for research. Hyperacusis is a debilitating hearing disorder...

Unravelling the mystery of hyperacusis with pain

When a person says that sound causes them pain, how can we understand this, and determine what processes are involved? Bryan Pollard navigates us through what is presently known. Pain has long been underrepresented – and often, completely overlooked –...

The role of metrics in studies of hearing and cognition

Introduction When perceiving sounds in real-world listening environments, older adults encounter several sources of degradation that can interfere with the perceptual process (Figure 1). Target signals (i.e. the sounds that a listener wants to focus on) have specific acoustic characteristics...

Will it ever happen?

Audiology is a rapidly evolving field, with many exciting developments on the horizon. David Baguley identified some topics of interest, and asked some international experts ‘will it ever happen?’ Gene therapy for deafness After years of development, gene therapy for...