Deafness News and Research

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Hearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and impairment in older adults

Hearing loss appears to be associated with accelerated cognitive decline and cognitive impairment in a study of older adults, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

22 Jan 2013

New hope for people with sound-induced deafness

Preliminary results from a study in mice suggest it may be possible to regenerate cochlear hair cells that have been damaged due to excessive noise exposure.

15 Jan 2013

TAU scientists win top prize in American Society of Human Genetics art competition

The fine arts and the exact sciences may appear an unlikely pair, but creativity is a crucial element in both. Prof. Karen Avraham and PhD candidate Shaked Shivatzki of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine embraced this truth when creating Hearing and Deafness: Structure and Sequence, their winning submission to the recent American Society of Human Genetics art competition.

6 Dec 2012

Stem cells give insight into path of cytomegalovirus infection

Primitive human stem cells are resistant to human cytomegalovirus, say researchers who believe this finding could provide further insight into disease pathology.

3 Dec 2012

Researchers uncover molecular structure of master regulator central to melanoma

With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma.

1 Dec 2012

Primitive human stem cells resistant to human cytomegalovirus

A new study published online in PLOS ONE reveals that primitive human stem cells are resistant to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), one of the leading prenatal causes of congenital intellectual disability, deafness and deformities worldwide.

30 Nov 2012

Freestyle rapping increases brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex

Researchers in the voice, speech, and language branch of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of rappers when they are "freestyling" - spontaneously improvising lyrics in real time.

16 Nov 2012

LanPercept to focus on advanced techniques for studying language and perception

LanPercept, a new Marie Curie Initial Training Network funded through the 7th EU Framework Programme, will develop cutting edge techniques to understand vision-language mapping across the life-span in typically and atypically developing populations. New tools and training software will be tested to help disabled and elderly people negotiate the translation between vision and language.

15 Nov 2012

Close contact at school led to mumps outbreak in Orthodox Jewish communities

A 2009 outbreak of mumps in the USA that primarily affected Orthodox Jewish teenage boys may have been perpetuated by close schooling conditions, say the authors of a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

9 Nov 2012

New understanding of how noise can break critical tip link protein structure in inner ear cells

Researchers have mapped the precise 3-D atomic structure of a thin protein filament critical for cells in the inner ear and calculated the force necessary to pull it apart.

8 Nov 2012

Heart disease risk factors widespread among Hispanic/Latino adults in the U.S.

Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS-SOL) - which will be presented at the American Heart Association Annual Meeting in Los Angeles on Nov. 5 and published in the Nov. 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) - finds heart disease risk factors are widespread among Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States.

7 Nov 2012

Columbia Asia Hospitals conducts successful cochlear implants and BAHA surgery

Loss of hearing may not be a life threatening condition but it can certainly affect the quality of life and hamper a child’s normal growth. Deafness identified early helps address the challenges involved in the normal development of the child, including speech, which usually gets affected. Columbia Asia Hospitals across India has been conducting Cochlear implants and BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid) very successfully.

30 Oct 2012

Chinese medicine boosts hearing recovery after sudden deafness

Intravenous administration of a natural antioxidant used in Chinese medicine significantly improves the recovery of hearing after sudden deafness compared with standard therapy, the results of a Chinese study indicate.

2 Oct 2012

CIB2 gene responsible for progression and severity of Usher syndrome

Usher syndrome is a hereditary disease in which affected individuals lose both hearing and vision. The impact of Usher syndrome can be devastating. In the United States, approximately six in every 100,000 babies born have Usher syndrome.

2 Oct 2012

CIB2 genetic mutation responsible for deafness associated with Usher syndrome type 1

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1.

1 Oct 2012

Bilateral cochlear implants may restore binaural sound processing in the brain

Cochlear implants - electronic devices surgically implanted in the ear to help provide a sense of sound - have been successfully used since the late 1980's. But questions remain as to whether bilateral cochlear implants, placed in each ear rather than the traditional single-ear implant, are truly able to facilitate binaural hearing. Now, Tel Aviv University researchers have proof that under certain conditions, this practice has the ability to salvage binaural sound processing for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

24 Sep 2012

Noisy environments cause ears of people with hearing impairments to work differently

The world continues to be a noisy place, and Purdue University researchers have found that all that background chatter causes the ears of those with hearing impairments to work differently.

12 Sep 2012

Diet could avert toxic effects of quinine in patients with malaria

Scientists at The University of Nottingham say adverse side-effects caused by the anti-parasitic drug quinine in the treatment of malaria could be controlled by what we eat.

12 Sep 2012

Gene therapy approach restores ability to smell in mouse model of congenital anosmia

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have restored the ability to smell in a mouse model of a human genetic disorder that causes congenital anosmia-the inability to smell from birth. The approach uses gene therapy to regrow cilia, cell structures that are essential for olfactory function.

3 Sep 2012

Headphones can damage coating of nerve cells and lead to temporary deafness

Turning the volume up too high on your headphones can damage the coating of nerve cells, leading to temporary deafness; scientists from the University of Leicester have shown for the first time.

30 Aug 2012