Deafness News and Research

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Effective therapy enables immune system recovery in majority of children

Most children with HIV who have low levels of a key immune cell eventually recover levels of this cell after they begin treatment, according to a new study conducted by researchers at UCLA and other institutions in the U.S. and Brazil.

30 Mar 2015

Wearable collision warning device may help patients with peripheral vision loss

People who have lost some of their peripheral vision, such as those with retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, or brain injury that causes half visual field loss, often face mobility challenges and increased likelihood of falls and collisions.

30 Mar 2015

Study explores outcomes of thyroid surgery in professional singers

A diagnosis of thyroid cancer can be devastating to professional singers, because surgical removal of the thyroid commonly causes voice changes. Massachusetts Eye and Ear surgeons developed a neural monitoring system to be used intraoperatively to improve outcomes.

25 Mar 2015

New study show how baking soda can also improve vision

Bicarbonate (baking soda) makes sparkling water sparkle, causes bread to rise, absorbs odors and can be used for cleaning all sorts of stuff, including your teeth. In the body, it plays essential roles in buffering pH, aiding in digestion and neutralizing lactic acid produced during physical exertion. Much of the bicarbonate in our bodies comes from carbon dioxide, which is produced as a waste product in all cells, although some is ingested with carbonated beverages and certain types of foods.

18 Mar 2015

MDC scientists identify new molecular signaling pathway that regulates placental development

During pregnancy, the mother supplies the fetus with nutrients and oxygen via the placenta. If placental development is impaired, this may lead to growth disorders of the embryo or to life-threatening diseases of the mother such as preeclampsia, a serious condition involving high blood pressure and increased urinary protein excretion.

11 Mar 2015

Neuroscientists reveal how olfaction is encoded in the brain

In a study that helps to deconstruct how olfaction is encoded in the brain, neuroscientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a type of neuron that appears to help tune, amplify and dampen neuronal responses to chemosensory inputs from the nasal cavity.

10 Mar 2015

MPFI researcher awarded NIH grant to study mechanisms involved in early stages of hearing

Samuel Young, Jr., PhD at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience has been awarded a $2.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to investigate how synaptic vesicle activity modulates the transfer of auditory information and ultimately how this impacts our ability to discern sounds.

4 Mar 2015

Brain scientists map changes in communication between nerve cells in rats

Lights, sound, action: we are constantly learning how to incorporate outside sensations into our reactions in specific situations. In a new study, brain scientists have mapped changes in communication between nerve cells as rats learned to make specific decisions in response to particular sounds. The team then used this map to accurately predict the rats' reactions. These results add to our understanding of how the brain processes sensations and forms memories to inform behavior.

3 Mar 2015

Existing drug could help treat MS, other neurological diseases

Damage to myelin, the fatty insulator that enables communication between nerve cells, characterizes multiple sclerosis (MS) and other devastating neurological diseases.

3 Mar 2015

Researchers reveal new understanding of pathobiology behind vestibular schwannoma

Researchers from the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories of Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology have revealed new understanding of the pathobiology behind a head and neck tumor that may someday lead to new methods of targeted drug therapy.

21 Feb 2015

Researchers assemble comprehensive map of human epigenome

Virtually every cell in the body carries an identical genome. But how is it possible that each of the body's 200 different types of specialized cells - in the heart, brain, bone, skin and elsewhere - develops from the same DNA instruction book?

19 Feb 2015

Salicylates drugs reduce proliferation, viability of cultured vestibular schwannoma cells

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology have demonstrated that salicylates, a class of non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), reduced the proliferation and viability of cultured vestibular schwannoma cells that cause a sometimes lethal intracranial tumor that typically causes hearing loss and tinnitus.

9 Feb 2015

Study links lysosomal dysfunction with neonatal intestinal disorders

Neonatal intestinal disorders that prevent infants from getting the nutrients they need may be caused by defects in the lysosomal system that occur before weaning, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

28 Jan 2015

Monell Center receives NIH grant to develop clinical tool that can predict anosmia

Monell Center scientist Kai Zhao, PhD, is principal investigator on a $1.5M 4-year grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health, to further develop clinical methodology that can predict the path of air flow through a person's nasal passages.

23 Jan 2015

Personalized approaches to treating intellectual disability

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have produced an approach that protects animal models against a type of genetic disruption that causes intellectual disability, including serious memory impairments and altered anxiety levels.

22 Jan 2015

Multiple factors influence survival of extremely premature infants

Multiple factors influence how well a severely premature infant (23 weeks gestation) will do after birth and over the long-term, according to researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. These findings were published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Perinatology.

10 Dec 2014

TSRI scientists find simple method to convert human skin cells into sensory neurons

A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found a simple method to convert human skin cells into the specialized neurons that detect pain, itch, touch and other bodily sensations. These neurons are also affected by spinal cord injury and involved in Friedreich's ataxia, a devastating and currently incurable neurodegenerative disease that largely strikes children.

25 Nov 2014

TSRI study shows how mutations in Tmie gene can cause deafness from birth

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered how one gene is essential to hearing, uncovering a cause of deafness and suggesting new avenues for therapies.

21 Nov 2014

Massachusetts Eye and Ear offers femtosecond laser technology to Boston-area patients

Patients choosing cataract surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear may now elect to have laser-assisted cataract surgery with the femtosecond LensSx® Laser. The hospital is one of the few in New England to offer the advanced technology, which enables surgeons to more precisely perform cataract surgery aided by a computer-controlled laser.

14 Nov 2014

Researchers explore new ways to treat, prevent Streptococcus pneumoniae

Scientists from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology have used the power of new genomic technology to discover that microbes that commonly infect the eye have special, previously unknown properties. These properties are predicted to allow the bacterium -- Streptococcus pneumoniae -- to specifically stick to the surface of the eye, grow, and cause damage and inflammation.

13 Nov 2014