Deafness News and Research

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People with tune deafness able to detect a wrong note unconsciously

People with tune deafness aren't able to tell when a musician accidentally strikes the wrong note in a song, but their brains know the difference. Researchers from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that people with tune deafness, an auditory processing disorder in which a person with normal hearing has trouble distinguishing notes in a melody, are able to detect a wrong note unconsciously.

11 Jun 2008

Preventable adverse events in hospitals occur 3 times more among patients with deafness, blindness or psychiatric disorders

Preventable adverse events in hospitals occur 3 times more often among patients with communication problems, such as deafness, blindness, psychiatric disorders and multiple health issues or comorbidities, found researchers in this study of nearly 2,400 patient records from 20 hospitals in Quebec.

2 Jun 2008

New study shows how sounds are amplified in the inner ear

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have found that an electrically powered amplification mechanism in the cochlea of the ear is critical to the acute hearing of humans and other mammals. The findings will enable better understanding of how hearing loss can result from malfunction of this amplification machinery due to genetic mutation or overdose of drugs such as aspirin.

7 May 2008

Research links low-frequency hearing to shape of the cochlea

Shape matters, even in hearing. Specifically, it is the shape of the cochlea - the snail-shell-shaped organ in the inner ear that converts sound waves into nerve impulses that the brain deciphers - which proves to be surprisingly important.

27 Apr 2008

Update on Cairns meningococcal case

As of 3.30 this afternoon the news on the little boy with suspected meningococcal is slightly more optimistic.

26 Mar 2008

Research to lead to brain tumor therapies

Unique human in vitro model (cell culture) research currently underway at the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England is set to identify and develop therapies for the treatment of multiple tumours in the brain.

25 Mar 2008

Hib meningitis eliminated in children under 5 in Uganda

Hib meningitis has been virtually eliminated in young children in Uganda just five years after the country introduced Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine nationwide, according to an independent study.

11 Mar 2008

Zebrafish help understand hearing loss

A small striped fish is helping scientists understand what makes people susceptible to a common form of hearing loss, although, in this case, it's not the fish's ears that are of interest.

1 Mar 2008

FDA approves Arcalyst for treatment of rare inflammatory syndromes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug to help ease the suffering faced by those with certain chronic inflammatory diseases.

28 Feb 2008

Intervention program boosts education of kids at high risk of failure

An eight-week-long intervention program aimed at parents from low socioeconomic backgrounds reaped significant educational benefits in their preschool-aged children, a University of Oregon research fellow reported today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

17 Feb 2008

Different approaches can help children overcome language problems

For children who struggle to learn language, the choice between various interventions may matter less than the intensity and format of the intervention, a new study sponsored by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) suggests.

4 Feb 2008

Deafness and seizures result when glutamate protein deleted in mice

Scientists have discovered that mice genetically engineered to lack a particular protein in the brain have profound deafness and seizures.

25 Jan 2008

New European medical implants

Patients suffering from conditions such as stroke, blindness, deafness, incontinence, glaucoma or hydrocephalus will be the first to benefit from a range of new technologies and implantable medical devices developed by a pioneering European consortium of researchers, surgeons and technology companies.

16 Jan 2008

Better access to cool caps improves outcomes, lowers cost of treating asphyxia in newborns

When newborns suffering from a form of asphyxia at birth have better access to head cooling devices, fewer will face a lifetime of debilitating and costly health complications, according to researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

7 Jan 2008

RNA interference therapy heals growth deficiency disorder in a live animal

A team of Vanderbilt researchers have demonstrated for the first time that a new type of gene therapy, called RNA interference, can heal a genetic disorder in a live animal.

20 Dec 2007

Pheromones identified that trigger aggression between male mice

A family of proteins commonly found in mouse urine is able to trigger fighting between male mice, a study in the Dec. 6, 2007, issue of Nature has found.

5 Dec 2007

Dyslexia expert Dr. Bruce McCandliss awarded Presidential honor

Dr. Bruce McCandliss, a psychologist at the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology and associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, has received a commendation by the President of the United States in the form of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

20 Nov 2007