Wall Street Journal Article Raises Awareness of ‘Hidden Hearing Loss’

Last year, The ASHA Leader published a cover story on age-related decline in people’s ability to hear speech in noisy environments. Interest in and research about this issue continue to increase, as seen in a long feature from “The Wall Street Journal” earlier this week. The story includes information from several recent scientific studies on why and how this happens to many 40- and 50-somethings. Basically, this type of hearing disorder affects the ability to follow a conversation in a noisy place. Damaged or deteriorated cochlea cause most age-related or noise-induced hearing loss. However, the research noted in this article links this particular type of selective hearing loss to damaged ribbon synapses, which connect the cochlea to nerves transmitting sounds to the brain. In addition, the research suggests a connection between damaged synapses and tinnitus or hyperacusis. Anne Oyler, ASHA’s associate director for audiology, was quoted in the article. She shared her thoughts about the implications of these recent studies: “This is something we’ve recognized for a long time—and this research tells us why it’s happening. Audiologists will have to start actively looking for this disorder.” Read more about advances in hearing loss research, including an earlier study by the same researchers: Scientists have restored the hearing of mice partly deafened by noise, using advanced tools to boost the production of a key protein—NT3—in their ears. Frank Lin’s...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Tags: Audiology News cochlea hearing loss hearing protection Source Type: blogs