Posts Tagged 'auditory'

Use It or Lose It

Published September 27, 2011 auditory system , brain research , neuroscience , The Listening Program Leave a Comment
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Use it or lose it, we are all familiar with this adage. It is true for the body and true for the brain.

Without sufficient sensory stimulation a child’s brain does not develop as it should. Nor does an adult brain maintain full  functionality as a  result of negative plasticity. The auditory system thrives with the right input and suffers if deprived of sound or overstimulated by noise.

A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that declines in hearing ability may accelerate gray mater atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech.

Hearing aids can be an effective intervention. Another approach to  consider is music listening therapy. This is  neuroauditory training to improve sound brain fitness in part by stimulating the frequency bands where the deficits exist with specially modified music.  There has been good success helping people with mild hearing loss through the use of The Listening Program®. In many cases listeners no longer require hearing aids, because they trained their brain to better understand what it hears (auditory processing).

Many audiologists will share that when patients with mild hearing loss wear hearing aids for a period of time that their auditory discrimination improves on tests without the hearing aids. This is due to the brain now being able to perceive the auditory signal through sound amplification. The increased signal is enough to improve brain processing. In my opinion, a course of The Listening Program should be considered prior to using hearing aids in cases of mild hearing loss, and definitely needs to be used along with hearing aids. This is something proactive that can be done to stimulate the brain so people can continue to enjoy the richness that exists within the sounds of our loved ones voices, music, and nature.

Read more about this study published in the Journal of Neuroscience here.

Annoying Sounds Spark Major Rage

Published September 8, 2011 auditory system , brain research , hearing , neuroscience Leave a Comment
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A couple days ago I posted an article Ouch That Hurts about an auditory condition called misophonia in which annoying sounds can cause major rage. This morning The Today Show did a segment on this topic that you can view here.

Most of the research into the cause of this and related disorders appears to be focused on auditory mechanisms.  However, Advanced Brain Technologies Scientific Advisory Board Member and audiologist Dr. Jay Lucker of Howard University has been researching strong behavioral reactions to sound in children and suggests it is the emotional reactions must be dealt with. This was his response to a question we posed on the Healing at the Speed of Sound Facebook page.

“I am in the process of revising a manuscript for publication on loud and annoying sounds in children. Findings revealed that this is NOT an auditory based problem in the overwhelming number of children seen in this study. The major problem is our negative emotional reactions to loud and annoying sounds. We must deal with the emotional reactions more so than the auditory based issues for most of our children with sound tolerance problems.”

Ouch! Do You Ever Find Sounds Annoying or Uncomfortable? What Are They? Post your response here.

Ouch That Hurts!

Published September 6, 2011 auditory system , hearing 3 Comments
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Ever annoyed by sounds?

Each of us have sounds we like or dislike, just as we prefer certain foods over others. But some people experience pain with certain sounds, something called hyperacusis. Others dislike some sounds, a condition called misophonia, while others experience phonophobia, a fear of sounds.

These conditions can be difficult to diagnose and hard to treat, although some have found relief with The Listening Program. Interestingly each of these auditory perceptual issues can trigger the body’s physiological response to stress, “fight/flight”.  For years I suffered from hyperacusis (fortunately no longer) and can tell you it can be unbearable at times. These issues can be so debilitating, people who suffer from them may not leave their home in order to avoid the triggers.

Yesterday The New York Times published an interesting article “When a Chomp or a Slurp Is a Trigger for Outrage“. It delves into misophonia, and sheds some light on why sounds can trigger rage. If you read it please comment here. I am very interested in your reaction to this information.

JAMA Reports Adolescent Hearing Loss Is On The Rise

Published August 18, 2010 brain research , hearing 1 Comment
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If you are constantly telling your teenager to turn down the volume it is with good reason. A new study published in the current issue of  The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that hearing loss among teens is on the rise.

The study conducted by Joseph Shargorodsky, MD, MPH and colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston concludes the prevalence of hearing loss among a sample of US adolescents aged 12 -19 was greater in 2005-2006 compared with 1998-2004.

These findings come as no great surprise given Generation Z has had lifetime use of MP3 player, iPods, video games, mobile phones, and live on an increasingly noisy planet. When kids are constantly plugged in they overload their auditory system, which loses its protective mechanism with sustained exposure to loud sound levels over 85dB.

What is most alarming is the estimate that about 1-5 adolescents in America show evidence of hearing loss.  Unless our kids are educated about the risks of exposure to dangerous sound levels and their use of headphones is monitored, I fear this trend will only increase.

Hearing loss makes it difficult to listen in the classroom, follow directions, and learn. Coupled with hearing loss are auditory processing problems making it difficult for the brain to understand what it does hear, further compounding problems with learning, attention and communication. Hearing loss is not reversible, but can be treated with hearing aids. Auditory processing can be improved with targeted neuroauditory training.

Five Suggestions to Help Prevent Teen Hearing Loss

1) Limit headphone use to durations of no longer than 30 minutes to one hour at a time.

2) Set the volume limit on their iPod to about 80% of max volume.

3) Avoid use of ear buds (headphones inserted in the ear canal). Instead use headphones that cover the ears.

4) Use ear plugs in noisy environments, foam or wax plugs inserted properly can reduce volume up to 29dB.

5) Show them the study and ask them if they want to wear hearing aids to their senior prom!

Read the Abstract

View Video

If you are concerned your child may have a hearing loss visit the web site for the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association to find a qualified audiologist who can test your child’s hearing. To learn about The Listening Program® a home-based method for targeted neuroauditory training contact Advanced Brain Technologies 1.888.228.1798 for a complimentary consultation.

Modified Classical Music on iPods Helps Toilet Train Liverpool Children

Published July 8, 2010 auditory system , autism , brain and technology , brain research , music research , neuroscience , The Listening Program Leave a Comment
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The Liverpool Echo published an article today about the results of a pilot study which examined the effects of  modified classical music and a specific protocol to help children with autism and other cognitive and developmental challenges to be toilet trained.  This is a world first project, conducted by June Rogers head of NHS Liverpool Community Health’s Integrated Paediatric Continence Service.

Children listened to 30 minutes of music a day through a special audio system which provided the music through both auditory pathways, air and bone conduction. The outcomes are positive and have been presented at European conferences. We now await approval for a large scale clinical trial to confirm these results in a larger sample size.

Continence problems severely impact quality of life, self esteem, and have large costs associated with supporting these children as they enter school. Our protocol holds promise to help children with toilet training problems, reduce costs of services to them, and help them live a happier more fulfilling life.

Note that the program name in the article is incorrect. What is referenced as the Listening Project is supposed to be The Listening Program® developed by Advanced Brain Technologies in Ogden, Utah.

Read the full article

UPDATE: Thank you to the staff at the Liverpool Echo for making the correction to the program name!

The Phantom Sounds of Tinnitus

Published June 23, 2010 auditory system , brain research , neuroscience 2 Comments
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New neuroscience research suggests relief from the often debilitating mystery sounds generated in the auditory system called tinnitus may some day be alleviated.

I just came across this article in ScienceDaily and wanted to share it. Unfortunately I cannot elaborate in this post, but I am encouraged to see the research interest in exploring the role of the central auditory pathway in tinnitus.

Read the article here http://bit.ly/cJ8L0m

We Read With Our Ears

Published November 12, 2009 auditory system , brain research , dyslexia , The Listening Program 2 Comments
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It may sound strange but we read with our ears. A recent study at Northwestern provides clear evidence to support the groundbreaking theories developed by the late Alfred Tomatis, M.D. in the mid twentieth century about the role the ear plays in reading.

The vast majority of school-aged children can focus on the voice of a teacher amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University.

But for children with developmental dyslexia, the teacher’s voice may get lost in the background noise of banging lockers, whispering children, playground screams and scraping chairs, the researchers say. Their study appears in the Nov. 12 issue of Neuron.

Recent scientific studies suggest that children with developmental dyslexia — a neurological disorder affecting reading and spelling skills in 5 to 10 percent of school aged children — have difficulties separating relevant auditory information from competing noise.

The research from Northwestern University’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory not only confirms those findings but presents biological evidence that children who report problems hearing speech in noise also suffer from a measurable neural impairment that adversely affects their ability to make use of regularities in the sound environment.

“The ability to sharpen or fine-tune repeating elements is crucial to hearing speech in noise because it allows for superior ‘tagging’ of voice pitch, an important cue in picking out a particular voice within background noise,” said Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.

In the article “Context-dependent encoding in the human auditory brainstem relates to hearing speech-in-noise: Implications for developmental dyslexia,” Kraus and co-investigators Bharath Chandrasekaran, Jane Hornickel, Erika Skoe and Trent Nicol demonstrate that the remarkable ability of the brain to tune into relevant aspects in the soundscape is carried out by an adaptive auditory system that continuously changes its activity based on the demands of context.1  Click here for full article.

These findings are consistent with part of the underlying theories behind our work at Advanced Brain Technologies. This research and studies on musical training at Northwestern provides support to warrant further studies on the potential of using music listening therapy (The Listening Program®) as an intervention for struggling readers.

1 Retrieved November 12, 2009 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/nu-nbf110309.php

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