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CapTel® Captioned Telephone

Enjoy the phone again with confidence! Ideal for people with hearing loss, the CapTel® Captioned Telephone shows captions of every word the caller says over the phone. You can listen to the caller, and read the written captions in the CapTel® display screen. Only CapTel® gives you several models to choose from, including contemporary touch-screen options and traditional telephone styles. All CapTel® phones include a large display screen, adjustable font sizes and colors, and a built-in answering machine that shows captions of your messages. CapTel® gives you the confidence to reconnect over the phone, knowing you won’t miss a word! Visit CapTel.com.

Hear Every Word, Not Every Third

The easy-to-use Panasonic

KX-TGM450S Amplified Cordless

Phone is ideal for anyone affected by hearing loss. Bright LEDs light up when the phone rings. Boost caller volume up to 50 decibels (dB) and ringer volume up to 112 dB. Slow down fast talkers while conversing or checking messages with the Slow Talk feature. Hear calls from noisy places with Noise Reduction to suppress background noise interference for clearer, more comfortable conversation. Six-level custom tone settings for up to six handsets (one handset included, additional handsets sold separately). Includes large, backlit LCDs, keypads, and buttons, and talking keypad, phonebook, and caller ID. Visit shop.panasonic.com/amplified.

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research E M E R G I N G RESEARCH GRANTS

Validating an Animal Model of Hyperacusis

Hyperacusis is a debilitating hearing condition in which normal everyday sounds are perceived as exceedingly loud, annoying, aversive, or even painful. Epidemiological studies show the prevalence of hyperacusis ranges from 6 to 9 percent of the population, making it an important but understudied medical condition. To learn what is happening in the brain and nervous system when hyperacusis is present, we used soundevoked, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to locate regions of abnormal activity in the central nervous system of rats with behavioral evidence of hyperacusis induced with an ototoxic drug (sodium salicylate). We observed enhanced central auditory gain and were able to confirm this electrophysiologically.

As published in Hearing Research in April 2020, our results demonstrate for the first time that noninvasive, sound-evoked fMRI can be used to identify regions of neural hyperactivity throughout the brain in an animal model of hyperacusis. In addition, we showed we can experimentally manipulate the degree and type of hearing loss and to objectively quantify biomarkers of hyperacusis that may be used for clinical diagnosis.

Often when using fMRI to investigate hyperacusis in humans, the patients cannot tolerate the loud sounds generated by the MRI scanners. An advantage to using mice and rats for these studies is that they have poor low-frequency hearing in regions where there is considerable scanner noise and are not as affected by it. Overall this study allows us to connect human fMRI data with data from the animal model, advancing a greater understanding of hyperacusis. —Kelly Radziwon, Ph.D.

A Clue to Understand Difficulties With Speech Perception in Noise

While it is well known that hearing loss degrades speech perception, especially in noisy environments, less is understood as to why some individuals with normal hearing may also struggle with speech perception in noise (SPiN).

Several factors appear to contribute to SPiN abilities in adults with typical hearing, including the top-down cognitive functions of attention, working memory, and inhibition. Specifically, inhibition at the cognitive level may be considered as the ability to successfully suppress external auditory information (e.g., background noise) in order to correctly identify and understand the speech signal of interest, requiring the conscious participation of the listener.

However, inhibition also exists at a bottom-up, sensory stage as an automatic process even when the listener is not actively involved. Inhibitory function at this level is considered to “gate” sensory information leading to cognitive centers. So it is plausible that deficits in sensory inhibition may allow an excess of auditory noise to reach cognitive centers, overwhelming these resources and resulting in poor SPiN performance.

Using high-density EEG (electroencephalogram) testing, our findings suggest that individuals with typical hearing and mild SPiN impairment may present with decreased inhibition at the sensory level, which is reflected in incomplete and atypical activation of their cortical inhibitory networks. This lack of sensory inhibition may allow extraneous noise to reach cognitive centers and interfere with speech perception. With this information, our laboratory is currently conducting studies to investigate the factors that may affect sensory inhibition in the presence of typical hearing (such as noise exposure). —Julia Campbell, Ph.D., Au.D.

A 2015 and 2018 ERG scientist generously funded by Hyperacusis Research Ltd., Kelly Radziwon, Ph.D., is a research assistant professor in the department of communicative disorders and sciences at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Julia Campbell, Ph.D., Au.D., CCC-A, FAAA, is an assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders in the Central Sensory Processes Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. A 2016 ERG scientist generously funded by the Les Paul Foundation, she is recruiting participants for this research; email julia.campbell@austin.utexas.edu.