Hearing Loss News

June 9, 2025

Top Headlines

New Auditory Brainstem Implant Shows Early Promise

May 16, 2025 — Investigators are developing a new type of auditory brainstem implant that is designed to be soft, and flexible and address limitations of models currently in use. These implants may one day benefit people who can't receive a cochlear implant, such ...

Addressing Hearing Loss May Reduce Isolation Among the Elderly

May 12, 2025 — Providing hearing aids and advice on their use may preserve social connections that often wane as we age, a new study shows. Its authors say that this approach could help ease the loneliness epidemic that older Americans ...

New 'Hidden in Plain Sight' Facial and Eye Biomarkers for Tinnitus Severity Could Unlock Path to Testing Treatments

Apr. 30, 2025 — Researchers have identified biomarkers for tinnitus severity in subtle facial movements and pupil dilation that can be captured on video recordings. Until now, there has been no objective way to ...

Trouble Hearing in Noisy Places and Crowded Spaces? Researchers Say New Algorithm Could Help Hearing Aid Users

Apr. 28, 2025 — BU researchers develop a brain-inspired algorithm that can help people with hearing loss pick out conversations in noisy, crowded ...

Novel Treatment Approach for Language Disorder Shows Promise

Apr. 21, 2025 — Neuroscientists have developed a new treatment approach for a language disorder that combines traditional speech therapy with noninvasive electrical stimulation of the brain. Brain stimulation helped induce neuroplasticity, the brain's capacity to ...

Soft Brainstem Implant Delivers High-Resolution Hearing

Apr. 18, 2025 — A team has developed a soft, thin-film ABI. The device uses micrometer-scale platinum electrodes embedded in silicone, forming a pliable array just a fraction of a millimeter thick. This novel approach enables better tissue contact, potentially ...

Candidate Deafness Genes Revealed in New Study

Apr. 11, 2025 — New candidate genes which could be responsible for deafness have been ...

How the Brain and Inner Ear Are Formed

Apr. 3, 2025 — Researchers have developed a method that shows how the nervous system and sensory organs are formed in an embryo. By labeling stem cells with a genetic 'barcode', they have been able to follow the cells' developmental journey and discover how the ...

Mouse Study Identifies Shared Genes Involved in Hearing and Vision Regeneration

Mar. 31, 2025 — The same genes could hold the key to regenerating cells in the ear and eye, according to a new mouse study. Researchers focused on a group of interacting genes called the Hippo pathway, which serve ...

Terahertz Imaging: Breakthrough in Non-Invasive Cochlear Visualization

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a groundbreaking use of terahertz (THz) imaging to visualize cochlear structures in mice, offering non-invasive, high-resolution diagnostics. By creating 3D reconstructions, this technology opens new possibilities for ...

The Fine Control of Cell Mechanics

Mar. 20, 2025 — Our skin and mucous membranes are protected by epithelial cells. This 'barrier' tissue performs its function thanks to specialized structures called 'junctions'. They ensure cell cohesion and regulate exchanges across the space between cells. ...

Study Highlights Noninvasive Hearing Aid

Mar. 13, 2025 — A study highlights a new approach in addressing conductive hearing loss. A team of scientists has designed a new type of hearing aid that not only improves hearing but also offers a safe, non-invasive alternative to implantable devices and ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:50am EDT

Mar. 12, 2025 — A new article expands our understanding of sensory neurons in the tentacles of sea anemones, linking them to kidney disease in humans through a common ...

Hearing Triggered by Molecular 'Spring'

Mar. 5, 2025 — Hearing begins with the stretching of elastic molecular 'springs' that open ion channels in the sensory hair cells of the ear. For decades, researchers have known that these gating springs must ...

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Researchers Uncover New Complexities in Human Hearing

Jan. 27, 2025 — Physicists have discovered a sophisticated, previously unknown set of 'modes' within the human ear that put important constraints on how the ear amplifies faint sounds, tolerates noisy blasts, and ...

Hearing Impairment May Be a Sign of Increased Risk of Parkinson's Disease

Jan. 14, 2025 — There may be a link between hearing impairment and an increased risk of developing Parkinson's according to new research. This is one of the first studies to examine whether sensory impairments, such ...

United States Dementia Cases Estimated to Double by 2060

Jan. 13, 2025 — A new study shows that the risk of developing dementia anytime after age 55 among Americans is 42%, more than double the risk reported by older ...

Acoustic Sensors Find Frequent Gunfire on School Walking Routes

Jan. 6, 2025 — A new study used acoustic sensors that detect the sound of gunfire to show how often children in one Chicago neighborhood are exposed to gunshots while walking to and from school. Results showed that ...

Study Breaks the Silence on How Fish and Lizards Regenerate Hearing

Dec. 9, 2024 — A new study has identified key gene regulators that enable some deafened animals -- including fish and lizards -- to naturally regenerate their hearing. The findings could guide future efforts to ...

Online Training Could Help Older Adults Communicate in Noisy Environments

Dec. 9, 2024 — Online training that helps people recognize and understand new voices could be key to helping older adults improve communication in everyday environments, finds new ...

Brain Mapping Advances Understanding of Human Speech and Hallucinations in Schizophrenia

Dec. 3, 2024 — Voice experiments in people with epilepsy have helped trace the circuit of electrical signals in the brain that allow its hearing center to sort out ...

Listening for Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

Nov. 20, 2024 — People with Alzheimer's exhibit a loss of motor control along with cognitive decline, and one of the earliest signs of this decay can be spotted in involuntary eye movements known as saccades. These ...

New Study Sheds Light on Language Development in Children With Hearing Loss

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers find a link between early vocabulary composition and later language development in children with cochlear ...

Early Treatment for Nerve Tumors Prevents Serious Problems, Study Finds

Nov. 12, 2024 — Small cranial nerve tumors that can cause hearing loss, vertigo and ringing in the ears are often watched rather than treated, but a new study is set to change how the tumors, called vestibular ...

Deaf Male Mosquitoes Don't Mate

Nov. 5, 2024 — Romance is a complex affair in humans. There's personality, appearance, seduction, all manner of physical and social cues. Mosquitoes are much more blunt. Mating occurs for a few seconds in ...

Adding Vagus Nerve Stimulation to Training Sessions May Boost How Well Sounds Are Perceived

Oct. 9, 2024 — Just as a musician can train to more sharply distinguish subtle differences in pitch, mammals can improve their ability to interpret hearing, vision, and other senses with practice. This process, ...

Declining Senses Can Impact Mental Health and Loneliness in Aging Adults

Aug. 22, 2024 — Researchers found that people who develop sensory disabilities with age tend to have worse mental health, and that different types of sensory disability are associated with different aspects of ...

Blood Pressure Levels Impacted by Chronic Occupational Noise Exposure

Aug. 15, 2024 — A new study found in adult power loom weavers, chronic noise exposure not only increased their blood pressure overall, but also each year of exposure increased their odds of having high blood ...

Switching Off Inflammatory Protein Leads to Longer, Healthier Lifespans in Mice

July 18, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that 'switching off' a protein called IL-11 can significantly increase the healthy lifespan of mice by almost 25 ...

With Gene Editing, Mice With a Form of Inherited Deafness Can Hear Again

July 12, 2024 — Researchers have used gene editing to restore hearing in adult mice with a type of inherited hearing loss. They showed that shutting down a damaged copy of a gene called a microRNA (miRNA) enabled ...

Novel Genome Editing Approach Restores Hearing in Adult Preclinical Models With Genetic Deafness

July 10, 2024 — Researchers restored hearing in preclinical mouse models with a specific form of inherited deafness called DFNA50 caused by mutations in microRNA, by using a novel in vivo CRISPR genome editing ...

Implantable Microphone Could Lead to Fully Internal Cochlear Implants

July 2, 2024 — Researchers developed a prototype of an implantable microphone for a cochlear implant. Their device, which senses the movement of the ear drum in the inner ear, performed as well as commercial ...

Chemo Drug May Cause Significant Hearing Loss in Longtime Cancer Survivors

June 28, 2024 — A new study tracked a cohort of testicular cancer survivors who received cisplatin-based chemotherapy for an average of 14 years, revealing that 78% experience significant difficulties in everyday ...

Creating Supranormal Hearing in Mice

June 28, 2024 — A new study has produced supranormal hearing in mice, while also supporting a hypothesis on the cause of hidden hearing loss in ...

New Gene Therapy Trial Shows Restored Hearing and Speech in Children Born Deaf, Treated in Both Ears

June 5, 2024 — A new clinical trial of five children with inherited deafness found administering gene therapy in both ears led to restored hearing and speech, and additional gains including sound source ...

US Navy Growler Jet Noise Over Whidbey Island Could Impact 74,000 People's Health

May 10, 2024 — As often as four days a week, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island fly loops overhead as pilots practice touch-and-go landings. The noise is ...

Why Getting in Touch With Our 'Gerbil Brain' Could Help Machines Listen Better

May 7, 2024 — Researchers have debunked a 75-year-old theory about how humans determine where sounds are coming from, and it could unlock the secret to creating a next generation of more adaptable and efficient ...

Illuminating the Path to Hearing Recovery

Apr. 15, 2024 — Scientists aim to uncover the mysteries surrounding a specific receptor protein associated with ...

Factors Associated With Age-Related Hearing Loss Differ Between Males and Females

Mar. 6, 2024 — Certain factors associated with developing age-related hearing loss differ by sex, including weight, smoking behavior, and hormone exposure, according to a new ...

Can They Hear You Now? Kids Increasingly Exposed to Noise Health Risks Via Earbuds and Headphones

Feb. 26, 2024 — While it's not surprising to spot teens wearing headphones and earbuds, it's also becoming a widespread trend among younger children, a national poll ...

Scientists Discover Biological Mechanism of Hearing Loss Caused by Loud Noise -- And Find a Way to Prevent It

Feb. 12, 2024 — Drugs that trap excess zinc in the inner ear could help restore lost hearing or, if administered before an expected loud sound exposure, can protect from hearing loss, study ...

How Emotions Affect Word Retrieval in People With Aphasia

Feb. 8, 2024 — People with aphasia have more trouble coming up with words they want to use when they're prompted by images and words that carry negative emotional meaning, new research ...