Departments
Features
The 21st Century Has Taught Us a Great Deal About Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
In 2006, Eric and his co-authors wrote a review paper “The role of oxidative stress in noise-induced hearing loss” Reflecting back on that article, Eric reflects about how much has changed in the area of NIHL, but also how much of what was know in the early part of the century is still relevant today.
Sound Business Sense
CanadianAudiologist.ca is honoured to welcome Dr. Bob Traynor to our family with his new column called Sound Business Sense on important business issues that affects the audiology community. Because this is Bob’s inaugural column, we have decided to run this important addition as both an article and as a column in this issue.
The Risks of Explaining Hearing Loss as a Potentially Modifiable Risk Factor for Dementia –Summer 2024 Update on New Global and Canadian Population Attributable Fractions (PAFs)
This update on publications concerning population-attributable fractions (PAFs) for potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia focuses on hearing loss and new analyses using global and Canadian data.
Spoken language vs Sign Language: Are We Stuck In This Binary?
It is generally agreed upon in the literature that when children who are deaf or hard of hearing (with no additional “disabilities”) receive high quality language access early, preferably by six months of age, they can achieve language outcomes commensurate with their typically hearing peers before five years of age.
To The Brain and Back: Measuring The Brain’s Response to Continuous, Natural Speech
For decades, audiological practice and auditory neuroscience has benefitted from using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain responses evoked by speech sounds. Speech-evoked EEG responses show how hearing loss affects speech processing, how hearing aids provide speech perception benefits, and how the auditory system develops.
Striking the Right Balance: It’s Not Just a Vestibular Loss: Beyond Vertigo and Dizziness!
In this edition of “Striking the Right Balance,” Assan Mary Cedras, Antonio Sam Pierre, Jonathan Dion, and Clara Orsini, Audiology students at the University of Montreal, and their professor, Maxime Maheu, take a look at vestibular losses beyond the symptoms of vertigo and dizziness.
The Easy and the Hard Part of Controlling the Acoustics Of Rooms
From time to time, audiologists are asked about strategies (and products) that can be used to reduce the echoes in rooms in hopes of improving speech intelligibility or to “flatten” the room’s acoustics for music listening and playing. Other than seeking out the assistance of an acoustic or audio engineer (which actually can be well-worth the expenditure), this is a primer on how sound behaves in a room, and how it can be modified. An audiologist may be approached by an “audiophile” who has done a spectral sweep of a room and noticed an unwanted resonance at 120 Hz or 130 Hz, for example. How can we best respond to this inquiry?
Dr. James Jerger, PhD
Marshall recalls having had the privilege of meeting Jim Jerger on many occasions over the years; mostly at the annual conferences of the American Academy of Audiology. He recently passed away, but he will not be forgotten. Jim Jerger is the father of modern clinical audiology. His work transcended the boundary between pure research and the clinic.
Name Calling: Complexities of product naming from a manufacturer’s perspective.
At the rate at which new products are introduced in our industry, product naming is a constant effort for manufacturers, and it’s not as easy as you might think.
Charles Berlin 1934—2024
Colleagues, professionals, and students found Dr. Charles (Chuck) Berlin to be a brilliant partner in hearing research and care, an open-minded professional with common sense and bravery, and an exceptional teacher who could make complicated concepts easier to understand. Karen MacIver Lux recounts her many encounters with Chuck.
Columns
Sound Business Sense
CanadianAudiologist.ca is honoured to welcome Dr. Bob Traynor to our family with his new column called Sound Business Sense on important business issues that affects the audiology community. Because this is Bob’s inaugural column, we have decided to run this important addition as both an article and as a column in this issue.
What’s New About Getting Older?
The addition of vision as a new potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia is important for audiologists because many older adults with hearing loss also have vision loss. Reduced opportunities for multisensory integration and cross-modal compensation must be considered in all aspects of hearing care: screening, assessment, recommending technologies, and providing counselling or communication training.
Audiology in the Classrooms
It is nonsensical to look at a situation where someone is standing in the rain protected by an umbrella, and then conclude that that person doesn’t need an umbrella because “look, they’re not wet, why do they need an umbrella?” Similarly, we cannot assume that school services provided in the past, or that we imagine would automatically be provided, are available to our students and families. We need to make sure those umbrellas don’t disappear.
From the Labs to the Clinics
In this era of fake news and conspiracy theories, finding the truth is more difficult. Scientific facts are being dismissed as fabricated, and whacko therapies for illness are touted as true cures. These problems with “alternative truths” have always been with us; the snake-oil salesmen of old have made their profits. However, in the past few decades we have seen an epidemic of distrust of science, and also of serious journalism and many cherished institutions (e.g. the US Center for Disease Control). It is probably not appropriate here to launch into how these factors are enabled by ambitious politicians and amplified by social media platforms, so I will stick with the field of Audiology. Yes, we have some fake news issues.
The Way I Hear It
Living with hearing loss is like drinking from a bottomless bowl of emotional soup. It’s a constant loop of mis-hears, repeats, and corrections, keeping our emotions in play. And we don’t do one emotion at a time! Hearing loss is more complicated than that; emotions stay close to the surface, ready to erupt.
Clinic Corner
As summer winds down and September approaches, families and students prepare for the back-to-school season. This often includes a checklist of health care appointments, like visits to the dentist, orthodontist, and optometrist. However, audiology rarely makes the list. Despite its importance, hearing health care is often overlooked during routine check-ups.
Quick Answers
Measuring bone conduction hearing thresholds in-situ with the device and connection that the user is wearing is critical for several key reasons, particularly when it comes to the prescription of amplification targets and ensuring that the hearing aid is properly calibrated to meet the user’s specific needs.
CAA News
September 2024
1. CAA Conference: Registration Open2. Veterans Affairs Canada (Vac) Canadian Armed Forces (Caf) Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Rcmp) Audio Services Update
3. Webinar: Audiological considerations and speech perception outcomes for children and adults living with Down syndrome
4. Webinar Title: Opportunities and challenges for assistive listening with Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast
5. SAVE THE DATE – Webinar: Update on Infant Hearing Health Services in Canada: 2024 Report Card
Industry News
September 2024
1. Tribute: Dr. James Jerger2. Tribute: Charles Berlin