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Editor’s Note: Quick Answers
Why Are Tuning Curves Wider At The Top? Why Aren’t The Edges Straight Vertical Lines?
Tuning curves reflect movement on the basilar membrane. To understand the shape of the traveling wave, we need to talk about the impedance gradient of the membrane (i.e., the decrease in stiffness and increase in mass as we go from base to apex).
Why Do We Have “Central Gain”? Why Is The Neural Signal Amplified (And Not Attenuated) As It Progresses Up The Auditory System?
While it seems like a paradox that hearing loss results in increased auditory neural activity, central gain in the auditory system is evidence that the nervous system actively adapts to the loss of sensory input.
Out-of-Control Positive Feedback
Question: If fluid vibration in the inner ear is afferently transduced by the inner hair cells, and at some point efferent energy is received by the outer hair cells … and then with an altered fluid mechanical vibration, the signal is AGAIN TRANSDUCED afferently via the inner hair cells… how many of these feedback loops are possible before “running out of energy” and is the phrase “running out of energy” an appropriate metaphor for this?…and if not, why not?
If You are Performing an Insertion Gain Measurement, Do You Need to Subtract the REUR If It’s a Non-occluding Fitting?
Non-occluding fittings present unique challenges and considerations when conducting real-ear measurements (REM). For clinicians who subscribe to the insertion gain method for verifying devices to prescriptive targets, confusion can arise regarding how to properly account for the real-ear unaided response (REUR) or real-ear unaided gain (REUG), given it is typically not impacted with open fittings.
My Patient Has An Open Vent In Their Earmold and I Plan To Measure Their Earmold RECD and Then Fit the Hearing Aid In the Test Box. Should I Leave The Vent Open?
Probably not. When you put the earmold on for the RECD, the sound will be entering the ear through the earmold tubing. Some will leak out through the vent, but no test signal will come in. That means the RECD only captures one of the two vent paths.
When you do REM on a CROS or BiCROS do you measure both ears, or just the better ear? My mom wears BiCROS and we are seeing her audiologist tomorrow.
There is nothing to measure for REMs in the bad ear; there's no output there! It's all going to the better ear.
Why Is It Crucial To Measure Bone Conduction Hearing Thresholds Directly with the User’s Specific Device and Connection In Place?
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.
An Advantage of Bone Conduction Devices Is That There Will Not Be Feedback—True or False?
Bone-conduction hearing devices connected to skin-penetrating abutments (e.g., Oticon Medical Ponto, Cochlear BAHA) can certainly generate feedback. As expected, feedback becomes increasingly concerning with worsening degrees of cochlear hearing loss. However, the mechanisms contributing to feedback in bone-conduction hearing devices differ slightly from those in air-conduction hearing aids.
Should I Apply An Air-Bone Gap Correction As Default When Fitting Air Conduction Hearing Aids?
Applying corrections for Air-Bone-Gap (ABG) when fitting air-conduction hearing aids is included in many generic and proprietary fitting prescriptions. Because prescription hearing aids are fit and verified via PC software modules, the choice of whether to apply ABG corrections is usually a default setting that may be somewhat hidden and, as a result, not often changed.
Why Can Normal Hearing People Hear Better In Very Noisy Places With Earplugs?
Many of us have experienced going to a concert and listening to the music from the tenth row back. Even if you know the words to the songs, it can be difficult to hear them. However, if we were to use hearing protection (such as Musicians’ earplugs), the words are much more intelligible.
Is Someone with a Hearing Loss More (or Less) Susceptible to Future Hearing Deterioration from Loud Than Those with Normal Hearing?
One’s initial gut feeling is that if there is already cochlear damage, then this would increase the chances of further hearing difficulty when compared with someone with normal cochlear function, given the same noise exposure. And shouldn’t that person therefore be counselled to double up on their efforts to wear hearing protection?
Is There Evidence for Screening for Vertebral Artery Insufficiency Before Maneuvers That Requires Neck Manipulation Such As The Epley Maneuver?
Research has been conducted to determine the validity of the Vertebral Artery Screening Test (VAST). As with any screening, we would be interested in its sensitivity and specificity.
Why Is A Home Theatre System Marketed As A 5.1 System Rather Than A 6 System Even Though There Are 6 Loudspeakers?
While this is not necessarily a question that an audiologist may ask, it summarizes much about room acoustics and speech acoustics.
Clinical Audiologists May Find It Confusing When Engineers Talk About Inductors, Resistors, And Capacitors As Simulators Such As “The Earmold Vent Functions As A Capacitor”. Audiologists Really Only Talk About Why A Certain Structure Such As An Earmold Vent Allows For The Reduction Of Low Frequency Sound Energy.
In the real world, motion of molecules is governed by the laws of physics. It just happens that many of those laws are expressed by equations involving complex numbers, which are real and imaginary numbers such as magnitude and phase representations.
My Patients Almost Never Report Difficulty Hearing Nature Sounds (E.G., Birds, Bubbling Creeks) During Their Initial Consultation. Does This Mean They Can Hear These Sounds Or That These Sounds Aren’t Important To Them?
Every patient is different, of course, but we would be surprised if patients with sensorineural hearing loss readily hear nature sounds such as animal vocalizations (birdsongs, insect stridulations) or geophysical sounds (wind, rain, thunder or stream sounds).
Doesn’t Putting a Sound Field Amplification System into a Noisy Classroom Just Add to the Overall Sound Level, and Isn’t That a Bad Thing?
There is a lot of research documenting the fact that classroom acoustics are a problem. Noise levels are often high, it’s hard for students to hear, and it’s hard for teachers to make themselves heard and to manage a classroom effectively.
Clinically We Occasionally See 2-Year-Old Children with an Inquiry of Speech Delay and They Want to Verify Normal Hearing Before an SLP Referral. And Sometimes the Child Is Learning Two Languages at the Same Time at Home. If There Is A Speech Delay (Or Concern About A Speech Delay), Should the Parents Be Encouraged To Only Speak One Language at Home, Or Continue With the Two Languages?
Families should be encouraged to continue speaking the two (or more!) languages that they naturally use at home. Multilingualism does not harm children’s language development; it confers many benefits for language learning and connects children with their home cultures. Recommending families to only use English at home is not only ineffective, but it also carries a significant risk of harm.
What Should Audiologists Tell Their Clients About Hearing Aids And Reducing Dementia Risk?
Hearing aids are beneficial for improving communication when they are part of comprehensive audiologic rehabilitation (AR) based on a person-centered goal-setting approach. By helping older adults set and achieve their communication goals, audiologists play an important role in promoting healthy aging by supporting them to be physically, mentally, and socially active.
A Cheat Sheet of What People with Hearing Loss Need from Their Audiologist
You’re a trained hearing care professional – you know this stuff.
But your clients know this stuff too. Eventually, but too many of us have learned it the old-fashioned, trial-and-error way, when we don’t flourish with our first hearing care professionals. (You and your colleagues and staff don’t want to fall into the error category.)
But your clients know this stuff too. Eventually, but too many of us have learned it the old-fashioned, trial-and-error way, when we don’t flourish with our first hearing care professionals. (You and your colleagues and staff don’t want to fall into the error category.)
With the Increase In Measles Cases In Canada, Should Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs Include It As A Risk Indicator During Newborn Hearing Screening?
No. Although measles is reoccurring in the general population due to increased non-vaccinated infants, the infections are often not proven during screening.
My Patient Is Planning To Start A Group Fitness Class Soon And Asked Me About Wearing Hearing Aids To The Gym. Is There Anything I Should Be Considering?
Absolutely! Our studies showed that many adults find hearing aids helpful to hear their classmates and the fitness instructor, but worry about moisture damage and hearing aids falling out.
Are All of the Measuring Tools for RIC Receiver Lengths the Same across Manufacturers?
Peter Hutchison, AuD, PhD has created a great chart showing the relative differences for the RIC hearing aid measuring tools from 6 different manufacturers.