hearing loss

Exploring the cerebral mechanisms of acoustically-challenging speech comprehension - successes, failures and hope

Comprehending speech under acoustically challenging conditions is an everyday task that we can often execute with ease. However, accomplishing this requires the engagement of cognitive resources, such as auditory attention and working memory. The mechanisms that contribute to the robustness of speech comprehension are of substantial interest in the context of hearing mild to moderate hearing impairment, in which affected individuals typically report specific difficulties in understanding speech in background noise. Although hearing aids can help to mitigate this, they do not represent a universal solution, thus, finding alternative interventions is necessary. Given that age-related hearing loss (“presbycusis”) is inevitable, developing new approaches is all the more important in the context of aging populations. Moreover, untreated hearing loss in middle age has been identified as the most significant potentially modifiable predictor of dementia in later life. I will present research that has used a multi-methodological approach (fMRI, EEG, MEG and non-invasive brain stimulation) to try to elucidate the mechanisms that comprise the cognitive “last mile” in speech acousticallychallenging speech comprehension and to find ways to enhance them.

Gene therapy for hearing loss: where do we go from ear?

Rodents to Investigate the Neural Basis of Audiovisual Temporal Processing and Perception

To form a coherent perception of the world around us, we are constantly processing and integrating sensory information from multiple modalities. In fact, when auditory and visual stimuli occur within ~100 ms of each other, individuals tend to perceive the stimuli as a single event, even though they occurred separately. In recent years, our lab, and others, have developed rat models of audiovisual temporal perception using behavioural tasks such as temporal order judgments (TOJs) and synchrony judgments (SJs). While these rodent models demonstrate metrics that are consistent with humans (e.g., perceived simultaneity, temporal acuity), we have sought to confirm whether rodents demonstrate the hallmarks of audiovisual temporal perception, such as predictable shifts in their perception based on experience and sensitivity to alterations in neurochemistry. Ultimately, our findings indicate that rats serve as an excellent model to study the neural mechanisms underlying audiovisual temporal perception, which to date remains relativity unknown. Using our validated translational audiovisual behavioural tasks, in combination with optogenetics, neuropharmacology and in vivo electrophysiology, we aim to uncover the mechanisms by which inhibitory neurotransmission and top-down circuits finely control ones’ perception. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the neuronal circuitry underlying audiovisual temporal perception, and will be the first to establish the role of interneurons in regulating the synchronized neural activity that is thought to contribute to the precise binding of audiovisual stimuli.

Consequences of early-onset mild hearing loss on brain and behavior in rats

Distinct neurophysiological response mechanisms for non-verbal and verbal stimuli in Age Related Hearing Loss: a P300 study

Human cortical auditory processing of naturalistic speech with simulated hearing loss: A data-driven fMRI approach

The Latency of Auditory Event Related Potential P300 prolonged in Unilateral Hearing Loss School Age Pupils in Mandarin Learning Environment

Mismatch Negativity, a Neural marker of plasticity in Unilateral Hearing Loss patients

Age-related hearing loss in older adults and cognition in older adults: Preliminary findings

FENS Forum 2024

Cognitive disturbances after hearing loss in adult rats are not accompanied by altered NeuN-, GABA-, and dopamine-expression in the central auditory pathway and prefrontal cortex

FENS Forum 2024

Evaluation of optogenetic gene therapy for hearing restoration in in vivo rodent models of sensorineural hearing loss

FENS Forum 2024

Multisession electric stimulation of the auditory cortex prevents cortical aging in an age-related hearing loss Wistar rat model

FENS Forum 2024