Getting the Right Signal

Getting the Right Signal

One of the keys to improving the understanding of speech in a noisy environment involves improving the “signal-to-noise” ratio (SNR). An SNR figure indicates how many decibels louder speech is than the surrounding noise. The higher the SNR, the easier it is for the...
Coming to Your Senses

Coming to Your Senses

Our ability to feel, see, hear, taste, and smell is what connects us to other people and the outer world in general. Thus, it comes as rather sobering news that the first study to measure full-spectrum sensory damage reveals that 94% of older (57 to 85 years) adults...
Cool, Calm and Connected

Cool, Calm and Connected

As increasing numbers of people have come to view hearing instruments as a technology extension to the smartphone, their coolness factor has risen commensurately. No longer regarded simply as a means of improving hearing, hearing instruments with Bluetooth...
Regrowing Hair (Cells)

Regrowing Hair (Cells)

Central to the type of hearing loss known as “sensorineural” is damage to the tiny “hair cells” that reside within the cochlea, where these sensory receptors convert sound waves into electrical signals that they transmit through the acoustic nerve to the brain....
Notable Hearing Impaired Musicians

Notable Hearing Impaired Musicians

Eric Clapton recently expressed concerns that he had tinnitus and was “going deaf.” No less a musical talent than Ludwig van Beethoven shared these same concerns as he progressed from hearing buzzing in his ears (tinnitus) at age 26 to progressive hearing loss and...
Presbycusis

Presbycusis

“Presbycusis” refers to the slow and progressive loss of hearing that affects both ears to the same degree and usually starts around the age of 50. This age-related loss of hearing usually starts in the high-frequency range, where conversation is conducted. As a...