Julie Honaker, PhD
Mayo Clinic
Title: Gaze Stabilization Testing for Predicting Fall Risk
Mentor: Neil T. Shepard, PhD, Mayo Clinic
Abstract: Reliable clinical assessment methods to identify falling risk are needed for appropriate referral and outcomes following intervention for risk... Read Full Abstract
Acknowledgement

Patti Johnstone, PhD
University of Tennessee
Title: Sound Source Identification Ability and Minimum Audible Angel Thresholds in Children with Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss: The Effect of Amplification
Mentor: Anna Nabelek, PhD, University of Tennessee
Abstract: Little is known about how unilateral hearing loss affects spatial hearing in children and virtually nothing is known about how a hearing aid in the impaired ear... Read Full Abstract
Acknowledgement

Angela Yarnell Bonino, MS
Doctoral Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title: Children’s Speech Perception in Noise: Ability to Use a Carrier Phrase to Separate the Target from the Background
Mentor: Lori Leibold, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abstract: Children perform more poorly on speech perception measures in noise than adults. One potential explanation for children’s increased susceptibility to noise... Read Full Abstract
Acknowledgement

Kristal Mills, BS
Doctoral Student, East Carolina University
Title: NADPH Oxidase and Auditory Function
Mentor: Sherri M. Jones, PhD, East Carolina University
Abstract: The vestibular system consists of two sets of organs—otolith organs and semi-circular canals. The otolith organs sense linear acceleration due to otoconia, calcium carbonate crystals that sit atop the gelatinous layer overlying these organs. Otoconia provide a mass load that bends the stereocilia... Read Full Abstract
Acknowledgement

Erica Williams, MS
Doctoral Student, Arizona State University
Title: The Effects of Quinine-Induced Hearing Loss on Speech and Psychophysical Tasks
Mentor: Sid Bacon, PhD, Arizona State University
Abstract: The significant variability in speech recognition abilities for listeners with at least a mild sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) cannot be fully explained... Read Full Abstract
Acknowledgement

Kathleen Mettel
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Title: Complex Sound Representation in the Rat Ventral Auditory Field
Mentor: Pritesh K. Pandya, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Project Description: Current research is focusing on how sound is processed throughout the various levels of the auditory system. The auditory cortex is one of the higher levels in the hierarchy of auditory processing. Here, a primary field (AI)... Read Full Description
Acknowledgement

Christopher Spankovich, AuD, MPH
Doctoral Student, Vanderbilt University
Title: Noise Exposure: Acute Insults and Delayed Neurodegenerative Outcomes
Mentor: Sharon Kujawa, PhD, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
Project Description: Although SGC death takes many months to appear, there are clear-cut signs of acute neuropathy within the cochlear epithelium in the hours and days following exposure. To examine this degeneration, two primary methods... Read Full Description
Acknowledgement

2008 STUDENT RESEARCH FORUM

The Student Research Forum is underwritten annually with funding from Plural Publishing... thank you!

Presenter: Kristi Buckley, MS, UTD/Callier Advanced Hearing Research Center
Plasticity, Speech Perception & Cochlear Implants
The amplitude of the evoked response to visual motion recorded over the right temporal lobe is compared to speech perception ability in individuals who wear a cochlear implant. A negative relationship between the amplitude of visual evoked activity in the right temporal lobe and speech perception ability was found in individuals with pre-lingual deafness, but not in individuals with post-lingual deafness. Implications of the differences found between these two groups are discussed.
Advisors: Emily Tobey, PhD, UTD/Callier Advanced Hearing Research Center; James Jerger, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas; Mandy Maguire, The University of Texas at Dallas, Aage Møller, The University of Texas at Dallas

Presenter: Marc Brennan, MS, University of Washington
Effect of Expansion on Consonant Recognition
Expansion is used to reduce low-level background sounds, but may also make soft speech less audible (Plyler et al 2007 JSLHR 50:1). The precise audibility effects have not been examined. Reduced audibility might be mediated by the expansion kneepoint. This study measured consonant recognition at different expansion kneepoints for subjects with sensorineural hearing loss. Audibility was calculated using real ear speech recordings. Results indicated reduced audibility and consonant recognition with a high kneepoint.
Advisors: Pamela Souza, PhD, Univ. of Washington

Presenter: Christine L. Alexander, Washington University School of Medicine
Effects of Reverberation on Speech Recognition in Bimodal Cochlear Implants Patients
Reverberation, which is present in many environments, has strong negative effects on speech recognition. Binaural listening, however, lessens the effects of reverberation. As cochlear implant candidacy criteria broaden, an increased number of implant recipients use a hearing aid in the non-implanted ear. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effects of “bimodal” (implant plus hearing aid) listening on speech recognition in reverberant environments using multi-speaker simulation of diffuse noise fields.
Advisors: Jill Firszt, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine

Presenter: Kimberly Miller, BA, University of North Texas Speech and Hearing Department
Improving the Selection of Release Time
A prevailing assumption is that cognition declines with age. Research suggests that speech intelligibility improves with fast- and slow-acting compression for younger and older listeners, respectively. We assessed the effect of age, hearing sensitivity, S/B ratio, and release time on cognitive capacity. Findings revealed that selecting release time based on capacity, more so than age, provides greater validity of the listener’s ability to process the spectro-temporal properties of the incoming signal.
Advisors: Amyn M. Amlani, PhD, University of North Texas
Contributors: Alex G. Ahumada, BA, University of North Texas Speech and Hearing Department

Presenter: Rosalina Baca, University of Colorado
Language Growth Trajectories in Children with Hearing Loss
Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to describe the expressive language developmental trajectories of 244 children with hearing loss. The rate of language growth was higher for children with early entry into intervention, milder degrees of hearing loss, and born after the establishment of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS). A meaningful gap in language status at 3 years of age was observed in spite of early intervention and UNHS for greater degrees of hearing loss.
Advisors: Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, PhD, University of Colorado

Presenter: Kristy Lowery, MA
University of Tennessee
A Comparison of Video Versus Conventional VRA in Infants

You will be able to:

• Compare and contract two methods of visual reinforcement audiometry
• Select the visual reinforcement system to most appropriately evaluate their pediatric population

Response patterns to video and conventional visual reinforcement audiometry (VVRA and CVRA, respectively) were investigated in 14 7-to 16-month-old infants using a repeated measures design. Each infant was tested with VVRA and CVRA over two sessions. Hit rate, false positives rate, test sensitivity and reinforcement methods, suggesting that VVRA can be used effectively in infants 7-16 months of age.

Presenter: Dane Bowers, MA
University of Tennessee
Cortically Mediated Release from Inhibition in the Cochlea

You will be able to:

• Describe a non-invasive measure of the activity of te medial olivocochlear bundle (MOCB)
• Discuss hypotheses of MOCB function and the control the cortex may exercise over this function

Cortical influence on the efferent olivocochlear bundle system was examined by measuring the effects of attention on contralateral suppression (CS) of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions in 15 normal-hearing listeners. CS was greatest in the non-attending condition and decreased significantly when attending to the click or broad-band-noise suppressor. Results suggest that heightened attention to either the ipsilateral, evoking stimulus or the contralateral suppressor causes a top-down, cortically mediated release from inhibition at the level of the cochlea.

Presenter: Susanna Love Callaway
Copenhagen University
Prescriptive Fitting of OTC Hearing Aids

You will be able to:

• Distinguish between conventional hearing aids and over-the-counter (OTC) hearing devices and indicate which hearing devices can safely be sold over the counter to consumers with limited means
• Differentiate among typical electroacoustic characteristics of OTC hearing devices according to price range

Gain, output and other electroacoustic characteristics of 11 OTC hearing devices in two price ranges, $100 and $100-$500, were examined for three common audiometric configurations using the NAL-R prescriptive formula. Results showed that all low-range devices were inadequate in meeting the needs of hearing-impaired individuals in regard to both gain and output, as well as other electroacoustic characteristics. Mid-range hearing devices are arguably of good quality and represent a feasible solution for the cost-conscious consumer.