Seminar Sara Magits - 13 December 2018

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Invitation Research Seminar ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences Efficacy of audiological rehabilitation Sara Magits Research Seminar When? Thursday, 13 december 2018, 14:00 Where? Seminar room HP2 O&N 2 - KU Leuven Herestraat 49 B-3000 Leuven Abstract Communication through spoken language is vital in life, and is jeopardized in the case of hearing impairment (HI). Careful evaluation and treatment of HI is therefore extremely important for alleviating negative consequences of HI (i.e., social isolation, unemployment, depression and/or declining cognitive functions) on long-term health and quality of life. Some persons with HI benefit from audiological rehabilitation (AR) in the clinic, but most people do not and those who do often request more training. Moreover, the efficacy of AR remains debated mostly due to a lack of high-quality research (e.g., randomized controlled clinical trial). We have developed a sustainable, personalized, AR scheme to improve the communication skills of adults with different degrees of HI. This AR scheme is implemented as an application installed on a tablet and it consists of multiple assessment tests, training tasks and counselling tools. Data logging of the different parameters of the application allows for in-depth analysis of the efficacy of the AR scheme. We will present the different components of the AR scheme as well as preliminary results of the prototype evaluation, including feasibility and usability of the application. In conclusion, we will discuss the set-up of the randomized controlled clinical trial where we will evaluate the AR scheme in adults with HI. Please reply to this email if you are planning to attend the presentation. Copyright KU Leuven

KU LEUVEN NIEUWS: SLIMME HOORAPPARATEN AANGESTUURD VIA DE HERSENEN

KU LEUVEN NIEUWS: SLIMME HOORAPPARATEN AANGESTUURD VIA DE HERSENEN

Deze maand wordt er een artikel gepubliceerd in ‘Journal of Neural Engineering’ met onderzoeksresultaten van de teams van Prof. Alexander Bertrand (ESAT-STADIUS) en Prof. Tom Francart (ExpORL). Het artikel toont aan dat een hoorapparaat kan detecteren op welke spreker iemand zijn aandacht richt op basis van opgemeten hersensignalen (EEG). Met deze informatie kunnen we het spraaksignaal van deze spreker versterken en andere sprekers afzwakken. Dit is een veelbelovende techniek aangezien slechthorenden vaak veel moeite hebben met het verstaan van één spreker in drukke situaties (bv. een restaurant, een feestje, etc.). Naar aanleiding van deze publicatie, verspreidt KU Leuven een nieuwsbericht.

Charity event: Shrek movie night

Shrek movie night for the Anna Timmerman VZW

[English version below]

Altijd al willen weten hoe het is om naar de film te gaan als slechthorende? Dan is dit je kans: kom genieten van de spannende avonturen van Shrek en beleef het zelf! Je begint de avond met een licht gehoorverlies, dat langzaam verergert tot je op het einde van de film een cochleair implantaat draagt. We organiseren deze filmavond in het kader van de Warmste Week van Studio Brussel.

Waar moet ik zijn? De filmavond gaat door in BMW 2. De deuren gaan open om 18u30 en de film start om 19u.

Wat kost dat? Dat mag je zelf kiezen (vrije gift). De opbrengsten van deze filmavond gaan integraal naar de Anna Timmerman VZW, een organisatie die zich inzet voor personen met het Ushersyndroom. Het Ushersyndroom is een genetische aandoening die tot doofblindheid leidt. We zullen ook koekjes en cake verkopen voor het goede doel.


[English]

Have you always wondered what it would be like to go to the movies as a hearing impaired person? Here is your chance! Come enjoy the exciting adventures of Shrek and experience it yourself! The movie begins with a light hearing impairment, that slowly progresses until you need a cochlear implant at the end. We organize this movie night for the Warmste Week (Studio Brussel).
Where should I go? The movie night will be held in BMW 2. Doors open at 18h30 and the movie starts at 19h.

What will it cost? You can choose that yourself. The gainings of this movie night will all go to the Anna Timmerman VZW, an organization that supports people with Usher syndrome. Usher syndrome is a genetic condition that leads to blind-deafness. We will also sell cookies and cake for charity.

Congratulations to Dr. Arturo Moncada Torres!

Congratulations to Dr. Arturo Moncada Torres!

Congratulations to Dr. Arturo Moncada Torres for obtaining his PhD! Last week, he successfully defended his thesis with title: 'Physiological Modelling of Auditory Processes - Speech Intelligibility, Modulation Detection, and Binaural Hearing".

We greatly appreciate your contributions to the lab, both scientifically and socially, and wish you the best for the future.

Seminar Francisco Cervantes - 17 December 2018

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Invitation Research Seminar ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences Forward modeling of speech features for EEG timeseries Francisco Cervantes Research Seminar When? Monday, 17 December 2018, 13:00 Where? Auditorium GA1 O&N I - KU Leuven Herestraat 49 B-3000 Leuven Please reply to this email if you are planning to attend the presentation. Copyright KU Leuven

Congratulations to Dr. Dimitar Spirrov for obtaining his PhD degree!

On October 16, Dr. Dimitar Spirrov successfully defended his thesis: "Balancing cochlear implants and hearing aids in loudness. Signal processing and fitting". Congratulations Dimitar! We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Congratulations to our new doctoral graduate: Robin Gransier!

On September 24, Robin Gransier successfully defended his thesis: "Phase-locked neural activity as a biomarker for auditory functioning - from speech perception to cochlear implant fitting ".

 We like to congratulate him for this great achievement. Well done!

Seminar Charlotte Borgers - 25 October 2018

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Invitation Research Seminar ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences Investigation of the cochlear mechanics involved in bone conduction transmission. Charlotte Borgers Research Seminar When? Thursday, 25 October 2018, 14:30 Where? Seminar room HP2 O&N 2 - KU Leuven Herestraat 49 B-3000 Leuven Abstract The exact cochlear transmission mechanisms of bone conduction stimulation are unknown. Standard stapes velocity measurements, however, are insufficient to disentangle these complex mechanisms. Differential cochlear pressure has been found to be a good estimation of the cochlear input and is therefore a suitable measurement to study the cochlear mechanics involved in bone conduction transmission. I will discuss a special test-setup that was further established and validated during my PhD-project. Using commercial fiber-optic pressure sensors, the differential pressure across the cochlear partition in human cadaveric temporal bones was measured during bone conduction stimulation. Results of this first study will be presented during the presentation. In addition, I will also present some preliminary results of an ongoing study on human fresh-frozen cadaveric heads, in which a novel active transcutaneous bone conduction implant is characterized in terms of output and implant location. Furthermore, I will give an overview of future steps and planned milestones. Please reply to this email if you are planning to attend the presentation. Copyright KU Leuven

Seminar Jana Van Canneyt - 1 October 2018

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Invitation Research Seminar ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences Towards Speech-evoked Frequency Following Responses in Cochlear Implant Users. Jana Van Canneyt Research Seminar When? Monday, 1 October 2018, 16:00-17:00 Where? Seminar room HP4 O&N2, 4th floor, Gasthuisberg (KU Leuven) Herestraat 49 B-3000 Leuven Abstract Frequency-following responses (FFR) reflect dynamic, phase-locked neural activity to the spectro-temporal features of the evoking stimulus. They are recorded using EEG and the evoking stimuli can vary widely in complexity, i.e. from repeated modulated tones to running speech. FFRs have provided information on neural encoding of speech and music in the acoustically stimulated auditory system, and on how this encoding changes with learning, ageing and (language) experience. This type of research would be very valuable in the context of cochlear implant users, as processing of electrical auditory stimulation is less understood. Over the last years, our lab has investigated FFRs in cochlear implant (CI) users for amplitude modulated stimuli with modulation frequencies up to 100 Hz. In this seminar, I will discuss our pilot studies with modulation frequencies up to 300 Hz and our future plans to work towards speech-evoked FFRs in CI users. Besides this, I will discuss our recent study on the effect of envelope shape on the FFR in normal hearing listeners. Please reply to this email if you are planning to attend the presentation. Copyright KU Leuven

Seminar Annelore Willaert - 19 September 2018

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Invitation Research Seminar ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences Cochleovestibular fragility: the human and murine 22q11 Deletion syndrome model. Annelore Willaert Research Seminar When? Wednesday, 19 September 2018, 9:00-10:00 Where? Seminar room HP1 O&N2, 4th floor, Gasthuisberg (KU Leuven) Herestraat 49 B-3000 Leuven Abstract The 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common chromosomal microdeletion syndrome in humans, characterized mainly by various degrees of congenital heart disease, cleft palate and learning difficulties. Hearing loss is usually attributed to chronic middle ear disease, but recent research also shows an unexplained high rate of sensorineural hearing loss, as well as an abnormal equilibrium. We propose the concept of cochleovestibular fragility, referring to an increased vulnerability of the inner ear function in 22q11DS. As such, environmental factors such as high level noise exposure or middle ear infection lead to damage of the inner ear with sensorineural hearing loss, with a higher susceptibility than we would expect when compared to a healthy population. We investigate this hypothesis both by performing human clinical studies (on hearing and vestibular function, and on immunological factors in middle ear inflammation) and by histological research in a mouse model of 22q11DS, acknowledging the multifactorial influences. Please reply to this email if you are planning to attend the presentation. Copyright KU Leuven

Seminar Eline Verschueren - 18 September 2018

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Invitation Research Seminar ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences Neural envelope tracking as a measure of speech understanding in CI users. Eline Verschueren Research Seminar When? Tuesday, 18 September 2018, 14:00-15:00 Where? Seminar room ALO 05.200 ALO Building, Onderwijs en Navorsing, Gasthuisberg (KU Leuven) Herestraat 49 B-3000 Leuven Abstract The speech envelope is known to be essential for speech understanding and can be reconstructed from the EEG signal in response to running speech. Recent studies have shown that neural tracking of the speech envelope can be linked to speech understanding in normal hearing listeners, indicating the potential of this measure as an objective measure of speech understanding. Despite the achieved success in normal hearing listeners, it has barely been investigated in persons wearing cochlear implants (CI). Therefore, in the present study, we recorded the EEG in CI users while presenting running speech and linked neural envelope tracking results to actual speech understanding. Please reply to this email if you are planning to attend the presentation. Copyright KU Leuven