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