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Beyond the Audiogram

In January 2007, The Hearing Foundation of Canada part= nered with the National Centre for Audiology (at the University of Western Ontario) to present “= ;Beyond the Audiogram”, the first cross-disciplinary conference bringing toge= ther over 40 of the best and brightest of Canadian auditory researchers. During this two-day symposium, clin= icians and academics met and explored new answers to the key questions, “Wha= t is normal hearing?” and “How should hearing problems be measured?”

Prior to Beyon= d the Audiogram, hearing scientists and audiological researchers from across Canada had never met as a single unit, or had the opportunity to review the state of hearing research from such an array of different disciplines – psychosocial, behavioura= l, neurological, biochemical, and generational.

On the first day of the symposium, researchers present= ed a series of 27 themed presentations, in front of an audience of over 115 researchers, audiologists, students, and observers. Each presenter articulated a particu= lar aspect of their research that looked at the limitations, the strengths, and= the alternatives for assessing hearing loss. Because of the different specialties represented, presenters could not rely on their own jargon, but= had to verbalize their research in more universal language thereby leaving the = door open for connections to emerge.

After the day’s presentations, participants comm= ented on the many “aha!” moments as they found the commonalities and avenues for collaboration. For example, someone in psychology was working on a project that might inform someone else’s work on plasticity of the brain; others working on bas= ic research were able to connect with clinicians who could help them test their lab results and hypotheses in a clinical setting.

During the second day wrap-up session, the key researc= hers engaged in energetic discussions about ‘next steps’ and collaborative opportunities. = The summaries from each theme indicated significant commonalities such as the n= eed for more research on defining “normal” hearing, including tests that assess more than just hearing thresholds. Also highlighted was the nee= d to look carefully at hearing loss at all age ranges, because the characteristi= cs that apply to an adult’s hearing or hearing loss do not necessarily a= pply to those of a child or of very old subjects. Also identified was the need for c= are is defining different categories of hearing dysfunction, and making sure that researchers and clinicians are using a common lan= guage.

This jointly sponsored symposium was a resounding succ= ess, producing both answers and more questions as scientists and clinicians went “Beyond the Audiogram” in their search for better hearing healt= h. Staff at both = the National Centre for Audiology and The Hearing Foundation of Canada were pleased with the results and are already discussing the why, when, and where of the next symposium.