National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR)
NCRAR Monthly Seminar Series - CEU Details
The current month's seminar info and CEU documents are below (see highlighted section when you scroll to the bottom of the page).
Date: Thursday, January 30, 2025
Time: 12-1pm (Pacific)
Location: VA Portland Health Care System, NCRAR (Virtual)
Presenter: Dr. Jonathan Venezia, PhD, Research Scientist, VA Loma Linda Healthcare System; Research Assistant Professor, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology
Title: Behavioral and Neural Signatures of Functional Hearing Difficulties in Veterans
Abstract: Many blast-injured Veterans have listening difficulties that cannot be attributed to elevations in pure-tone thresholds, a condition termed “functional hearing difficulties” (FHDs). The existence of FHDs is well appreciated clinically, with 99.5% of audiologists reporting an FHD patient encounter in a recent survey. The empirical literature, while indicative of a reliable connection between self-reported FHD and objective measures of auditory processing, has yet to pin down the mechanisms involved. This presentation is the synthesis of a five-year project whose aims were to: (i) determine whether blast exposure is associated with changes in temporal processing and speech recognition in background noise (SIN) among Veterans with self-reported FHDs; and (ii) determine whether FHDs reflect a genuine auditory deficit as opposed to generalized cognitive or psychological sequelae of blast exposure. Experiments were modeled on prior work showing auditory deficits in middle aged adults with normal hearing, thus casting blast exposure as a form of accelerated auditory aging. A group of more than 80 Veterans (aged 25-60) with variable histories of blast exposure and other mild head injuries completed tests of auditory temporal processing, SIN, and cognitive ability, as well as structural and functional neuroimaging. The presentation will show that FHDs in blast exposed Veterans are reflected as deficits in temporal processing and SIN that can be traced to changes in the white matter linking subcortical and cortical auditory centers. These deficits are not merely due to cognitive or psychological changes yet result in suboptimal recruitment of compensatory cognitive networks during speech processing, suggesting that cognitive resources may be “effectively” diminished in Veterans with FHD. Normal aging exerts similar effects, providing empirical support for accelerated auditory aging in blast exposure. As a result of this presentation, participants will be better able to discuss how multi-method research can be used to compare functional hearing difficulties with generalized cognitive or psychosocial deficits that may impact functional communication, describe what functional hearing difficulties are and use typical auditory aging as a model system for understanding their causes, and the potential treatment options for functional hearing difficulties and consider how treatment may evolve with new empirical data on the causes of them.
Learner Outcomes: Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe what functional hearing difficulties are and use typical auditory aging as a model system for understanding their causes.
- Discuss how multi-method research can be used to compare functional hearing difficulties with generalized cognitive or psychosocial deficits that may impact communication.
- Identify potential treatment options for functional hearing difficulties and consider how treatment may evolve with new empirical data on the causes of them.
Disclosure statements: Dr. Jonathan Venezia, PhD, has the following relevant financial relationships: he receives a salary from the Veterans Healthcare Administration and grant funding from the Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development (Rehabilitation). He has no non-financial relationships to disclose.
*IMPORTANT DETAILS: The seminar will be broadcast via Microsoft Teams.
To register and receive a Teams invitation, you must contact Marianne Pierson at Marianne.Pierson@va.gov before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29th, and she will send you an email invitation with a Microsoft Teams link.
Once you have a Microsoft Teams invitation, please see the instructions for joining below at the time of the call:
1. Click on the “Join Microsoft Teams Meeting” link in the Outlook invitation for the seminar (in the Outlook calendar)
2. Click on “Join now," and mute your microphone.
3. Alternately, you can simply call the telephone number listed below the "Join Microsoft Teams Meeting" link. Note: MUTE your phone; do not place your phone on hold.
CEUs: If you wish to receive ASHA CEUs for watching the seminar, please click on the link below to submit your evaluation:
| ASHA CEU Evaluation (link) |
You will need to submit your CEU evaluation within 5 business days (February 7th) in order to receive credit. Contact Marianne Pierson at Marianne.Pierson@va.gov with questions.
NCRAR is approved by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association to offer 0.1 CEU for this continuing education activity (Advanced level, Professional Area).
