Clinical studies

University of Minnesota Listen Lab for Speech Communication and Hearing Loss

We are interested in speech perception and the things that make it difficult or effortful. Effort is the focus of the study because it is a common experience among people with hearing loss, and it affects peoples’ lives in many ways, including socially, medically and in terms of job performance. 

All of the lab tests involve listening to words or sentences where we see how changes in speech rate, timing, articulation or different talkers affects how you hear the speech. We measure listening effort by tracking pupil dilation as people listen to speech. The measurement uses a camera, so it is non-invasive. We are focused on seeing how much effort it takes, and how long the effort lasts, when sentences are heard and when a person needs to think back to correct a word that might have been mistaken. There are a variety of studies, and we typically book appointments for 2 or 3 hours so that we can do multiple different listening tasks in one visit. We compensate at a rate of $25 per hour. 

The ultimate goal of this research is to better understand how effort speech perception is for people with hearing loss so that this aspect of listening can be better captured in diagnostics and so that we can raise awareness of its importance.

If you are interested in participating, please contact the Listen Lab at ListenLab@umn.edu or call 612-625-3327.

Indiana University study on neurocognitive development in adults and children with cochlear implants.

The DeVault Otologic Research Laboratory at Indiana University School of Medicine is currently seeking research participants between the ages of 3 and 25 with bilateral or unilateral cochlear implants to participate in a study about neurocognitive development in children and adults. Neurocognitive development refers to processes in the brain involved in memory, complex thinking and learning. We know that cochlear implants do not provide equal benefit for all people with a profound hearing loss, and we think that differences in neurocognitive development may help explain why. The information we obtain from this study will help us to identify children who may be at high risk for poor speech and language development after cochlear implantation, so they can receive the most appropriate treatment and services as early as possible.

If you are interested in participating, please call or email Shirley Henning, M.S., CCC-SLP (317-278-8390); schennin@iupui.edu to find out more about the study. Your interest does not obligate you to participate.

For more information regarding this study, please click here.