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"The Emerging Relationship Between Cognition and Audition"
Presenter: Douglas L. Beck, AuD
ABSTRACT:
Most “hearing tests” do not include listening and communication assessments, nor do they include speech in noise tests (SIN), despite decades-old Best Practice statements from AAA and ASHA and more recently, IHS. Hearing is perceiving sound. Listening is comprehending sound. The most common complaint HCPs address is not hearing loss but is the inability to understand SIN. Unfortunately, the inability to understand SIN is not uniquely a hearing problem. Certainly, SIN problems occur in tandem with hearing loss, but they also occur in tandem with ADHD, dyslexia, APD, ANSD, cochlear synaptopathy, Hidden Hearing Loss, TBI, cognitive decline, dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and more. Indeed, to make sense of sound, particularly in challenging acoustic situations requires audition, cognition, attention, listening and auditory processing ability, psychological and emotional well-being, and much more. In this course, we will review these topics and the important role cognitive screenings play as we strive to fulfill the often-heard medical school declaration “diagnosis first, treatment second.” Finally, we will review the options and opportunities which might be availed through early detection/diagnosis of a cognitive problem, including altering the trajectory of dementia through 12 modifiable risk factors, language therapy, brain training, memory clinics, amplification, and more.
LEARNER OUTCOMES:
After this course, participants will be able to-
- Define hearing versus listening.
- State “normal” SNR-50 values.
- Name two Best Practice statements which endorse SIN testing.
- Recite three communication/listening assessments.
- Summarize one SIN protocol.
- Name three cognitive screeners.
- Describe the difference between a screening and a diagnostic test.
Dr. Beck began his career in Los Angeles at the House Ear Institute in cochlear implant research and intraoperative cranial nerve monitoring. By 1988, he was Director of Audiology at Saint Louis University. In 1996 he co-founded a multi-office dispensing practice in St Louis. In 1999, he became President and Editor- In-Chief of AudiologyOnline.com, SpeechPathology.com and HealthyHearing.com. Dr. Beck joined Oticon in 2005. From 2008 through 2015 he also served as Web Content Editor for the American Academy of Audiology (AAA). In 2016 he also became Senior Editor for Clinical Research at the Hearing Review and also, Adjunct Clinical Professor of Communication Disorders & Sciences at SUNYAB. In 2019, he was appointed Vice President of Academic Sciences at Oticon Inc. Dr. Beck is among the most prolific authors in audiology with more than 211 publications. Although he officially retired from Oticon in March, 2022, he became Vice President of Clinical Sciences or Cognivue, Inc., Victor, NY in April, 2022. Dr Beck continues to consult for a number of professional and private concerns. Hundreds
of publications and videos are available for free at www.douglaslbeck.com.