Speech Science Forum - Hannah Guest

New directions in the Noise@Manchester research programme

We have long known that chronic noise exposure can damage human hearing, but this has traditionally been established using clinical hearing tests, in populations with substantial exposures, with deficits appearing many years after exposure onset. The 2010s and early 2020s have seen increased interest in the subtler effects of noise, investigated using subclinical measures, in younger and less exposed populations. This research has often produced inconclusive and inconsistent results, likely due to the hazards of transplanting findings from carefully controlled animal models into messier humans, and to the challenges of disentangling different types of noise damage. But methodological limitations have also constrained the work, including the author’s own. This presentation consists of two parts. First, a whistlestop tour of the “Noise@Manchester” research programme, which seeks to address some key gaps in knowledge and limitations of extant research. This is followed by some reflections on lessons learned by the researchers in the course of the programme, which might be of particular benefit to early-career researchers.

This is an online event:  https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91247046915?pwd=RWlzOFIvcWJvRk10NEIwYkhEZnovdz09