Inner‑ear nerve damage and its link to trouble hearing in noise, tinnitus, and sound sensitivity
Official title: Biomarkers of cochlear synaptopathy and their relation to suprathreshold hearing disorders in humans with sensorineural hearing loss
Funded at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary · NIH-11158997 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Looks for hidden inner‑ear nerve damage that may explain trouble understanding speech in noise, tinnitus, and sound sensitivity in adults with sensorineural hearing loss.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | August 2, 2017 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $578,157 |
| NIH project number | 5P50DC015857-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11158997 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (21+) with sensorineural hearing loss, especially those with high‑frequency loss or late‑stage Ménière's disease who report difficulty hearing in noisy places, tinnitus, or sound sensitivity.
✕Less likely to help
People under 21, those with purely conductive (middle‑ear) hearing loss, or those without trouble hearing in challenging listening environments are unlikely to benefit from this project.
What this research studies
Researchers will use detailed hearing tests, speech‑in‑noise tasks, and physiological ear‑nerve recordings to look for signs of cochlear synapse loss (hidden nerve damage) in adults. They will enroll people with high‑frequency hearing loss and people with late‑stage Ménière's disease to compare how nerve loss relates to real‑world hearing problems. The team will link these biomarker measures to word‑recognition scores and symptoms such as tinnitus and sound intolerance. Testing will include audiograms, specialized neural measures, and patient questionnaires about listening difficulties.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could help clinicians detect hidden nerve damage in the inner ear so patients with difficulty hearing in noise get clearer diagnoses and more targeted care.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies and prior human work have linked cochlear synapse loss to hearing‑in‑noise problems, and the investigators have reported correlations in normal‑hearing listeners, but applying these biomarkers to people with threshold shifts and Ménière's is a newer step.
Where this research is happening
-
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Maison, Stéphane F. — Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
- Study coordinator: Maison, Stéphane F.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Understanding why phantom sounds and intolerance to sounds happen after hearing loss
This grant investigates why some adults with hearing loss experience tinnitus, hyperacusis, and trouble ignoring background noise, and how brain changes relate to these symptoms.
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Biomarkers linked to cochlear nerve damage in adults with sensorineural hearing loss
A project to find biological markers of cochlear nerve damage and see how they relate to hearing problems like difficulty hearing in noise and tinnitus in adults with hearing loss.
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Cochlear nerve connections and hearing loss in human temporal bones
A large, patient-facing research effort analyzes how nerve connections in the inner ear deteriorate in people with sensorineural hearing loss by studying post-mortem human temporal bones.
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Cochlear nerve disease and how it affects hearing in models of hearing loss
This grant studies how damage to the nerves of the ear happens and how it affects hearing in noisy places, using animal models to inform future human therapies.
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Sensorineural hearing loss and how it affects understanding speech
This project explores why people with similar hearing loss have different abilities to understand speech, especially in noisy places, and aims to uncover the brain and ear mechanisms behind these differences.
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Understanding why some people with hearing loss can’t understand speech in noise
This grant studies why some people with hearing loss can’t understand speech in noisy environments, even when they can hear it, to identify new ways to help them hear and understand better.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.