Beyond the Audiogram: Evidence for Hidden Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

Speaker: Douglas Brungart
Organization: Walter Reed NMMC
Job Title: Senior Hearing Scientist

This session will discuss recent research results that show that US Service Members who are experienced to noise and blast experience hearing difficulties that are not apparent from their audiometric thresholds.

• Learning Objective 1: Describe techniques that can be used to determine whether individuals are particularly susceptible to the acute effects of noise exposure.
• Learning Objective 2: Identify differences in auditory performance that have been seen in individuals with similar audiometric thresholds but different self-reported histories of acute symptoms after noise exposure.
• Learning Objective 3: Discuss the possible impacts that hidden effects of noise exposure might have on hearing conservation programs.

Douglas S. Brungart, PhD, is the Chief Scientist of the National Military Audiology and Speech Pathology Center at Walter Reed. His research focuses on the application of advanced technology to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss and other hearing, balance and speech disorders. He holds a MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Computer Engineering from Wright State University.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None