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Barbara Shinn-Cunningham taps brains to find and fix hidden hearing loss

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As research subjects listen to changing sound patterns, a neural net like the one pictured above uses scores of electrodes to record real-time measures of brain activity. Photo by Cydney Scott

On a cool May evening, the sounds of a tuning orchestra fill a performance hall in Concord, Mass., spilling out into the otherwise quiet streets of bistros with carved wooden signboards and quaint shops selling antiques, fine wine, and artisanal cheese.

Before the entire orchestra has assembled on the stage—in a historic, converted barn with klieg lights fixed to its rafters—it is still possible for an untrained ear to pluck specific instruments from the musical jumble. But as the official start of rehearsal nears, the growing ranks of musicians produce a louder and less decipherable cacophony. Finally, the conductor steps to his post and holds up a hand to signal “Quiet, please!”

Among the musicians waiting in the sudden silence that follows is Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, a professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering. By her side rests an oboe and an English horn (imagine an overgrown oboe), both of which she will play during the Concord Orchestra’s “Pops” rehearsal tonight.