Loneliness Awareness Week takes place from 10th to 16th June. This year, the theme is Random Acts of Connection which encourages everyone to engage with simple everyday moments of connection to increase a sense of belonging.
Regardless of our age, circumstance and background, most of us will experience loneliness at some point in our lives. There are different types of loneliness, including emotional, social and transient loneliness. Some people are more vulnerable to loneliness than others, such as those who have no friends or family, experience discrimination and stigma, or are excluded from social activities because of mobility problems.
Age-related hearing loss is a natural condition that affects one in three people between the ages of 65 and 74, and nearly half of those 75 and older. This condition can lead to social isolation as a result of reduced social interactions and quality of life.
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 700 million people worldwide will experience a disabling hearing impairment by 2050, with age-related hearing loss being the single biggest cause. This often excludes people from day to day communication.
鈥淥ur research is dedicated to discovering the mechanisms that lead to this condition, and restoring auditory function to help prevent people from isolating and feeling lonely鈥 says Walter Marcotti, Professor of Sensory Neuroscience and Co-Director of the Neuroscience Institute.
鈥淲e have several projects funded by RNID, BBSRC and the Wellcome Trust aimed at discovering the mechanisms leading to age-related hearing loss and to develop therapeutic intervention to prevent or even cure it鈥 he adds.
The Neuroscience Institute uses a multidisciplinary research approach to study how sensory systems and brain-integrating systems develop, and how sensory inputs are detected and processed by the nervous system in health and disease.
In particular, the Hearing Research Group brings together leading experts in physiology, genetics, developmental biology, stem cell biology and computational neuroscience to advance the discovery of the mechanisms leading to deafness and age-related hearing loss and develop diagnostic tools and gene-based therapeutic interventions for hearing loss.
鈥淚t is crucial to identify the genes that make the cells and nerve fibres within the ear more vulnerable to damage due to ageing or noise exposure, which is essential for devising early diagnosis and treatments for hearing impairment鈥 adds Professor Walter Marcotti.