Topic of Call for Proposals:  Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all 
Project Title: HearingTogether: An Integrative Socio-Neuroscientific Perspective on Hearing & Social Behavior
Participating Schools: I and VI

How does hearing loss impact our social life and, conversely, how do our social networks shape the way we deal with hearing loss? The scientists in this project will approach this and related questions from an interdisciplinary perspective. Using quantitative and qualitative survey data, they will investigate how communication structures and social ties, for example within the family, change as a result of hearing loss, and also examine whether social support promotes the use of hearing aids.

In the laboratory component of the project, neuroimaging techniques will be used to track changes in neural networks which play an important role in social interactions. The project components will inform each other throughout the project to develop a socio-neuroscientific perspective on hearing and social behavior. With this research approach, the researchers are creating a new link between the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all.connects and the social sciences.