Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Musical Ability and Hearing Loss

A study done by Northwestern University in Chicago has gone over the relation between musical experience and its effect on hearing health over time. In the study, 37 individuals from 45 to 65 years of age were placed into two different groups: those who have musical experience and those who don’t. The study found a correlation between music, its effect on auditory memory and the ability to hear speech in noisy environments.

As Nina Kraus, director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory in Northwestern’s School of Communication states, “Lifelong musical training appears to confer advantages in at least two important functions known to decline with age -- memory and the ability to hear speech in noise,” She went on to state, “If the materials that you work with are sound, then it is reasonable to suppose that all of your faculties involved with taking it in, holding it in memory and relating physically to it should be sharpened.”

The study provides with information on how a musician’s hearing health development occurs from childhood to old age. Music ability may improve hearing and allow the person to avoid age-related hearing loss or hearing damage. For more information about your hearing health and how to prevent loss of hearing visit your local Miami Hearing Center.

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