Hear The Music

Part 1 in of this series of blog posts gave an overview of why musicians may have different degrees of hearing loss in their right and left ears.  Typically, hearing loss is thought to be equal in both ears, or symmetrical, unless there is a reason for a difference.  Clinically the reasons may be a growth or schwanoma on the VIIIth

In audiology it is almost a “Mom and apple pie” statement that hearing loss as a result of noise exposure (noise induced hearing loss or NIHL), and also hearing loss associated with aging (presbycusis), are symmetrical- the same in both ears.  Therefore, an audiogram that shows significant differences between the right and left ear is usually a warning sign that

I recently attended the 40th annual National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) convention in New Orleans.   The meeting was quite interesting, and not just because it took me to New Orleans, a city I had never visited before and where, after 5 days of eating raw oysters and jambalaya, I was dying for something bland like a peanut butter sandwich.  It was also interesting

The U.S. National Park Service, using some interesting computer projections and simulations, has recently come out with a “noise map” of the entire continent.  And the winner is… Well, I am not sure that it’s the “winner”, whatever that may be.  But the Eastern part of the United States in noisier than the Western part. This is a great map 

It was 1961 and I, like many of my second grade friends (we call it grade 2 in Canada), were asked to try out for the school choir.  I presume that they needed as many high-pitched voices to balance the macho adult sixth-grade kids in the choir.  Awaiting my turn, I glanced out the window during the recess break (which

Post-concussion syndrome is a group of symptoms that can occur for days, weeks, months, or even up to a year or two after a head injury.  It is considered to be a mild form of traumatic brain injury and about 1 in 6 people experience this after a concussion.  The etiology and physiology is not well understood. There really is

In part 1 of this blog series, we touched on some technologies that have improved the enjoyment and usability of hearing aids for listening to, and the playing of, music.  Part 1 ended with a caveat that perhaps the implicit assumption that what is best on a number of perception tests will undoubtedly result in an increased enjoyment and appreciation

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Naomi Croghan is a classical musician and a Research Audiologist at Cochlear Americas. Her research interests focus on improving music perception and speech perception in complex environments with cochlear implants and hearing aids. During the holiday season, I began reading a book called Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life, by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. This book describes how to

Parts 1 and 2 of this blog series discussed some research about the negative emotional effects of music (or noise versus music).  The studies touched on two real-life scenarios:  1. the effects of music as opposed to noise; and 2. the effects of liking one type of music and hating another type.  This part of the blog series will look at