Hear The Music

Featured image for “Does taking a break from loud noise or loud music really work? Part 2”
Sep. 05, 2017

Does taking a break from loud noise or loud music really work? Part 2

Marshall Chasin
In part 1 of this blog series several issues were touched upon such as the relative uselessness of using gross measures such as puretone testing to determine the true nature of hearing loss from loud music or loud noise.  In short, puretone hearing loss thresholds (and also otoacoustic emission (OAE) testing) are rather gross, albeit convenient, measures of hearing loss. 
Featured image for “Does taking a break from loud noise or loud music really work? Part 1”
Aug. 29, 2017

Does taking a break from loud noise or loud music really work? Part 1

Marshall Chasin
There have been a number of studies over the years trying to gauge the benefits, if any, of moderation and taking breaks away from loud noise or music. The short answer is that we are not really sure, but possibly. How is that for fence sitting? Intuitively it does make sense that reducing the overall “time weighted” average exposure of loud music
Featured image for “Noise Cancellation Earphones and a Neat AuD Capstone Project”
Aug. 22, 2017

Noise Cancellation Earphones and a Neat AuD Capstone Project

Marshall Chasin
I recall sitting in my very first audiology class in 1979 (when tuning forks had just been invented and all hard of hearing people were using wither body worn hearing aids or large tin horns in their ears) and the instructor was trying to explain the difference in calibration between using earphones (minimal audible pressure) and loudspeakers (minimal audible field)
Featured image for “And the Winner Is ….(Part 3)”
Aug. 15, 2017

And the Winner Is ….(Part 3)

Marshall Chasin
If you have been reading earlier parts of this blog series, I had only promised to write a 2-parter.  Well, here is part 3! The reason for this rogue insertion of yet another installment to this series is the number of emails that I have received about how hearing protection can actually be assessed using real ear measurement – hence,
Featured image for “And the winner is….(Part 2)”
Aug. 08, 2017

And the winner is….(Part 2)

Marshall Chasin
In part 1 of this blog series, I had talked about a patient who had a relatively rare 3000 Hz noise (music) induced hearing loss notch and not the more common one at 4000 Hz or 6000 Hz.  The ear canal resonance was at 2000 Hz as compared as opposed to the more common “average” of around 2700 Hz.  The lower frequency
Featured image for “And The Winner Is….(Part 1)”
Aug. 01, 2017

And The Winner Is….(Part 1)

Marshall Chasin
Whenever I fit hearing protection such as Musicians’ Earplugs, I verify the function using real ear measurement.  Of course, in the design of Musicians’ Earplugs there is a correct assumption that the acoustic gain that is generated will offset the insertion loss caused by the occluding earmold.  That is, if people have a 2700 Hz resonance due their outer ear,
Featured image for “Emotion, Speech, and Music”
Jul. 25, 2017

Emotion, Speech, and Music

Marshall Chasin
Rachel Hottle is the guest contributor to this week’s blog at HearTheMusic.  Rachel is a fourth-year undergraduate at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she is studying music and biology. This summer she is volunteering as a research assistant in the SMARTlab (Science of Music, Auditory Research, and Technology) at Ryerson University. She hopes to pursue graduate study in the
Jul. 18, 2017

Glutamate, Adenosine, and our critical period of learning – part 3

Marshall Chasin
We are a bag of bio-chemicals mixed in with a lot of water and some other tissues and bone that give us structure.  My waste-line may be a slim 34” at sea level, but over 35” at the top of Aspen Mountain- we are held together by atmospheric pressure, bones and other tissues- but what makes us go round are
Featured image for “Glutamate and Stress – Part 2”
Jul. 11, 2017

Glutamate and Stress – Part 2

Marshall Chasin
I recall reading an article from 1983 in a then, new journal of the American Auditory Society, called Ear and Hearing. I remember showing it to my colleagues and commenting how silly it was and that they would publish anything, just to get an article to fill the pages of Ear and Hearing. Well, I was wrong!  Ear and Hearing
Featured image for “Glutamate and How We Hear – Part 1”
Jul. 04, 2017

Glutamate and How We Hear – Part 1

Marshall Chasin
Glutamate is the main neurotransmitter substance in the cochlea and auditory system that make it work. Neurotransmitter substances are the chemicals that live their lives in between neurons in the synapse that allow neurological impulses- inhibitory (IPSPs) and excitatory (EPSPs)- to proceed (and feedback) along the neural chain up to the appropriate center(s) of the brain. Names such as Dopamine and Serotonin