Struggle to hear at holiday parties?

Participating in conversations at holiday parties can be difficult even for people with normal hearing.  The human brain has a "switch" that helps it avoid being overwhelmed by loud noises.  This "switch," when accompanied by hearing loss, can make it extremely difficult to discern speech in the presence of surrounding noise.

Robert Frisina of the University of Rochester in New York, says the following:

Scientists have long known that the brain not only receives signals from the ears, but can also talk back to them. And when there's too much noise, this dimmer-switch brain circuitry tells the ears to reduce their flow of signals to the brain. This helps the sensitive auditory system handle loud sounds that otherwise would overwhelm it and become distorted, as when a radio is turned up too loud for the speaker to handle. In addition, since background noise at a party tends to be lower-pitched than speech sounds, the dimmer switch probably can block out that distracting noise more than it does the speech. The brain has an added trick for focusing on a particular person's speech rather than competing conversations. Since you're probably facing the person you want to hear, his words arrive at both your ears at the same time and at the same volume. The brain can use that, along with the dimmer switch, to home in on that person's speech.

So, if you struggle to hear at parties this holiday season, know that your brain...not just your ears...play a role!

For more detailed information, read the article this blog is based upon.

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