Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Are noise-cancelling headphones to blame for young people's hearing problems?
Noise-canceling headphones suppress unwanted ambient sounds by using active noise control. They use a built-in microphone to analyze the ambient sound waves around the listener and then generate the opposite sound waves to reduce surrounding sound. They could help prevent hearing loss by eliminating the need to increase the volume to listen to music in the first place. Also, noise-canceling devices help protect the ears from high-frequency and loud noise such as in construction sites or factories. However, activating such noise-canceling sound waves is like creating a false environment, and extensive use of such a device could delay the development of high-level listening skills in the brain, especially in the late teens. Indeed, your ears hear the sounds and noises around you, your brain judges which ones are essential to you, and then you pay attention or listen to them. As more people use noise-canceling headphones while watching videos with subtitles, the number of people who experience auditory processing disorder, a neurological condition where the brain has difficulty distinguishing sounds and spoken words seems to be increasing.
Read the article and learn what noise-canceling devices could do to your brain health.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkjvr7x5x6o
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