Willy requested that I post a link to this story: "Can Music
Experience Improve Older Adults' Hearing?" (Northwestern University
Newscenter) <http://bit.ly/nyib8l>

Can Music Experience Improve Older Adults' Hearing?
Older musicians excel in memory and hearing speech in noise compared
to non-musicians
By Wendy Leopold (May 11, 2011)

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A growing body of research finds musical training
gives students learning advantages in the classroom. Now a
Northwestern University study finds musical training can benefit
Grandma, too, by offsetting some of the deleterious effects of aging.

“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,” says Nina Kraus, director of the
Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and co-author of the study in the May
11 issue of the online science journal PLoS One.

Co-written by Northwestern researchers Alexandra Parbery-Clark, Dana
Strait, Samira Anderson, Emily Hittner and Kraus, “Musical Experience
and the Aging Auditory System” finds that -- when compared to their
non-musician counterparts -- musicians 45- to 65-years-old excel in
auditory memory and the ability to hear speech in noisy
environments...

(more at link above)

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The citation for the work is: Parbery-Clark A, Strait DL, Anderson S,
Hittner E, Kraus N. (2011) "Musical Experience and the Aging Auditory
System: Implications for Cognitive Abilities and Hearing Speech in
Noise." PLoS ONE 6(5): e18082. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018082
<http://bit.ly/nwWQof>

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John S. Erickson, Ph.D.
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