Clearly not talking about people who burn their ears out with loud amplifiers. They call themselves musicians too. On Aug 2, 2011, at 7:19 AM, John Erickson wrote: > 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) > > ========= > > 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> > > -- > John S. Erickson, Ph.D. > http://bitwacker.com > [log in to unmask] > Twitter: @olyerickson > Skype: @olyerickson