Are Portable Music Players Associated With Hearing Loss in Children?

JAMA: The effect of portable music players on the hearing of children is unclear. A new study found that about 1 in 7 children (9 to 11 years of age) showed signs of noise-induced hearing impairment, prior to exposure to known noise hazards such as club and concert attendance. Portable music players, used by 40 percent of 2,075 children in the study from the Netherlands, were associated with high-frequency hearing loss. Repeated measurements are needed to confirm this association.

Musician's brains on display

Helsinki: Two professional musicians let researchers test their brains while they performed to a sold-out concert hall. Now you can watch a video of the research concert. Two members of the a cappella sextet Rajaton are sitting backstage at Helsinki’s Finlandia Hall trying on EEG headgear that resembles swimming caps. Laboratory Engineer Tommi Makkonen and Research Assistant Nella Moisseinen, a student in cognitive sciences, are attaching cables to the caps. “My biggest fear is that they find no brain activity at all, just a flat line,” jokes musician Jussi Chydenius.

Student-led project investigates healing benefits of live music

UCLA. US: If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what might a daily dose of Mozart or Thelonious Monk do for one’s health and well-being?