Back to the RadioSpace™ home page
NewsDirect story topics:
Consumer, Business & General Interest
Current Events & Public Affairs
Entertainment & Sports
Health & Medicine
"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Trained Ear"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
-- How Will You Use This Story? --
READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
AND NOW, FOR THE DISCRIMINATING LISTENER... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IN CONDITIONS LIKE THOSE AT A NOISY BAR, SOME PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY HEAR MUCH BETTER THAN OTHERS. ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH OUT OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, MUSICIANS MAY FARE MUCH BETTER AT DISCERNING SPEECH OVER THE NOISE. THE NEW STUDY FOCUSES ON MUSICIANS' ABILITY TO HEAR AND UNDERSTAND SPECIFIC SOUNDS WITHIN A RICH TAPESTRY OF OTHER SOUNDS. THIS ABILITY IS A LEARNED ONE: OVER THE YEARS, MUSICAL-TRAINING FINE-TUNES THE CIRCUITRY OF THE NERVOUS-SYSTEM--SO THAT THINGS LIKE PITCH, TIMING, AND THE SPECTRAL-ELEMENTS OF SOUND ARE REPRESENTED MORE PRECISELY IN THE BRAINS OF MUSICIANS. WHETHER IT'S A CROWDED ROOM OR A SYMPHONY-HALL, THE MUSICIAN HAS LEARNED TO HEAR AND PERCEIVE DIFFERENTLY. THE RESEARCH-TEAM TESTED BOTH MUSICIANS AND NON-MUSICIANS, BY HAVING THEM REPEAT SENTENCES THAT THEY HEARD WITH VARYING AMOUNTS OF BACKGROUND-NOISE; PEOPLE WITH MUSICAL-EXPERIENCE DID BETTER, OVERALL. THE SCIENTISTS SAY THAT THE RESULTS UNDERSCORE THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC-EDUCATION FOR THE GENERAL-PUBLIC. THIS RESEARCH COULD LEAD TO NEW WAYS OF USING MUSICAL-TRAINING TO HELP THOSE WITH AUDITORY-PROCESSING DISORDERS--OR ADDRESSING CERTAIN LINGUISTIC- OR READING-DIFFICULTIES. THAT SHOULD BE MUSIC TO EVERYONE'S EARS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
