Photo credit: Erald Mecani licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This article from LiveStrong.com lists eight habits that are bad for brain health. Number 3 is listening to loud music. The article notes:
3. Listening to Loud Music
Believe it or not, blasting your headphones might be harming your brain.
Indeed, extended exposure to loud noise can change how the brain processes speech, according to a small animal study in the November/December 2014 issue of Ear and Hearing. The researchers noted that noise-induced hearing loss may affect the brain’s recognition of speech sounds.
While this research was done in animals, it may have important implications for humans as well. That’s because hearing loss over time has been linked to dementia, Dr. [Rahul] Jandial says.
There’s a whole lot more scientific evidence that loud noise is bad for the brain. In animal models, it can actually damage brain structures. It certainly can damage hearing, and hearing loss is strongly correlated with dementia. Hearing loss is associated with social isolation, which is habit #8 in the LiveStrong article.
So as the LiveStrong article says, turn down the volume, and save both your ears and your brain.
