NPR

'Like Brain Boot Camp': Using Music To Ease Hearing Loss

Researchers in Toronto are studying whether singing in a choir and practicing pitch can help hearing-impaired people function better in noisy environments.
Most of the people in a choir at Ryerson University in Toronto have joined a study testing how practicing music might help people with hearing loss handle noisy environments better.

Trying to make out what someone is saying in a noisy environment is a problem most people can relate to, and one that gets worse with age.

At 77, Linda White hears all right in one-on-one settings but has problems in noisier situations. "Mostly in an informal gathering where people are all talking at once," she says. "The person could be right beside you, but you still don't hear them."

White, a retired elementary school teacher and principal, has not gotten hearing aids, although she says she probably will in

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