Shilo Rea, Carnegie-Mellon, writes that researchers “have developed a new way to find out how the brain singles out specific sounds in distracting settings.” Why is this significant? Because, writes Rea, “[t]he study lays crucial groundwork to track deficits in auditory attention due to aging, disease, or brain trauma and to create clinical interventions, like behavioral training, to potentially correct or prevent hearing issues.”
This research is important because deficits in auditory attention are associated with social isolation, depression, cognitive dysfunction and lower work force participation. According to Frederic Dick, professor of auditory cognitive neuroscience at Birkbeck College and University College London, once neuroscientists “start to understand how subtle differences in the brain’s functional and structural architecture might make some regions more ‘fertile ground’ for learning new information.”
Click the link to read more about the fascinating study.