Health & Medicine
Earphone or Headphone Volume Corrodes Nerve Cells Leading to Deafness
Brooke Miller
First Posted: Aug 30, 2012 08:26 AM EDT
The new study carried out by the scientists from the University of Leicester claim that increasing the volume of the headphones on personal music player can damage the coating of nerve cells that leads to temporary deafness. The researchers have compared the high volume of a headphone to that of a jet engine.
Hearing problems such as temporary deafness and tinnitus i.e continuous ringing in the ears, are triggered when noise louder than 110 decibels are heard. But this is the first study that focuses on the cell damage that occurs due to high volume.
The study that is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was led by Dr Martine Hamann of the Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology.
"The research allows us to understand the pathway from exposure to loud noises to hearing loss. Dissecting the cellular mechanisms underlying this condition is likely to bring a very significant healthcare benefit to a wide population. The work will help prevention as well as progression into finding appropriate cures for hearing loss."
Nerve cells are coated with myelin sheath which helps electrical signals travel along the cells. These electrical signals get disrupted when loud noises above 110 decibel are heard. But the coating around the nerve cells have the capacity to reform leading to normal cell functioning, indicating hearing loss is temporary and can return.
Hamann explained: "We now understand why hearing loss can be reversible in certain cases. We showed that the sheath around the auditory nerve is lost in about half of the cells we looked at, a bit like stripping the electrical cable linking an amplifier to the loudspeaker. The effect is reversible and after three months, hearing has recovered and so has the sheath around the auditory nerve.
The research continues on the effects of loud noises on part of brain called as dorsal cochlear nucleus.
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First Posted: Aug 30, 2012 08:26 AM EDT
The new study carried out by the scientists from the University of Leicester claim that increasing the volume of the headphones on personal music player can damage the coating of nerve cells that leads to temporary deafness. The researchers have compared the high volume of a headphone to that of a jet engine.
Hearing problems such as temporary deafness and tinnitus i.e continuous ringing in the ears, are triggered when noise louder than 110 decibels are heard. But this is the first study that focuses on the cell damage that occurs due to high volume.
The study that is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was led by Dr Martine Hamann of the Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology.
"The research allows us to understand the pathway from exposure to loud noises to hearing loss. Dissecting the cellular mechanisms underlying this condition is likely to bring a very significant healthcare benefit to a wide population. The work will help prevention as well as progression into finding appropriate cures for hearing loss."
Nerve cells are coated with myelin sheath which helps electrical signals travel along the cells. These electrical signals get disrupted when loud noises above 110 decibel are heard. But the coating around the nerve cells have the capacity to reform leading to normal cell functioning, indicating hearing loss is temporary and can return.
Hamann explained: "We now understand why hearing loss can be reversible in certain cases. We showed that the sheath around the auditory nerve is lost in about half of the cells we looked at, a bit like stripping the electrical cable linking an amplifier to the loudspeaker. The effect is reversible and after three months, hearing has recovered and so has the sheath around the auditory nerve.
The research continues on the effects of loud noises on part of brain called as dorsal cochlear nucleus.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone