The MusiConn Project: Drs. Erika Skoe, Jennifer Tufts, and Christine Njuki have been awarded a research grant from the American Hearing Research Foundation (http://american-hearing.org/) to study the early warning signs of noise-induced hearing loss in college musicians and other populations at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Multiday measurements of personal noise exposure are taken using a noise dosimeter, a small sound level meter that will be worn by each participant. This noise exposure data is part of a comprehensive assessment of the peripheral and central auditory system.
MusiConn Publications
Camera S, Tufts J, Skoe E (2019) Sound exposure and background noise tolerance in listeners with normal audiograms. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.
Skoe E, Camera S, Tufts J (2018) Noise exposure may diminish the musician advantage for perceiving speech in noise. Ear and Hearing.
Skoe E, Tufts J (2018) Evidence of noise-induced subclinical hearing loss using auditory brainstem responses and objective measures of noise exposure in humans. Hearing Research 361:80-91.
Tufts J, Skoe E (2017) Examining the noisy life of the college musician: Weeklong noise dosimetry. International Journal of Audiology.
Hearing Conservation: Learn more about how to protect your hearing
- Visit your local audiologist for high fidelity musician earplugs: http://slhs.uconn.edu/clinic/
- Download a noise-level meter app for your smart phone
- Learn how much noise it too much: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/noise/signs.htm
Related articles:
Lahav A, Skoe E (2014) An Acoustic Gap between the NICU and the Womb: A Potential Risk for Compromised Neuroplasticity of the Auditory System in Preterm Infants. Frontiers in Neuroscience doi: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00381.
Skoe E, Krizman J, Kraus N (2013) The impoverished brain: Disparities in maternal education affect the neural response to sound. Journal of Neuroscience 33(44):17221–17231.
Parbery-Clark A, Skoe E, Kraus N (2009) Musical experience limits the degradative effects of background noise on the neural processing of sound. Journal of Neuroscience 29: 14100-14107.
Parbery-Clark A, Skoe E, Lam C, Kraus N (2009) Musician enhancement for speech in noise. Ear and Hearing 30(6): 653-661.