<
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/22/filter-trouble-why-audiologists-worry-noise-cancelling-headphones-may-impair-hearing-skills>
"They are prized for making the commute more bearable and shielding against the
din of daily life. But noise-cancelling headphones have come under scrutiny
after audiologists raised concerns that overuse might impair people’s hearing
skills.
While the technology has clear benefits, not least in helping people listen to
music at lower volume, some specialists suspect that constantly filtering out
background noise may have unintended consequences.
Renee Almeida, an adult audiology clinical lead at Imperial College healthcare
NHS trust, has seen an uptick in adults coming to her clinic with hearing
issues only for tests to suggest their hearing is fine.
The problem is with their brain, not their ears. They might fail to locate
where a sound is coming from, or struggle to follow a conversation on the
train, in a bar or at a restaurant.
The condition, known as auditory processing disorder (APD), is often diagnosed
in children, so the rise in adults with similar issues struck Almeida as odd.
Her hunch is that widespread use of noise-cancelling headphones could be the
culprit.
“The brain is used to dealing with thousands of different sounds at the same
time and it’s always been able to figure out what is and isn’t worth listening
to. If a dog barks outside, in a split second I recognise that it’s a dog
barking and I don’t really care,” she says. “With noise cancelling, you’re
giving your brain only one source of sound, be it a podcast or music. One
source. There’s nothing else for your brain to worry about.”
Excessive use of noise-cancelling headphones could impair the developmental
process by which children learn to attend to sounds, Almeida says. For adults,
it could make their brains lazy, just as muscles weaken without exercise. In
both cases, she says, people could struggle to extract speech from the hubbub
around them.
There is no scientific evidence that noise-cancelling headphones cause APD. Nor
is there any robust data showing a rise in the condition. But Almeida believes
the question warrants attention. “Studies definitely need to be done,” she
says. “The research should focus on the effects of extended use, especially in
young people.”
APD affects about three to five per cent of school-age children. It has been
linked to low birth weight, but also chronic middle ear infections. In older
adults, the condition can be triggered by stroke or head trauma. In many cases,
the cause is never clear."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
