Can You Train Yourself to Hear Better in noise?
First, the hearing loss: If you have a hearing loss your ears aren't able to provide a complete signal he brain. It's somewhat like a pianist playing the piano and some of the keys are missing. Sometimes you'll be able to glean the song anyway, but more often than not your brain will be playing a guessing game. Add background noise and your brain can't even guess well anymore. A hearing aid will help provide the needed input in this situation, however the signal still has to go through a damaged ear. Hearing aids make a difficult situation better, but it's still a difficult situation.
Second, the difficult situation: Even if you have perfect hearing, as the noise level in a room increases, it's harder and harder for your brain to filter it out so that you can focus on the person you're trying to listen to. When the noise around you becomes louder than the person you're trying to hear, it's can me nearly impossible for your brain to pick up the signal and make any sense of it.
Third, your brain: Some people have what's known as "auditory processing difficulties" or an "auditory processing disorder" that adds to the problem. Have you ever noticed that in school some people can study with a party going on and others need it quiet? That's because not all of us process sound in the same way. Your coworker may be able to hear in the conference room with no difficulty because your boss' voice is sent through his brain via a more direct route. We can actually see these differences in brain mapping studies.
The good news is that there are ways for you to train your brain to hear better in background noise. For years, a CD has been available called LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) that helps your brain to focus on the sounds you want to hear, and exclude those you don't. There's also a newcomer on the market called eArena (by Siemens) which is similar (I'm sure there'll be more to come). Both involve a daily exercise to actually rewire your auditory pathways. Think of it as physical therapy for your brain!
I use both of these CDs for my patients, whether they have hearing aids or not. I'm a big fan because they've been very successful. Don't expect miracles, a difficult situation will still be a difficult situation, but when trying to hear your family for the holidays, every little bit helps.
If you have questions about the use of these CD's you should contact your audiologist for more information, or just let me know. Also, if you have other ideas for hearing better in noise, post them here for the benefit of others.
My best,
Dr. Barbara Jenkins, BCABA
Oct 8, 2009 at 11:20 AM Wonderful Blog. Any research demonstrating that people who use auditory retraining software like LACE have more positive outcomes with hearing aids?; such as: lower return rates, higher objective benefit, higher satisfaction, etc.?
Nov 20, 2011 at 10:59 PM I've had a nerve hearing loss as long as I can remember. I find it difficult to detect where sound is coming from and listening in noisy environments. I'm interested in trying to learn how to focus and concentrate on listening more in a noisy environment.
Nov 23, 2011 at 11:56 AM Dear Karl,
The brain is a wonderful thing. You have the ability to focus more clearly in background noise if you train it well.
If you want to hear better in background noise I suggest the following.
1. If you need hearing aids please try them. Even if you just need one hearing aid it will help. The brain localizes sound by the time differential between the two ears, so if they aren't working together, you may have more problems. There are now hearing aids that work together to help in the process.
2. Obtain an auditory retraining DVD. Ask you audiologist for either a LACE or the Siemen's aEarena software. Actually, if you are serious, get both and alternate use. With just a couple months of daily practice, your ability to localize sound and interpret it in noise will be reprogrammed in your brain. I have done it and it's actually fun.
3. After using the DVD's each twice, reuse them as needed to keep your brain sharp.
I like to compare the benefit to music. If you and I go to a concert and you ask me if I heard "the F sharp that was off", I wouldn't have any idea what you are talking about, as I am not musically trained. If, however, I studied daily for a couple months, I'd be able to tell you that I did hear the F sharp right after the D flat. In both cases I'm hearing the same thing, but after training my brain is able to identify the details more clearly.
I challenge you to do both the LACE and the aEARena programs (aEARena -LACE - aEARena -Lace) and then check back. My patients have shown marked improvements in their "hearing in noise" testing after doing so. It will help you day to day.
All my best Karl, and good luck.
Dr. Barbara Jenkins
www.AdvancedAudiology.info