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by Nicholas C. Delos
Hearing begins with air vibrations shaking the ear drum. These vibrations are transmitted into the inner ear where they are picked up by hair like sensory cells, which, when stimulated by the vibrations, send electrical signals to the brain where the signals are interpreted as sound.
It has long been known that over stimulation from very loud and or prolonged sound can cause the hair like sensory cells to die off. Recently, however, some neurologists and audiologists have raised concerns that when the sensory cells die they may be damaging the brain as well. These scientists hypothesize that when the cells die, the release a neurotoxin that, in large amounts, not only permanently damages the brain, but does continued to do additional damage long after the over stimulatory sound has ceased.
Links to related offsite studies and articles can be found here:
http://www.northwestern.edu/observer/issues/2006/01/11/hearing.html
http://www.livescience.com/health/ap_050912_headphones.html
http://www.unk.edu/uploadedFiles/academics/gradstudies/ssrp/2005/Potts%20Paper.pdf
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