How to pick out sounds from a loud environment?

January 16, 2011 1:22 PM

Is there any way of improving one's ability to pick out particular sounds from a loud environment?

I've been to the doctor to have my hearing tested because I can't hear patients talking to me on busy wards in the hospital (I'm a medical student). Compared to the other students I have to lean in much closer and ask them to repeat themselves much more, and I'm constantly worried that I've missed something. I've always been like this - I avoided going out to noisy bars and nightclubs because I couldn't hear anyone and the noise hurt my ears, I have noise-canceling headphones for my commute so I can actually hear my music, and so on.

Turns out that my hearing is fine. I rather suspected this, as I have no problems picking out very soft sounds as long as the environment is quiet.

I've read through this thread, and it has a lot on the 'why' and less on the 'what to do about it'. This is something that will really impact on my professional practice; I can't ask for any special treatment because there's nothing medically wrong with my hearing. I need to hear these patients, and I can't silence a ward to do so.

posted by Coobeastie to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Best answer: Okay, this is completely subjective, but I've found that meditation has helped me be able to do this better. It makes a certain amount of sense, as when you are meditating you have less mental distraction. But however it works, it does seem to work for me, not that I've ever meditated deliberately trying to do what you're talking about—just seems to be a side effect.
posted by dubitable at 1:26 PM on January 16, 2011

Best answer: There has been a lot of work in experimental psychology on the perception of "speech in noise." That's the term to search for in PubMed or a similar database. Unfortunately, since it is experimental psychology, it is not at all interested in applications, such as how to train this ability.

On the other hand, I would be very surprised if it cannot be improved with training — a high proportion of people can improve their performance on very difficult cognitive tasks (I'm looking at you, Suzanne Jaeggi's dual-stream n-back task (PDF)!).

I think a speech and hearing pathologist would be the person to turn to for advice. Although you're probably an atypical client for them, they should have some materials for people who want to improve their speech perception abilities. You may also want to get evaluated for some sort of sensory integration deficit while you're at it. Sadly, experimental findings take a long time to filter down to companies that develop materials used by SLPs, so you might want to make sure that whatever you end up using is based on verifiable, current scientific results.
posted by Nomyte at 1:50 PM on January 16, 2011

Best answer: I recently learned of a class of earplugs that dampen sound levels without (significantly) altering the actual sounds. The context I've heard them being used in is at concerts and clubs where you want to hear the music clearly, but at a more reasonable volume.

It seems a bit backwards to try and use earplugs to increase your ability to carry on a conversation, but the way you described the problem makes me think it would be an interesting experiment to try out. They aren't very expensive, and if they don't work in the hospital environment, they'll maybe help you get out to the bars and nightclubs when you need to relax.

Here's a random example on amazon.
posted by jsturgill at 2:09 PM on January 16, 2011

Best answer: You could always pick up a hobby that utilizes this technique, such as birdwatching. For example, you would sometimes be in a forest with the wind blowing, the trees creaking, the grass rustling, a river babbling, and several kinds of birds singing but you hear a specific kind and have to work at locating where it's coming from and then which one and then what kind. Also, reading lips.
posted by DisreputableDog at 8:17 PM on January 16, 2011

I know it may be awkward during a conversation, but I've found that closing my eyes in a noisy room helps me to isolate specific sounds or voices.

Also, try to turn your head left and right a few times, this could help you orient the source of the sound a little better by giving your brain a few more hints about the direction it's coming from. It's worked for me.
posted by itsjustcarlo at 10:03 PM on January 16, 2011

Best answer: Next time you attend a musical performance, try focusing on a single player or singer and focusing on his/her sound, picking it out from the mix. You can work up from a four-person bar band to a symphony orchestra or chorus.
posted by carmicha at 8:23 AM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone - lots of things to try, will see how they work out.
posted by Coobeastie at 12:21 AM on January 25, 2011