From Bryn Glover, Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK
The short article by Caroline Williams about the selective detection of sounds was of particular interest to me as one who depends significantly on hearing aids(11 October, p 20).
The problem is that in, say, the dining area of a pub, the aids will selectively home in on what happens to be the loudest sound at the time, so loud voices or loud laughter at nearby tables means that my own table’s conversation can be quite drowned out.
If I turn off my aids, my level of hearing drops significantly, but I am then – to a small degree – able to benefit from the effect described by Williams.
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