Summary: Researchers examine how sound and music can soothe, energize, and strengthen human connections, and how advances in auditory science may restore hearing.
Source: USC
When Ludwig van Beethoven began losing his hearing around 1798, he attributed it to a fall. Modern investigators, however, point to possible causes such as illness, lead exposure, or structural problems in the middle ear.
Whatever factors produced his deafness, the condition worsened the composer’s temper and contributed to long periods of melancholy. Yet over two centuries later, our understanding of sound, auditory perception, and the biological basis of hearing has advanced dramatically.
Today we know much more about why hearing declines and how the brain processes language and music. Some causes of hearing loss can be prevented or treated, but age-related hearing loss remains a major challenge. While interventions can slow its progression or compensate for lost function, reversing age-related damage has not yet been achieved.
New hope for the deaf
Charles McKenna, a professor of chemistry at USC Dornsife, and colleagues at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute are investigating a promising compound that could repair damaged sensory cells in the inner ear. These sensory cells, found in the cochlea, convert sound vibrations into electrical signals the brain can interpret. Damage to those cells—whether from aging, prolonged noise exposure, or other causes—leads to hearing loss and related problems.
McKenna explains that regenerating the neural sensors in the cochlea could restore hearing for people who have lost it. Although some drugs appear capable of inducing cell regeneration, delivering them effectively into the inner ear has been a persistent obstacle. The cochlea is encased in bone, making adherence difficult, and the inner ear’s fluid can wash away therapeutic compounds before they can act.
The team’s recent findings suggest their compound may adhere to the cochlea long enough to be active, resisting dilution by inner ear fluid. While further testing is required to confirm safety and efficacy, these results offer new optimism for pharmaceutical approaches to treating sensorineural hearing loss.
The Power of Music
While Beethoven struggled with his own hearing, his compositions illustrate music’s capacity to influence brain function. Assal Habibi, director of the Brain & Music Lab at USC Dornsife’s Brain and Creativity Institute and an associate professor of psychology, studies how music affects neural activity using electroencephalography (EEG) and neuroimaging.
Habibi and colleagues have documented measurable cognitive benefits from music and music training, especially in children. Music lessons and structured musical activities can improve focus, auditory attention, and the ability to perceive speech in noisy environments—skills critical for classroom learning and social interaction.
“Music training enhances speech-in-noise perception,” Habibi says. “That skill helps children pick out a teacher’s voice or a classmate’s comment in a bustling classroom.” Longitudinal studies suggest music instruction may accelerate some developmental milestones, potentially reducing the risk of behavioral or learning difficulties and informing new therapeutic approaches for children with developmental delays.
One hypothesis under study is that early music training accelerates language development, enabling children to express emotions and communicate more effectively. If borne out, such findings could shape educational practices and nonpharmacological interventions that use music to support cognitive and social development.
The Science of Language
While music can sharpen our ability to separate signal from noise, the field of linguistics explores how we create, transmit, and interpret speech itself. Linguists study the basic units of sound—how the vocal tract produces them and how languages encode meaning despite variability in individual pronunciation.
Dani Byrd, a professor of linguistics at USC Dornsife, investigates how articulatory processes shape speech and how languages evolve systems for organizing sounds. She asks what rules underlie word and phrase structure across languages and how listeners reliably decode variable speech into meaningful messages.
Byrd notes that the inner ear’s sensory cells are among the body’s most delicate mechanoreceptors, responding to nanometer-scale movements. Tiny changes in air pressure move the eardrum and trigger an electrochemical cascade in the cochlea, allowing the brain to reconstruct words, emotions, and intentions from those minute vibrations.
Our auditory system’s sensitivity also invites wonder and raises questions that remain scientifically open: Why do certain sounds universally suggest surprise or fear? Why might a musical key elicit sadness for one listener but not another? How does the brain convert air pressure fluctuations into complex experiences such as laughter, sorrow, urgency, or love?
“It is remarkable,” Byrd observes, “that tiny fluctuations in air pressure can move us so deeply—making us laugh, cry, or connect with another person.” These mysteries continue to motivate research at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, and music.
About this auditory neuroscience research news
Author: Meredith McGroarty
Source: USC
Contact: Meredith McGroarty – USC
Image: The image is in the public domain