Title

TheEffectofLoudMusiconTeenageAudibility

Abstract
Inthisprojectwemadeaninfographicthattalksabouttheeffectofloudmusiconteenhearing.
Weresearcheddifferentarticlesthathasstudiesontheamountofloudmusicpeoplelistento
daily.Afterdoingtheresearchwemadekeypointsofthedamagethatcausesthelossofteen
hearing.Inourresearch,someofthemostinterestingfactswefoundisthepeoplewithgood
hearinghavetinyhaircellsthatlineintheinnerearthattransmitssignalstothebrain,whichare
interpretedassound.Listeningtoloudmusiccanflattenthesehairs,andalthoughtheynormally
springbackintoplace,noisedamageoveralongperiodcancausethemtosnap.

Introduction
MypartnerandIchosethisexperimentbecauseithasalottodowithour
peersandourlives.Thequestionthatwechosehasadirectcorrelationwithmanyother
experimentsthatarebeingdoneonasimilarbasis.ThequestionisDoeslisteningtoan
excessiveorunreasonableamountofloudmusichaveanegativeeffectonteenhearing?We
aretryingtofindouthowoverlyloudmusicnegativelyaffectshearing.Inourhypothesiswe
statedthatwiththeriseinpeoplelisteningtoloudmusic,overtimethewillbemorecasesof
hearinglossintheteenagepopulation.Inourfinalproduct,andinfographic,wedescribevolume
levelinmanyimportpointswithdecibels.Adecibel
isalogarithmicunitthatexpressestheratio
oftwovaluesofaphysicalquantity,oftenpowerorintensity.Wesuspectedthatloudmusic
woulddefinitelynegativelyaffectteenhearingbecausein
HearingLossRelatedtoMP3&iPod
Usage
and
Isloudmusicruiningyourhearing?b
otharticleshasstrongargumentsandstatistics
onwhyandhowoverlyloudmusicnegativelyaffectsteenhearing.Weexpectthatinformation
andstatisticswearelookingfortoputintoourinfographicwillbeeasytofind,andthisquestion
hasbeenresearchedsooften.

QuestionandHypothesis

Question:
Doeslisteningtoanexcessiveorunreasonableamountofloudmusichavea
negativeeffectonteenhearing?

Hypothesis:
Ifunreasonableamountsofloudmusicnegativelyaffectsteenhearingthen
overtimetherewillbemanymorecasesofhearinglossintheteenagepopulation.

Methods&Materials

Inthisprojectwedecidedtonotconductanexperiment,ortestsubjects,tofindananswer,but
insteadfindarticlesandstudiesthatdirectlycorrelatewithourquestion.Tostarttheprojectoff
weformulatedourquestionwithwasDoeslisteningtoanexcessiveorunreasonableamountof
loudmusichaveanegativeeffectonteenhearing?Afterthatweidentifiedourdependentand
independentvariablesandcreatedahypothesiswhichwasIfunreasonableamountsofloud
musicnegativelyaffectsteenhearingthenovertimetherewillbemanymorecasesofhearing
lossintheteenagepopulation.Thenwecollected10sources,whichwillbeaccessibleinthe

bibliographywhichwillbeattheendofthereport.Themajorityoftheinformationwegotfrom
thewebsitescamefromsurveysthatwefoundfromWesynthesizedtheinformation,andpulled
outkeypointsthatwouldhelpusanswerourquestioninourfinalproduct.Ourfinalproductwas
ainfographiccreatedonlineinawebsitecalledPiktochart.InthisinfographicIdescribedwhy
loudmusicnegativelyaffectshearingaswellasincludingpicturestosupportmystatements.At
theveryendoftheprojectwewillprintoutourinfographicandhangitsomewhereintheschool
forthepublictosee.

Results

Fortheresultofourexperiment,weprovedourhypothesistobecorrect.Thisisthetextthatis
beingincludedinourinfographicthatprovesourhypothesis,andshowsourresults.

4,400peoplearoundtheworld,betweenages1465weresurveyed,and85%saidthat
theylistenedtotheirmusicwiththevolumeabove50%.
Onspecificappledevices,youshouldnotlistentomusicover70%,andbetween50%
and70%youshouldlimityou'relisteningtime.
9%oftheUnitedStatessetsthevolumeatthefullpercent,and16%oftheU.S.are
constantlylisteningtomusicondevicesonadailybasis.
Beingexposedtomorethan85decibels(aboutthelevelthatteenslistentotheirmusic
today)ofsoundforeighthourscandamageyourhearing.
Peoplewithgoodhearinghavetinyhaircellsthatlinetheinnerearandthesetransmit
signalstothebrain,whichareinterpretedassound.
Listeningtoloudmusiccanflattenhairswithintheear,andalthoughtheynormallyspring
backintoplace,noisedamageoveralongperiodcancausethemtosnap.
Musiccanshapethebrain,itcanalterbrainstructuresinmusicians.
Itcanenhancecognitiveskillsinchildrenandadultsalike.
Brainactivationpatternsarerelatedtohowmuchpeoplelikeparticularsongs.
Musicwasshowntoloweranxietymorethanmedicationsinonestudy.

Discussion

Doeslisteningtoanexcessiveorunreasonableamountofloudmusichaveanegativeeffecton
teenhearing?Wefounddifferentarticlesthattalkedabouttheeffectofloudmusicandthe
damagethatcangetdonetothebrain,andcancausepotentialcauseofhearingloss.The
significantdatacollectionwasbasedonhowthe
musiccans
hapethebrain,alsoitcanalter
brainstructuresinmusicians.Itcanenhancecognitiveskillsinchildrenandadultsalike.Also
beingexposedtomorethan85decibels(aboutthelevelthatteenslistentotheirmusictoday)of
soundforeighthourscandamageyourhearing.Peoplewithgoodhearinghavetinyhaircells
thatlinetheinnerearandthesetransmitsignalstothebrain,whichareinterpretedassound.
Onspecificappledevices,youshouldnotlistentomusicover70%,andbetween50%and70%
youshouldlimityou'relisteningtime.Theindependentvariabledidhaveameasurableeffecton
thedependentvariablebecausetheeffectofloudmusicaffectsthebrain.Ourresultsare

importantbecauseittellsthatthemoreyoulistentoyourloudmusicthemorelikelyyoucango
deafandgetbraindamaged.Theresultsareimportantbecausewehavetheproofofthe
damagethatisbeingdonetotonsofpeopleonadailybases.

Bibliography

"ThisIsYourBrainonMusicCNN.com."
CNN
.CableNewsNetwork,n.d.Web.12Oct.2015.

"4UnusualWaysMusicCanTuneUptheBrain."N.p.,n.d.Web.

Staff,ByLiveScience."TeensCrankUpIPodVolume,RiskHearingDamage."
LiveScience
.
TechMediaNetwork,18Feb.2009.Web.12Oct.2015.

"LoudMusicCanAffectMemoryandLearningTechnocrates.org."
Technocratesorg
.N.p.,30July
2012.Web.12Oct.2015.

"7TipstoAvoidIPhone&IPodHearingLoss."
About.comTech
.N.p.,n.d.Web.12Oct.2015.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/health/brainmusicresearch/
http://www.livescience.com/46008unusualwaysmusicaffectsbrain.htm
http://www.livescience.com/3348teenscrankipodvolumeriskhearingdamage.html
http://www.technocrates.org/loudmusiccanaffectmemoryandlearning/1292/
http://ipod.about.com/od/generalmaintenance/a/avoidingipodhearingloss.htm