Can engaging with music help stave off hearing loss later in life?

New data from Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Music Cognition Lab explores the potential for musicality to protect against hearing deficits.

Researchers at this cutting-edge laboratory in Music City recognize musicality as more than formal training or recognized talent, but also interest, engagement, and aptitude, says Srishti Nayak, Ph.D., a researcher in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at VUMC.

Nayak's project will consider how a range of musicality factors might connect to age-related hearing loss — and the genetic mechanisms that underlie this trait.