Auditory Sensitivity

Have you ever wanted to turn down the volume at a deafening concert or noisy bar? Envy the whale: a new study finds that toothed whales can reduce their own [auditory:mental] sensitivity when they expect a loud sound. The work is presented at this week's Acoustics 2012 meeting. Whales and dolphins rely on their responsive hearing to interpret returning [echolocation:installation] clicks. Previous research suggested that these marine mammals could dull their hearing before uttering outgoing echolocation clicks, which are very loud. Could they use the same coping [mechanism:cmmunication] for external noises? To find out, [researchers:people] trained a false killer whale that a loud noise would always follow a brief warning signal. Then, they [attached:connected] suction-cup sensors to the [outside:part] of the whale's head and played the signal. The sensors measured [brainwaves:refrains] that indicated the whale did reduce its hearing sensitivity in expectation of a clamour. The researchers hope to test other species as well. Loud noises from ships can disturb whales. To accommodate marine life, perhaps vessels could emit signals before making a ruckus, warning whales to tune...