Q 01/05

Which composer, almost completely deaf by 1824, had to be turned around to see the audience applaud his Ninth Symphony?

A) Schubert

B) Rossini

C) Beethoven

D) Mendelssohn

Answer · why

C) Beethoven

Beethoven was still beating time several bars behind when contralto Caroline Unger gently turned him to face the cheering hall. The musicians had been...

Q 02/05

Which hearing condition does William Shatner link to a pyrotechnic accident while filming a 1967 Star Trek episode?

A) Tinnitus

B) Hyperacusis

C) Labyrinthitis

D) Otosclerosis

Answer · why

A) Tinnitus

Tinnitus eased for Shatner after habituation therapy, in which an earpiece of low-level white noise helped his brain push the sound into the backgroun...

Q 03/05

Which dog breed is prone to inherited deafness, with a US study finding about a quarter deaf in one or both ears?

A) Beagle

B) Greyhound

C) Rottweiler

D) Dalmatian

Answer · why

D) Dalmatian

The Dalmatian owes its deafness to missing pigment cells in the inner ear, the same fault seen in other largely white or piebald animals. Dogs deaf in...

Q 04/05

Hearing loss in midlife ranks among the largest modifiable risk factors for which condition of later life?

A) Depression

B) Dementia

C) Diabetes

D) Stroke

Answer · why

B) Dementia

Dementia may become more likely because straining to hear adds to the brain's workload, and because hearing loss can lead to social isolation, another...

Q 05/05

Which tiny structures of the inner ear, damaged by loud noise, can regrow in birds and fish but not in humans?

A) Hair cells

B) Otoliths

C) Nerve fibres

D) Ossicles

Answer · why

A) Hair cells

Hair cells turn sound into nerve signals, and because mammals cannot replace them the loss is permanent. Researchers hope gene and stem-cell therapies...