It has been postulated and shown in some studies that fetal noise exposure and that of the expectant mother may cause fetal hearing loss and secondary effects. I am looking for current research in this area.
Work has been performed into neonates with some fetal animal studies also but overall not a huge amount of recent studies into the fetal effects :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3665292/
http://einj.org/DOIx.php?id=10.5213/inj.2013.17.3.107
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10037063
There is human data that low-frequency noise exposure in pregnancy is associated with higher rates of high-frequency hearing loss in children, suggesting damage occurs in utero. However, it is hard to split prenatal and postnatal noise exposures (Lalande was lead author).
These are well known studies and I am happy to see I am not the only one looking at these. They certainly exemplify our need to look at fetal noise at higher intensities as not just a commentary but an actual issue that needs more research. Thanks My article in the Hearing Journal on this topic will be coming out in June followed by a review of the Mozart Effect. Thanks for your help. D
Dear Dennis Colucci,
An interesting topic - especially for the fetuses who had undergone fetal MRI examinations. More specifically, during MRI sequences that induce large acoustic noise, such as echo-planar imaging. Literature shows that even-though MRI induced 100+ dB noise outside, noise is attenuated, and indeed, fetuses undergoing MRI does not have hearing damage.
Regards, András
Baker PN, Johnson IR, Harvey PR, Gowland PA, Mansfield P. A three-year follow-up of children imaged in utero with echo-planar magnetic resonance. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1994; 170: 32-33.
Gover P, Hykin J, Gowland P, Wright J, Johnson I, Mansfield P. An assessment of the intrauterine sound intensity level during obstetric echo-planar magnetic resonance imaging. Br J Radiol 1995; 68: 1090-1094.
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