Ha? What? Really? This was my expression when I read the title of the study on the New York Timest website. Isn’t that weird and strange?

We normally designate the ears as our primary part for listening and hearing right? This is not completely accurate, according to a new study conducted by Bryan Gick and Donald Derrick of the University of British Columbia, people can also heart with their skin.

I believe this is the first study to examine the skin ability to hear. Researchers in the 1976 found that people integrated both auditory cues and visual ones, meaning that people can hear with their eyes also.

The researchers had subjects listen to spoken syllables while hooked up to a device that would simultaneously blow a tiny puff of air onto the skin of their hand or neck. The syllables included “ba” and “pa,” which produce a brief puff from the mouth when spoken, and “da” and “ta,” which don’t produce puffs. They found that when listeners heard “da” or “ta” while a puff of air was blown onto their skin, they perceived the sound as “ba” or “pa.”

The researchers found that when the puff of air was paired with the aspirated word, people got better at identifying the sound. When the puff of air was paired with “ba” or “da,” accuracy declined.

If further research can show the same effect is observed when listening to everyday conversation in the ‘real’ world, then it could help improve hearing aids. Dr Ralph Holme said.

Via – NYT