Brain solutions for hearing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic and the misery of wearing a mask
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SHORT COMMUNICATION
Brain solutions for hearing problems during the COVID‑19 pandemic and the misery of wearing a mask Nima Derakhshan1 · Shekoofeh Yaghmaei2 Received: 13 September 2020 / Accepted: 30 October 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Background In COVID-19 pandemics days, wearing facial mask in public places has become obligatory to prevent the virus spread. In addition to its valuable protection, wearing facial mask can affect verbal communication in an adverse fashion and makes mutual understanding difficult. This happens because the mask eliminates the positive effect of the lip-reading phenomenon in direct communications. The mirror neuron system is responsible for automatic imitation, associative sequence learning, and motor mimicry. This system is a strong candidate justifying an unexpected action described in this article. Purpose Taking the facial mask off, to help the listener understanding better is a normal reaction. However, unexpectedly, one does the same as the listener when he/she is unable to comprehend the speaker. Herein, we suggest a hypothesis proposing the basic role of Mirror neuron system in this action. Most of the research on these cells have been conducted on monkeys, where the researchers observed that, these neuron discharge pulses both when a monkey performs an action and when it observes another monkey or a person committing the similar action. Conclusion The driving mechanism of an unanticipated action of taking off mask while listening to a speaker is emphasized in this paper. Herein, we try to clarify how we came up with the idea that mirror neuron system drives a surprising action observed in COVID-19 pandemics days. As a result, we suggest possible clinical studies to verify our hypothesis. Keywords Mirror neuron system · COVID-19 · Facial mask · Communication difficulty The COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Later on March 12th 2020, WHO (World Health Organization) announced this outbreak as a pandemic [1]. Thereafter, wearing face masks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing were highly recommended as effective preventive acts. Due to its double duty protection, more than 50 countries have enforced compulsory face mask policies in public areas. However, if used thoughtlessly, the masks can also cause undesired side effects. While masks save lives, they also create social challenges like verbal communication difficulties which are more considerable for people suffering from hearing * Shekoofeh Yaghmaei [email protected] Nima Derakhshan [email protected] 1
Research Center for Neuromodulation and Pain, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
General Practitioner, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Zand St., PO Box: 71348‑14336, Shiraz, Iran
2
impairment. In cases that verbal communication cannot be fully effective (e.g. in crowded environments, in areas with high noise level, or for people with hearing disabilities) the brain
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