Individually designed music therapy might help reduce noise levels in people suffering from tinnitus, or ear ringing, German scientists said on Monday.

The German researchers designed musical treatments adapted to the musical tastes of patients with ear-ringing and then stripped out sound frequencies that matched the individual's tinnitus frequency.

After a year of listening to these "notched" musical therapies, patients reported a distinct decrease in the loudness of ringing compared with those who had listened to non-tailored placebo music, the researchers wrote in a study published in the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Tinnitus is a common hearing problem in industrialized countries and the ear-ringing can be loud enough to harm quality of life.

A European Union (EU) health panel raised the alarm in January about the potential hearing damage caused by young people playing their MP3 players too loud.

The Panel warned that listening to personal music devices at high volume for long periods could cause hearing loss and tinnitus, and their warning prompted the European Commission to issue new safe volume standards for MP3 players.

The German researchers said the precise cause of tinnitus is not known, but the auditory cortex - the region of the brain that processes sound - is often distorted in those who have it.

Questions:

1. What is the name of the condition music therapy can ease?

2. What is the name of the publication the findings were published in?

3. What device was new health advice about in January?

Answers:

1. Tinnitus.

2. National Academy of Sciences journal.

3. MP3.

去聽寫專區一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.