[CQ-Contest] Rewired brains

[Art Boyars]

K8MR said "I ... think that ours have adapted to listening to weak signals amongst lots of QRM and QRN, in a way that those of non-contesting hams have not.  It would be fascinating to see how the brains of contesters vs. non-contesters vs. non-hams behave as they process chaotic sound information."

One data point.  As my hearing got weaker -- especially the notch at 4KHz -- about 10 years ago I went for an audiogram.  I had absolutely no trouble hearing the pure tones -- I'm even sure I got the call signs!  But on the spoken word tests I sure could tell where my loss was.  That might not be sound (oops!) like scientific proof, but billions of tax dollars have been expended on weaker evidence.  I always wondered if long term active ham radio contributed to my reduction in auditory capacity.  And nowadays I can't copy SSB worth a darn (and ask the other W3LPL op's how loud I run the audio for CW!).  Maybe that has something to do with my preference for CW over 'phone.

OTOH, K1JX once mentioned hearing (oops, again!) from a mental health nurse about some communications disorder that was more prevalent among hams, especially CW operators,  than in the general population.  Anybody know anything about that?

73, Art K3KU