Does closing your eyes help you hear better?

Have you ever closed your eyes to help you hear the teacher in a noisy classroom?

It's a common thing for people to do because it has been thought that by shutting off one sense (sight), your brain could focus on another (sound).

However, scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in China, have been looking at whether this technique actually works.

They concluded that while it might work when it's quiet, it could actually have the opposite effect in noisy environments.

Read on to find out more about the experiment...

25 volunteers wore special devices on their heads to monitor their brain activity, whilst wearing headphones to listen to different sounds.

Background noise was played through the headphones and the participants had to pick out one of five sounds: a canoe paddle splashing, a drum, a bird chirping, a train rumbling and a keyboard clacking.

First they did this with their eyes closed. Then looking at a blank screen, next looking at a still picture of the sound they were trying to hear and finally a video matching up with the sound.

They had to turn the volume of the target sound up or down to the level where they could just about hear it over the background noise.

The scientists found the volunteers were able to pick up the sound much better with their eyes open.

The sound needed to be louder when their eyes were closed but lower when looking at a still image and lower still with the corresponding video.

Results showed this was because the brain was over-filtering noises including the target sounds when their eyes were shut.

But scientists say this research was only done with noisy environments, and closing your eyes to hear better in quieter places may well still work.