Hearing becomes specialised very early on in life. Auditory regions in the left hemisphere of the brain generally dominate over the right when it comes to speech, and the right hemisphere regions tend to process music and tones. Scientists have now established that at least part of the difference in the brain arises from differences in the ears, and the hair cells in particular (Science 2004;305: 1581).

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The Epley manoeuvre is a complicated series of head movements designed to treat acute benign positional vertigo. A randomised clinical trial of the Epley manoeuvre performed on patients with benign positional vertigo presenting to an emergency department …