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<p>This weekend, June 21 and 22, Sound Medicine, the award-winning weekly Public Radio program hosted by Barbara Lewis, focuses on electronic medical records, hearing aids and toddlers learning language.</p>

This Week on Sound Medicine — June 22

Electronic medical records have been a topic of discussion throughout the medical field for several years. A two-part report by Shia Levitt will explore the advantages and disadvantages of electronic medical records. Levitt looks at viewpoints of doctors, patients and hospitals and will reveal why the medical industry has been slow to switch from paper records to digital formats.

Sound Medicine’s David Crabb, M.D., will speak with George Hicks, M.D., medical director of the Midwest Ear Institute, who will discuss many of the new developments in hearing aids. Dr. Hicks explains breakthroughs such as BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid), bilateral cochlear implants and hearing aids that can be equipped with Bluetooth and cellphone capability.

Ever wondered how toddlers learn language? Researchers at IU’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in Bloomington, Ind., have made a fascinating breakthrough. Linda Smith, Ph.D., chair of the department, will explain that children use something akin to statistical data-mining to correlate words and images, allowing them to learn large groups of words very quickly.

On this week’s “Check Up,” Jeremy Shere reveals how laughter my help lower blood pressure.

Archived editions of Sound Medicine as well as other helpful information can be found at http://www.soundmedicine.iu.edu.

Sound Medicine is underwritten by the Lilly Center for Medical Science, Clarian Health, and IU Medical Group; Jeremy Shere’s “Check-Up” is underwritten by IUPUI.