Age-related hearing decline in noise begins while thresholds remain normal

Evidence

Older (≥ 60 years) participants were screened using the Mini Mental State Examination to confirm the absence of cognitive impairment. All participants had individual audiometric hearing thresholds of ≤ 20 dB HL at octave frequencies between 0.125 and 4 kHz, as well as at 3 kHz, in the test ear. Despite clinically “normal” audibility, the pure-tone average (PTA) for the tested frequency range declined as a function of age (r = 0.65, p ≤ 0.001, one-tailed). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1140

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on hidden hearing loss and cochlear synaptopathy, where audiometrically normal ears mask age-related neural degeneration. — connects to: Inner-ear damage accumulates silently before audiometric thresholds rise; Cochlear gain declines with age before measurable threshold elevation appears — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 959; Temporal-structure sensitivity declines with age even when audiograms remain normal. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 793 (+5 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1140

Broader Connections

• Temporal-structure sensitivity declines with age even when audiograms remain normal. #corroborates (0.85) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 793
• Hidden hearing loss can impair speech in noise without raising thresholds #corroborates (0.82)
• Binaural temporal fine structure sensitivity declines by middle age independently of hearing thresholds #corroborates (0.80) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1078