Cochlear damage widens auditory filters and impairs sound interpretation.

Evidence

This enhancement mechanism is very easily damaged; it appears to be more sensitive to excessive noise than the main transduction system. The effect of the damage though is not just to reduce the threshold but also to increase the bandwidth of our acoustic filters … This effect is more insidious because the effect is less easy to measure and perceive; it manifests itself as a difficulty in interpreting sounds rather than a mere reduction in their perceived level. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 663

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The two distinct damage effects — filter broadening (impairing speech separation) and reduced sensitivity — are subtle and layering; especially the claim that damage manifests as interpretive difficulty, not just quietness.
• ADDENDUM: Could support the One Square Inch or sacrifice articles as material on how environmental assault degrades perception itself, not just sensation.
• XREF: connects to: Hearing damage widens acoustic filter bandwidth, impairing speech separation and sensitivity — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 674