Hearing sensitivity degrades with age and is lower in early childhood

Evidence

A study on a tribe of Mabaan Africans in the Sudan showed very little hearing loss due to presbycusis. Africans at the age of sixty had as good or better hearing than the average North American at the age of twenty-five. Dr. Samuel Rosen, a New York otologist under whose supervision the study was made, attributed the superior hearing ability of the Africans to their noise-free environment. The loudest sounds the Mabaan heard were the sounds of their own voices singing and shouting at tribal dances. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 621 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Cochlear gain declines with age before measurable threshold elevation appears — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 959; Age-linked decline in cochlear function stems from falling endocochlear potential — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 959; Hearing loss that harms multichannel dialogue clarity can begin as early as age 30. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1440 (+6 more)

Related

• Noise exposure and age produce distinct hearing-loss signatures (similarity 0.92)
• Age-linked decline in cochlear function stems from falling endocochlear potential (similarity 0.88)
• Much age-related hearing decline stems from environmental noise, not aging itself (similarity 0.88)
• Age-related presbycusis limits high-frequency hearing by the mid-twenties (similarity 0.87)
• Age-related hearing decline in noise begins while thresholds remain normal (similarity 0.87)
• Hearing sensitivity within clinically normal range still declines measurably with age (similarity 0.86)
• Aging and loud sound exposure both erode hearing from high frequencies downward (similarity 0.85)
• Age-related hearing loss affects high frequencies most and strikes men more than women (similarity 0.85)
• Cochlear gain declines with age before measurable threshold elevation appears (similarity 0.84)
• Hearing loss that harms multichannel dialogue clarity can begin as early as age 30. (similarity 0.84)
• Age-related temporal and level sensitivity decline precedes measurable hearing loss (similarity 0.84)
• Age-related hearing loss directly causes increased preferred treble (similarity 0.84)
• Preferred treble level rises 3 dB per decade of age over 30 (similarity 0.83)
• Age impairs binaural envelope processing but cochlear hearing loss does not (similarity 0.83)
• Hearing loss correlates strongly with age across a 71-person sample. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Much age-related hearing decline stems from environmental noise, not aging itself #contradicts (0.85) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 621
• Age-related presbycusis limits high-frequency hearing by the mid-twenties #expands (0.85)
• Noise exposure and age produce distinct hearing-loss signatures #expands (0.80)
• Monaural temporal fine structure processing declines with age even without hearing loss. #expands (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 824