An international study finds women generally possess greater hearing sensitivity than men, potentially influencing household dynamics.
Scientists have confirmed findings that suggest men generally possess less sensitive hearing compared to women, which might help explain certain familial dynamics regarding household chores. An international research team conducted extensive hearing tests on 450 individuals across 13 diverse global populations, including participants from Ecuador, England, Gabon, South Africa, and Uzbekistan.
The study specifically examined the sensitivity of the cochlea within the ear, investigating how effectively it transmits brain signals in response to varying sound amplitudes and frequencies. It has long been noted that individuals typically exhibit better hearing in their right ear compared to their left, and that age often contributes to declining hearing abilities.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that the influence of sex on hearing sensitivity outweighed that of age. On average, women demonstrated a two-decibel advantage in hearing sensitivity across all populations studied, a difference deemed significant by the research team. Professor Turi King, a co-author of the study from the University of Bath, remarked, “We were surprised to find that women had two decibels more sensitive hearing across all the populations we measured, and this accounted for most of the variations between individuals.” He suggested that these differences might stem from varying hormonal exposures during prenatal development or slight structural differences in the cochlear anatomy between sexes.
In addition to greater sensitivity to sound, women also excelled in other auditory-related tests, including speech perception. Professor King noted, “We don’t really know why this might be, but given the detrimental effect of noise on overall health such as sleep quality and increased cardiovascular disease, having more sensitive hearing in noisy environments may not always be a good thing.”
Secondary factors influencing hearing sensitivity included environmental conditions. The study found that individuals residing in forested areas exhibited the highest levels of hearing sensitivity, potentially due to evolutionary adaptations to a habitat filled with various non-human sounds demanding acute awareness. Conversely, those living at high altitudes displayed reduced sensitivity, an effect potentially linked to lower atmospheric pressure, diminishing sound transmission, or physiological changes related to decreased oxygen levels.
The research also observed differences in hearing sensitivity between urban and rural populations. Individuals in urban settings tended to have heightened sensitivity to higher frequency sounds, likely as a response to the persistent low-frequency noise characteristic of city life.
Dr Patricia Balaresque, who led the study at the Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research in Toulouse, France, commented on the implications of their findings: “Our findings challenge existing assumptions and highlight the need to consider both biological and environmental factors when studying hearing. Identifying drivers behind natural hearing variation will improve our understanding of hearing loss and individual differences in noise tolerance.”
These insights have been documented in the journal Scientific Reports, furthering the discourse on auditory sensitivity and its variances in relation to sex and environment.
Source: Noah Wire Services
