Women may hear better than men, new study suggests

The old adage is that moms have eyes in the back of their heads, but a new study shows that women in general may also have more sensitive hearing.The study, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, sought to examine the correlation between multiple factors — including gender, age and region, among others — and hearing sensitivity.Patricia Balaresque, Ph.D., at the Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research in Toulouse, France, led a team of scientists to conduct hearing tests on 448 individuals from 13 global communities in Ecuador, England, Gabon, South Africa and Uzbekistan.The results show that hearing sensitivity is primarily influenced by gender and environment, followed by age and left versus right ear.“Our findings challenge existing assumptions and highlight the need to consider both biological and environmental factors when studying hearing,” Balaresque said in a press release.Scientists measured hearing sensitivity using transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE), which assess the cochlea’s ability to produce and transmit an acoustic response after sound stimulation.The cochlea is a fluid-filled, spiral-shaped cavity in the inner ear that converts sound waves into electrical impulses that the brain can interpret, medical sources state.By analyzing TEOAE profiles, researchers gained valuable insights into how the cochlea responds to external auditory stimuli.To calculate hearing sensitivity, a small device played a clicking sound into the ear of test subjects and then recorded the tiny sounds the inner ear sent back in response, the study findings detailed.These returning signals, which are created by cells in the cochlea, provide a reliable indication of how sensitive the ear is to sound.The researchers then examined the signals, including how strong they were (measured in decibels, a unit used to convey the relative intensity or loudness of a sound) and which frequencies the ear responded to most strongly.They also c...