Abstract
Various measures of auditory function are reported to be superior in females as compared to males, in African American compared to Caucasian individuals, and in right compared to left ears. We re-examined the influence of these subject variables on hearing thresholds and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) in a sample of 887 human participants between 10 and 68 years of age. Even though the variables of interest here have been examined before, previous attempts have largely been limited to frequencies up to 8 kHz. We used state-of-The-Art signal delivery and recording techniques that compensated for individual differences in ear canal acoustics, allowing us to measure hearing thresholds and OAEs up to 20 kHz. The use of these modern calibration and recording techniques provided the motivation for re-examining these commonly studied variables. While controlling for age, noise exposure history, and general health history, we attempted to isolate the effects of gender, race, and ear (left versus right) on hearing thresholds and OAEs. Our results challenge the notion of a right ear advantage and question the existence of a significant gender and race differences in both hearing thresholds and OAE levels. These results suggest that ear canal anatomy and acoustics should be important considerations when evaluating the influence of gender, race, and ear on peripheral auditory function.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | To the Ear and Back Again - Advances in Auditory Biophysics |
Subtitle of host publication | Proceedings of the 13th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop |
Editors | Christopher Bergevin, Sunil Puria |
Publisher | American Institute of Physics Inc. |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780735416703 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 31 2018 |
Event | 13th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop: To the Ear and Back Again - Advances in Auditory Biophysics, MoH 2017 - St. Catharines, Canada Duration: Jun 19 2017 → Jun 24 2017 |
Publication series
Name | AIP Conference Proceedings |
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Volume | 1965 |
ISSN (Print) | 0094-243X |
ISSN (Electronic) | 1551-7616 |
Other
Other | 13th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop: To the Ear and Back Again - Advances in Auditory Biophysics, MoH 2017 |
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Country/Territory | Canada |
City | St. Catharines |
Period | 6/19/17 → 6/24/17 |
Funding
This work was funded by a grant from the NIH/NIDCD (DC 008420). The authors thank Jungmee Lee, Vickie Hellyer, Gayla Poling, and Danielle Hojnicki for their various contributions.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Physics and Astronomy