Does Ear Advantage Changes With Age?

Abstract

In young adults with normal hearing the right ear is more sensitive than the left to simple sounds and to processing complex sounds as speech. This gives a clear indication that they have rig ht ear advantage at the peripheral as well as at central level. In the present investigation the effects of hearing loss and aging on this auditory asymmetry were examined at different levels of auditory system. Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE) was used to assess peripheral changes. Test administered to assess brain stem level was auditory brain stem responses (ABR). Late latency responses (LLR) were used to monitor the changes in cortical level, Speech in noise test (SPIN) was performed to assess the central processing. A group of elderly subjects with normal hearing was compared to a group with sloping audiograms. A significant deterioration at all the levels of the auditory system functioning was noticed with the increase in age. The test results also indicated that the normal hearing adults showed significantly better performance in right ear, whereas individuals with hearing loss did not show any significant difference between the right and left ear for central/cortical level functioning. However it was observed that at the cochlear level the left ear performance was better than the right ear.