Understanding The Connection of Auditory Perception as an Individual Gets Older

Introduction: The general relationship between aging and hearing is one where aging over time will lead to the natural loss of hair cells in your ears. This will cause older individuals to not be able to hear higher pitched noises and sounds as well as younger individuals (Pichora-Fuller, Mick, & Reed, 2015). According to Lustig and Olson (2014), this hearing loss is often subtle and usually only leads the older people to turn up the volume on their televisions or radios. Although the deficit is thought of as subtle, there is still a noticeable difference that can be examined by comparing a group of younger individuals to older ones.

Methods: Two groups of participants, one aged 18-22 years old and the other aged 65 and over, were all presented with six different tone frequencies. The iPhone app Dogwhistler was used to set frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to 16,000 Hz, with varying volumes ranging from 0 to 70 decibels. Each frequency was tested twice, once in an ascending trial and once in a descending trial. The ascending trials tested the frequency starting at 0 decibels and increasing to 70 decibels. The descending trails tested the frequency starting with 70 decibels, decreasing to 0 decibels. During the experiment, participants were given data sheets with an ascending as well as a descending column in each frequency. They were asked to place a “Y” next to the decibel if they were able to detect the frequency at that volume. If they could not detect the sound, they were asked to place a “N.” The ascending trial values (in decibels) are determined between two consecutive “Y” responses. For descending trial values (in decibels), they are determined between two consecutive “N” responses. From all the participants’ answers, the average values of both the ascending and descending trials could then be calculated.

Results: After using the data collected, and finding the average for both age ranges for each frequency, I was able to create a graph to show a visual difference in both age groups. What the graph shows is that at 100 Hz both age groups required about 64 decibels in order for them to hear the sound. At 500 Hz, there was a little more of a separation. Older adults required 43.2 decibels but younger adults only required 37.4 decibels. At 1000 Hz, the average threshold for older adults was 26.6 decibels but for younger adults it was 24.9 decibels. At 4000 Hz, older adults’ average was 15.8 decibels and younger adults were 13.1 decibels. At 8000 Hz the older adults required 33.8 Hz but the younger adults only required 25.2 Hz. Lastly, at 16000 Hz, the older adults required 66.3 Hz whereas the younger adults only required 50.2 Hz in order to hear the whistle. In general, the two groups had a similar threshold at 100 Hz. As the frequency increases, the trend is that older adults required a higher decibel in order to meet their threshold. At 4000 Hz both groups require about the same decibel in order to meet their thresholds. From that point, the two groups then split more drastically. Older adults need a much higher decibel in order to hear the frequency.

Discussion: According to the data collected, it correlates to what was suspected. The higher the frequency, the greater the difference needed in volume between older adults and younger adults. As people age, they are exposed to loud noises or can suffer trauma to inner ear. This can make it more difficult to hear higher frequencies, which can lead to the necessity of hearing aids (Pichora-Fuller, Mick, & Reed, 2015)