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We’ve all turned off the radio backing our car out of a tight spot or when following intricate travel directions. And it’s a behavior we might even have poked fun at our parents for doing when we were younger. But it’s not just becoming our parents or growing persnickety that leads to lowering the volume when concentration is called for, sound is actually much more distracting to us as we age.
Advances are made in the understanding of our hearing systems all the time. Over the past many decades, we’ve come to know so much more about the ways our sense of hearing and our brains are inextricable. According to a recent study from Western University in Canada, our brains develop increased sensitivity to sound as we grow older. Neuroscientists looked at the auditory cortexes of younger people in their 20s versus those in their 60s, all of whom had clinically normal hearing. The results were significant and showed that the way our brains tolerate noise is quite different in these varying stages of life.
A little background (noise)
Björn Herrmann, postdoctoral scholar and the study’s lead writer stated that, in the course of the study “what we observed is that older individuals don’t adapt as well to their sound environment.” Moreover, this new research points to differing abilities in ignoring background noise. The older participants, even with clinically healthy hearing, were less likely to filter out the irrelevant noise.
Anecdotally, you can probably come up with a wealth of stereotypes that are easily explained by the study’s findings. For example, we’re much less likely to choose a noisy restaurant for our ideal ambiance as an older adult versus the places we are drawn to in our youth. Having a conversation in a loud, crowded room is much less pleasant than in quiet environments. This is because young people’s brains are able to ignore the irrelevant noise and focus only on their target sound. Older people, unable to ignore irrelevant sounds as easily, cannot filter them out and the effect is sensory overwhelm.
Herrmann explains that “when the sound environment is loud, the brain activity in younger adults loses sensitivity to really quiet sounds because they’re not that important. Whereas older individuals still stay sensitive to these relatively quiet sounds, even though they’re not important at the time.”
Much of hearing happens in the brain
While it might surprise you that these preferences and sensitivities to sound are a neurological event, we hear with much more than our ears. Yes, we most often associate our sense of hearing with our ears, but much of what we consider hearing actually happens in the brain. Sound reaches the outer architecture of our ear and is sent to the inner ear, specifically the fine hair cells that pick up the most minute details of sound. Then, this information is sent to our auditory processing center of the brain via the auditory nerve. It is only in our brain that we interpret this information as sound.
Previously, we might have associated trouble distinguishing background noise from important conversation only with difficulty hearing. This is because naturally and over time, the delicate hair cells and nerves of our ears deteriorate and it becomes increasingly difficult to hear conversation when background noise is present. We might also incur damage to hearing from too loud noise over time, which is why it’s important to pay attention to volume levels and noise environments at any age.
Scientifically supported
Regardless of why it’s happening, most of us can agree that the sensory overload can be, well, overwhelming. But it might be helpful to learn that those noises you find more annoying than your younger friends and loved ones actually are more irritating to you! Instead of feeling guilty about requesting a quiet ambiance for dinner, take comfort in the fact that your brain is actually processing the sensory information quite differently than younger people.
Monitor your hearing health
Of course, being an advocate for your own hearing health is an ongoing practice. If you think you might be experiencing hearing loss, schedule a hearing test with us today. Schedule an appointment with us today and our team can provide you with the tools you need to support your healthiest hearing life!