Why does your voice change as you get older
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It can be difficult to distinguish age-related hearing loss from hearing loss that can occur for other reasons, such as long-term exposure to noise. Many factors can contribute to hearing loss as you get older. Why do we lose our hearing as we get older? The auditory nerve carries this electrical signal to the brain, which turns it into a sound that we recognize and understand.When that happens, chemicals rush into the cells, creating an electrical signal. Bending causes pore-like channels, which are at the tips of the stereocilia, to open up. As the hair cells move up and down, microscopic hair-like projections (known as stereocilia) that perch on top of the hair cells bump against an overlying structure and bend.Hair cells-sensory cells sitting on top of the basilar membrane-ride the wave. Once the vibrations cause the fluid inside the cochlea to ripple, a traveling wave forms along the basilar membrane.This partition is called the basilar membrane because it serves as the base, or ground floor, on which key hearing structures sit. An elastic partition runs from the beginning to the end of the cochlea, splitting it into an upper and lower part. The bones in the middle ear couple the sound vibrations from the air to fluid vibrations in the cochlea of the inner ear, which is shaped like a snail and filled with fluid.These bones are called the malleus, incus, and stapes. The eardrum vibrates from the incoming sound waves and sends these vibrations to three tiny bones in the middle ear.Sound waves enter the outer ear and travel through a narrow passageway called the ear canal, which leads to the eardrum.
#WHY DOES YOUR VOICE CHANGE AS YOU GET OLDER SERIES#
Your auditory nerve then carries these signals to your brain through a complex series of steps. Hearing depends on a series of events that change sound waves in the air into electrical signals. Certain medical conditions and medications may also play a role. Most commonly, it arises from changes in the inner ear as we age, but it can also result from changes in the middle ear, or from complex changes along the nerve pathways from the ear to the brain. There are many causes of age-related hearing loss. Because the loss is gradual, if you have age-related hearing loss you may not realize that you've lost some of your ability to hear. Hearing loss can also make it hard to enjoy talking with family and friends, leading to feelings of isolation.Īge-related hearing loss most often occurs in both ears, affecting them equally. Having trouble hearing can make it hard to understand and follow a doctor's advice, respond to warnings, and hear phones, doorbells, and smoke alarms. It is one of the most common conditions affecting older and elderly adults.Īpproximately one in three people in the United States between the ages of 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than 75 have difficulty hearing. Congressional Testimony and the NIDCD BudgetĪge-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is the loss of hearing that gradually occurs in most of us as we grow older.Institutional Research Training Programs.Types of Research Training Funding Opportunities.About NIDCD's Research Training Program.Scientific Workshop and Meeting Reports.