Researchers from France's Universite Montpellier, Inserm U513 in Paris, Germany 's University of Goettingen Medical School joined with U.S. researchers at the University of Iowa and University of Michigan at Ann Arbor suggest the mutation affects a protein -- VGKUT3 -- that affects a neurotransmitter allowing inner hair cells of the ear to send signals to the auditory nerve.

The mutation is linked to an inherited loss of ability to hear high-frequency sounds -- label DFNA25 by the researchers -- that closely resembles hearing loss common in people as they age -- known as presbycusis. In this inherited form, the loss often happens at earlier age.

"Some people with the mutation have hearing loss in their 40s of the kind we normally see in people a decade or more older," Dr. Marci Lesperance of the University of Michigan said in a statement. "Often, identifying a gene in individuals who have early onset of a disorder will help explain why the disorder occurs in the general population."

The study is published in the American Journal of Hearing Genetics.