NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Rochester, N.Y., researchers say they've determined brain problems might play a large role in age-related hearing loss.
Researchers from the International Center for Hearing and Speech Research said they found subtle problems in the way brains process information over time. Those problems, they said, might result in an older person with no ear problems still experiencing trouble hearing.
The group reported evidence of a "feedback" problem in the brain diminishes a person's ability to hear. They have been searching for genes that play a role in the condition.
"Traditionally, scientists studying hearing problems started looking at the ear," said Robert Frisina, professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and an adjunct professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. "But we are finding patients with normal ears who still have trouble understanding a conversation.
"There are many people who have good inner ears who just don't hear well," he added. "That's because their brains are aging."
The study was presented this week during the Association for Research in Otolaryngology meeting in New Orleans.
