Presbycusis

Presbycusis is a term that describes the gradual loss of hear- ing sensitivity that occurs in most individuals as they grow older. Studies suggest (Schuknecht, 1974; Dubno et al., 2013) that several different types of damage can occur to the auditory system because of aging. Hearing loss due to aging typically causes a gently sloping, high-frequency sensory/ neural hearing loss that tends to be slightly greater in men than in women. Figure 3.11 shows the average amount of threshold elevation expected based on aging in men who have had limited exposure to intense sounds. Even among this select group of participants, large individual differences are often observed.