The impression that women often have sharper hearing than men not only rings true to many, but there is actually scientific confirmation for it, claim British and French scientists.
After testing around 450 people in 13 countries, the team came up with results showing that women typically have about two decibels more sensitive hearing than men.
"Women consistently show greater sensitivity by two decibels on average across the entire frequency spectrum tested in all populations studied," the scientific team concludes in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The team found that in some populations, women have up to six kilohertz sharper hearing than men.
Scientists point out that women not only have "increased cochlear sensitivity," referring to the fluid-filled part of the inner ear that enables the conversion of sound waves into signals that the brain can read, but they are also better than men in other acoustic tests, reports N1.
This, scientists claim, is because women have "superior function in both the peripheral auditory system and the central auditory pathways."
People who live in forests have the most sensitive hearing.
Tests showed that people living in forest areas had the most sensitive hearing, while men from mountainous areas achieved the worst results.
People who "live at high altitudes" have what researchers described as the lowest hearing sensitivity.
Scientists have found that population, environment and language significantly influence variations in hearing – depending on factors such as "different soundscapes", noise levels and exposure to pollution.
"Our findings challenge existing assumptions and highlight the need to take into account both biological and ecological factors when studying hearing," said Patricia Balaresque from the Center for Research on Biodiversity and the Environment (CRBE) in Toulouse.
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