Sex differences in the auditory system

McFadden, Dennis

doi:10.1080/87565649809540712

Cited by 162 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 88 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

155

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Consistent with several earlier studies McFadden, 1998;McFadden et al, 2009;Moulin et al, 1993;Strickland et al, 1985), sex differences in emission strengths were observed in the control group, with girls having significantly stronger emission amplitudes than boys. Our finding that boys with GID showed stronger, more female-typical emissions compared to control boys suggests that boys with GID might have been exposed to relatively lower amounts of androgens during early development.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Thus, lower amplitude CEOAEs, present in males, are proposed to originate from high prenatal exposure to androgens, which are suggested to diminish emission strength (McFadden, 1993(McFadden, , 1998McFadden et al,1996). The dampening effects of androgens on CEOAEs may not be restricted to the prenatal period, but rather extend to and coincide with the peri-/ postnatal testosterone surge in male infants (Corbier, Edwards, & Roffi, 1992;Quigley, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Click-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) are echo-like sounds that are produced by the inner ear in response to click-stimuli. CEOAEs generally have a higher amplitude in women compared to men and neonates already show a similar sex difference in CEOAEs. Weaker responses in males are proposed to originate from elevated levels of testosterone during perinatal sexual differentiation. Therefore, CEOAEs may be usedas a retrospective indicator of someone's perinatal androgen environment. Individuals diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID), according to DSM-IV-TR, are characterized by a strong identification with the other gender and discomfort about their natal sex. Although the etiology of GID is far from established, itishypothesizedthat atypicallevels of sexsteroids during a critical period of sexual differentiation of the brain might play a role. In the present study, we compared CEOAEs in treatmentnaïve children and adolescents with early-onset GID (24 natal boys, 23 natal girls) and control subjects (65 boys, 62 girls). We replicated the sex difference in CEOAE response amplitude in the control group. This sex difference, however, was not present in the GID groups. Boys with GID showed stronger, more female-typical CEOAEs whereas girls with GID did not differ in emissionstrengthcomparedtocontrolgirls.Basedontheassumption that CEOAE amplitude can be seen as an index of relative androgen exposure,our results provide some evidence for the idea that boys with GID may have been exposed to lower amounts of androgen during early development in comparison to control boys.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Click-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An alternative, but not mutually exclusive, mechanism for the plasticity of frequency sensitivity in midshipman is one that is dependent on seasonal changes in circulating levels of gonadal steroids, as proposed for changes in auditory sensitivity among female humans during the menstrual cycle (for review, see McFadden, 1998). For example, Haggard and Gaston (1978) found that the accuracy of judging the octave frequency for a 203 Hz tone (octave matching; a frequency discrimination task) was lowest during the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle and highest during ovulation, which is when estradiol and testosterone levels peak.…”

Section: Mechanisms For Peripheral Auditory Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Where available, physiological studies have focused mainly on the neuroendocrine axis, for example changes in the electrical excitability of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-containing neurons (for review, see Kelly and Wagner, 1999). Although psychoacoustic studies of humans suggest that reproductive state affects female auditory sensitivity and sound localization (for review, see McFadden, 1998) (also see Haggard and Gaston, 1978;Swanson and Dengerink, 1988;Altermus et al, 1989), supporting neurophysiological evidence is lacking. Seasonal plasticity in vocal-acoustic behavior is well known among nonmammalian vertebrates, although studies of the neuronal correlates of reproductive periodicity have focused mainly on the anatomical traits of vocal motor systems (for review, see Tramontin and Brenowitz, 2000;Ball et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Plasticity of Peripheral Auditory Frequency Sensitivity

2003

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Female midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus) use the auditory sense to detect and locate vocalizing males during the breeding season. Detection of conspecific vocal signals is essential to their reproductive success and can evoke strong phonotactic responses in gravid females but not in spent females that have released all of their eggs. Here, we test the hypothesis that seasonal variation in reproductive state affects the neurophysiological response properties of the peripheral auditory system in female midshipman fish. Iso-intensity responses of eighth nerve afferents from the sacculus, the main auditory end organ of the inner ear, to individual tones were measured for spike rate and vector strength (VS) of synchronization. Most auditory saccular units in reproductive, summer females showed robust temporal encoding up to 340 Hz, whereas nonreproductive winter females showed comparable encoding only up to 100 Hz. The dramatic upward shift in temporal encoding among summer fish was paralleled by increases in best frequency (BF), maximum evoked spike rate at BF, VS values at BF, and the percentage of units that showed significant VS to iso-intensity tones Ͼ140 Hz. Reproductive summer females were best suited to encode the higher harmonic components of male advertisement calls. This first demonstration of a natural cyclicity in peripheral auditory frequency sensitivity among vertebrates may represent, in this case, an adaptive plasticity of the female midshipman's auditory system to enhance the acquisition of auditory information needed for mate identification and localization during the breeding season.

show abstract

“…15 For example, women are less tolerant of loud noises, more sensitive to higher frequencies, and, in some cases, better able to hear faint sounds (see Velle 1987, McFadden 1998, Halpern 2012, while men are better at locating the source of a sound (McFadden 1998). Men, on the other hand, have better dynamic visual acuity (Velle 1987), but are less sensitive to color (see Baker and Cornelson 2016) and are 16 times as likely as women to be color-blind (Bowmaker 1998).…”

Section: Sensory Functioning and Perceptions Of Time And Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Biology and Gender in the Labor Market

Cobb‐Clark

2017

The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. Terms of use: Documents inIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. Can biology help us to better understand gender differences in labor market behavior and outcomes? This chapter reviews the emerging literature which sheds light on this question, considering research in four broad areas: i) behavioral endocrinology; ii) human genetics; iii) neuroeconomics; and iv) sensory functioning and time-space perceptions.JEL Classification: J31, A12, Z0

show abstract

Sex differences in the auditory system

Cited by 162 publications

References 88 publications

Click-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder

Click-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in Children and Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder

Seasonal Plasticity of Peripheral Auditory Frequency Sensitivity

Biology and Gender in the Labor Market

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About