The research, he notes, is of particular relevance to women with Turner's syndrome, a genetic aberration that results in loss of estrogen production in the ovary, that also shows an early onset in progressive high-frequency hearing loss.
Joseph A. Sisneros, a postdoctoral associate in Bass's lab at the time of the study and now a faculty member at the University of Washington, further explains: "Previous experiments in other laboratories also suggested that steroid hormones may play a role in causing some of the reported changes in hearing sensitivity of human females at differing stages of the menstrual cycle. Knowing how steroids can alter the hearing abilities of midshipman fish might give us important clues as to how these changes in hearing occur among humans."
Midshipman fish have long enjoyed a certain amount of local fame on the West Coast. During their seasonal mating time, when males move toward the shore from deep water and prepare to advertise their love nests, the humming chorus becomes so loud and persistent that houseboat residents often lie awake at night.
A long-time researcher on midshipman fish, Cornell's Bass notes: "Perhaps the remarkable hum of these fish will take on new meaning for the houseboaters when they discover that they may share some things in common with these vocal Lotharios of the sea. And we hope that others who study the human auditory system will be inspired by these experiments."
The fish study, which was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health, shows how steroid hormones can help shift the sensitivity of the auditory system to pay more attention to some social stimuli th
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Contact: Roger Segelken
hrs2@cornell.edu
607-255-9736
Cornell University News Service
15-Jul-2004