Sex and environment shape cochlear sensitivity in human populations worldwide

Hearing remains an underexplored aspect of human evolution. While the growing prevalence of hearing issues worldwide highlights the need to investigate factors beyond age, ototoxic substances, and recreational noise— factors affecting only a subset of the population —the role of environmental influences remains relatively unaddressed. In contrast, hearing and vocalizations have been extensively studied in many vertebrates through the Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis, which suggests that acoustic communication adapts to the structure of the immediate environment. To explore how the environment shapes the ear’s ability to process sound, studying the cochlea is essential since it is responsible for capturing, amplifying, and converting sound waves into electrical signals. Cochlear sensitivity can be measured using Transient-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE), which assess the cochlea’s ability to produce and transmit an acoustic response after sound stimulation. By analyzing TEOAE profiles, we gain valuable insights into how the cochlea responds to external auditory stimuli. We evaluated the influence of both endogenous (age, sex, ear side) and exogenous factors (ethnicity, environment, language) on cochlear sensitivity by collecting TEOAE data from 448 healthy individuals across 13 global populations in Ecuador, England, Gabon, South Africa, and Uzbekistan, living in diverse environments. For each individual, we derived six acoustic metrics from these TEOAE profiles to characterize the amplitude and frequency spectrum of cochlear sensitivity. Our results show that amplitude is primarily influenced by sex (up to 2 dB) and environment (up to 3.6 dB), followed by age and ear side. The frequency spectrum is determined exclusively by exogenous factors, with environment— particularly altitude, and urban versus rural settings —being the most significant. These findings challenge existing assumptions and highlight the need to consider both biological and environmental factors when studying auditory processes.