BIRDS OF A FEATHER

tHe amazing things birds could teach us about human health. this week: Owls and deafness HEARING loss and ageing go hand in hand — by the age of 65, we have lost around 30 decibels of sensitivity to highfrequency sounds.

As we age, tiny hair cells inside the inner ear that relay sound waves to the auditory nerve and the brain, become damaged and do not regenerate.

Birds, however, don’t appear to experience hearing loss with age — an evolutionary trait to protect them from becoming targets of prey.

Last year, German researchers investigated whether this effect also held for long-lived birds such as the barn owl.

They tested the hearing of owls aged between two and 23 and found there was no difference. ‘Barn owls have ageless ears and if we could learn how birds retain their sensitivity, this may lead to new treatments in humans,’ said Dr Ulrike Langemann, who led the research.