Lazy ear may not sound like an official medical diagnosis, but it is a rather simple way to refer to the auditory condition called amblyaudia. Amblyaudia stems from a temporary loss of hearing usually experienced during developmental stages of the brain in childhood. In a similar vein of noise-induced hearing loss, amblyaudia generally makes it difficult to efficiently hear when submersed in loud environments, prompting temporary periods of auditory impairment which allude to the phrase, “lazy ear.”
One of the main proponents with amblyaudia in children is when a frequency of ear infections are endured, with the primary auditory disease being otitis media. Otitis media is the medical title for inflammation in the middle ear behind the eardrum, usually caused by a buildup of fluid. It is mostly experienced during childhood, and it is estimated that 75 percent of kids undergo symptoms of otitis media by the time they are three years old. While inflammation that prompts a sudden loss of hearing can be relatively common with children, it only worsens into a problem when persistent episodes of auditory impairment arise. Recent studies have examined how these frequent experiences of hearing deficits in children can eventually lead to a lifelong complications.
Researchers from the Harvard Medical School of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified how short-term hearing loss episodes endured during childhood can potentially lead to further auditory disorders in life. The scientists particularly explored how when episodes of temporary hearing loss occur during specific moments of cortical development in the brain, auditory maturation is delayed or damaged, potentially resulting in degraded hearing.
To put this into perspective, the brain’s primary ability to develop is through the experience and memory of various senses. When moments of auditory sensation are disrupted through infection or amblyaudia, this particular sensor of hearing becomes distorted within the brain, and continuous patterns of hearing loss during the brain’s developmental stages can disrupt the alignment of sound frequency selectivity, which can control the levels of loudness between the ears.
Dr. Daniel Polley, an investigator at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and main collaborator within the study, feels that through continuous analysis of this auditory phenomenon, researchers will be able to pinpoint the exact stages of development that leave the brain the most susceptible to long term hearing loss after experiencing temporary forms of amblyaudia.
“The goal of this study was to mimic the moderate, short-term hearing loss that can accompany ear infections in human infants,” Polley said in a statement. “These findings demonstrate that brief bouts of asymmetric hearing loss during very specific points in postnatal development can have a lasting effect on brain circuits that compare and integrate the sound waves that enter each ear.”
Looking toward the future
The researchers also reported that an estimated 12 percent of children equating to around 2.6 million kids in the United States will experience at least one episode of otitis media that can potentially be severe enough to produce a brief forms of hearing loss before the child turns five years old. These are serious projections that can result kids having to endure symptoms of hearing loss for their entire lives. General indicators that a child is experiencing a case of otitis media can include:
- Listening to television or music at loud volumes
- Frequently misunderstanding directions
- Constant inability to focus
- Social withdrawal
- Scratching or pulling at ears
- Abrupt or unexplained episodes of inability
Regularly scheduling appointments with audiologists and hearing health care professionals is the most efficient way to prevent episodes of infection or inflammation in the ear that can eventually produce temporary hearing loss.
