Racial Heritage/Melanin and Otoacoustic Emission Measures of Cochlear Function

Abstract Researchers have hypothesized that races with high levels of melanin may possess superior cochlear robusticity. This study aimed to examine the relationship between cochlear function and racial heritage, by determining if a significant difference existed in otoacoustic emission (OAE) characteristics and hearing sensitivity between differing groups. OAEs, puretone thresholds, and tympanometric measures were obtained from 18 Caucasians and 19 Africans. Seven albino Caucasians, a group with defective melanin production/distribution, were included for comparative purposes. An analysis of variance with repeated measures was applied to the data, to establish the group interactions of significance. Africans were found to display significantly stronger OAEs than Caucasians. However, the OAEs of albino Caucasians did not significantly differ from those of the other groups. Results did show significantly poorer hearing thresholds for the albino Caucasian group than for the Caucasians. These findings suggest that the robust cochlear function observed in Africans could be due to factors other than enhanced melanin levels.