Editor's Choice Main Category: Hearing / Deafness Also Included In: Genetics;Dermatology;Neurology / Neuroscience Article Date: 01 May 2012 - 15:00 PDT

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In individuals with Usher syndrome, the researchers identified a gene variation that is also responsible for the patients' impaired touch sensitivity. Usher syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by deafness and gradual vision loss. In total the team evaluated sensory function in 518 volunteers.

The researchers note that both hearing and touch rely on the transformation of mechanical force into electrical signals. When we hear, sound waves travel down the ear canal and hit the eardrum causing it to vibrate. This vibration stimulates the hair-like nerve endings in the cochlea to fire off electrical signals to the brain via the auditory nerve. Likewise, when we touch, sensory receptors in the skin transform vibrations into electrical signals and transmit them to the brain.

In recent years, researchers have identified around 70 gene mutations in humans which trigger hearing loss or deafness.

Professor Lewin explains:

The researchers first examined 100 pairs of twins (66 pairs of identical twins and 34 non-identical twins) in order to determine whether the sense of touch also has a hereditary component. The tests showed that the touch sensitivity of the subjects was determined to more than 50% by genes. In addition, the team found an association between the sense of hearing and touch.

As a result, the team suspected that genes that influence the sense of hearing may also influence the sense of touch.

The researchers then enrolled 39 students in Berlin with congenital hearing impairment in order to evaluate touch sensitivity. The team compared these with results from their twin study and found that not all of the participants with impaired hearing had impaired tactile acuity.

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Touch And Hearing Impaired By Gene Mutation