Touch sensitivity and Hearing

Touch and hearing are more closely linked than previously thought, according to a new study. Not only is deafness inherited, so is sensitivity to touch. German researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin studied 100 sets of twins. The touch sensitivity of the twins appeared to be linked to their ability to hear. People in the study who had excellent hearing were more likely to be sensitive to touch, while a fifth of the people with deafness at birth for genetic reasons showed impaired sensitivity - indicating genes that cause deafness may also dull the sense of touch. In fact, the study found there is a single gene responsible for both Usher syndrome and touch sensitivity. Read more about the study here.