Because age-related hearing loss is a multifactorial disease process, with many similarities to glaucomatous optic neuropathy, it is tempting to speculate that the lack of the CNS-specific 130 kDa VGLUT3 isoform in the visual system might also repeat itself in the auditory synapses, providing yet another contributor to progressive hearing loss, though this has not yet been investigated. Here, SLC17A8 is linked to optic nerve disorder.