Hearing Loss
and Memory
Hearing loss and its relationship to memory is yet another piece to the puzzle highlighting the importance of how healthy hearing leads to a healthier brain. The more effort your brain needs to focus, comprehend, and interpret conversation or sound, the less ability you have to add “remember” in the mix of the other efforts.
A 2020 Lancet commission report listed hearing loss as one of the top risk factors for dementia. Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University tracked 639 adults for nearly 12 years and found that mild untreated hearing loss doubled the risk of dementia risk, moderate untreated loss tripled risk, and people with a severe untreated hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia.
There are three primary reasons we believe this is happening.
- Untreated hearing loss makes the brain work harder, forcing it to strain to hear and fill in the gaps at the expense of other thinking and memory systems.
- Untreated hearing loss causes the brain to shrink more quickly making it less able to deal with the added listening burden.
- Untreated hearing loss leads people to be less socially engaged, which is hugely important to remaining intellectually stimulated. If you can’t hear very well, you may not go out as much, so the brain is less engaged and active.
The good news is that follow-up studies have shown that treating the hearing loss can make a significant difference. A June 2018 study from the University of Maryland published in Neuropsychologia fit a group of older adults with impaired hearing but normal cognitive function with hearing aids for the first time. Over the course of six months, they tested their brain function and compared it to an age-matched group of adults who did not receive hearing aids. At the end of the trial, “brain processing and working memory improved significantly in the hearing aid group, but we did not see that in the control group.”
When hearing loss is addressed and improved, patients have the potential to remember 20% more of their conversations with 20% less listening effort and increase their speech understanding by 30%.
What to do:
- Be proactive. You should be tested at age 55 and routinely after that. Catching hearing loss early is important in helping reduce the added risk that hearing loss causes to cognitive function.
- Take action. If your hearing test shows a loss, get help right away to avoid the complications of untreated hearing loss like increased risk of cognitive impairment, increased risk of falls, and increased risk of depression.
- Wear your device. If you were diagnosed with hearing loss, the best thing you can do is wear your devices every day. This helps support the brain, improve memory, reduce your risk of falls, and make you feel less fatigued at the end of the day.
Wearing appropriately fit hearing aids may help reduce your memory issues and your risk of cognitive decline. A baseline hearing test is recommended for all individuals over 55 years old. Make an appointment to have your hearing tested today.
