October 12, 2022
Enjoy the Harvest of a Life Well Heard
At Fort HealthCare Audiology, we’re committed to providing our patients with the best quality of care, as well as the latest information about living a life with healthy hearing. Below we review a recent study that correlated hearing aid use with a slower rate of cognitive decline.
The study was conducted by the University of Maryland Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences and published in the journals Clinical Neurophysiology and Neuropsychologic.
For the study, researchers monitored a group of first-time hearing aid users who had mild to moderate hearing loss over a six-month period. Participants underwent a variety of behavioral and cognitive tests that assessed hearing, working memory, attention and processing speed, as well as electrical activity in the auditory cortex and midbrain that occurred in response to speech sounds.
After wearing hearing aids for six months, participants exhibited improvement in working memory, neural speech processing and ease of listening.
“In effect, hearing aids can actually help reverse several of the major problems with communication that are common as we get older,” explained lead researcher Samira Anderson, Ph.D.1
Staying on top of your hearing health is one of the most vital ways to protect your quality of life. With new updates in hearing technology, hearing aids are more effective than ever at staving off memory loss while boosting your social health in the process.
As we approach Audiology Awareness Month this October, be sure to connect with this crucial part of your health, especially if you have trouble hearing. Common signs of hearing loss include turning up the volume on the TV louder than is comfortable for others, thinking people are constantly mumbling and having trouble hearing over background noise.
Fort HealthCare Audiology has an expert, compassionate team to help our community stay proactive and develop a better hearing strategy. Contact an audiologist at Fort HealthCare Audiology at 920.563.6667 in Fort Atkinson or 262.473.8920 in Whitewater to explore your options and schedule a hearing evaluation or complimentary hearing screening.
1 Healthy Hearing Foundation. (2018, June 19). New Research Shows Hearing Aids Improve Brain Function and Memory in Older Adults. https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/blogs/new-research-shows-hearing-aids-improve-brain-function-and-memory-in-older-adults