Hearing aids can do wonders for a person’s quality of life. Communicating, hearing others, becoming more social, being more successful, staying safer, and according to a new article, improved brain function are all improved when your hearing improves. Pretty amazing, right? Well a recent article from Psych Central talks about a new study has found that hearing aids improve brain function in people with hearing loss. Imagine if people found out that their BRAIN FUNCTION could improve with hearing aids or other hearing devices! Maybe more people who could benefit from hearing aids would wear them.
Untreated hearing loss common in this country. It can lead to serious emotional and social consequences. According to Jamie Desjardins, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the speech-language pathology program at the University of Texas at El Paso, also admits that hearing loss can lead to reduced job performance and diminished quality of life. Even knowing this, many people still avoid wearing hearing aids for various reasons and concerns. What is interesting is that this article focuses on the interference with cognitive abilities because so much effort is put toward understanding speech.
So does this mean you could have a stronger brain if you have stronger hearing abilities? Well, sort of, yes. Brain power is used less for understanding what people are saying and allows more power to comprehend things. As Desjardins explains, “If you have some hearing impairment and you’re not using hearing aids, maybe you can figure out what the person has said, but that comes with a cost,” she explained. “You may actually be using the majority of your cognitive resources — your brain power — in order to figure out that message.”
Hearing loss occurs for many reasons and affects so many aspects of a person’s life. Life can be really difficult when you can’t hear well. As we age, we can assume that our hearing may suffer which means basic cognitive skills, including working memory, the ability to pay attention to a speaker in a noisy environment, or the ability to process information quickly, begin to decline. In the study noted in the article, after just two weeks of using hearing aids, the tests showed an increase in percent scores for recalling words in working memory and selective attention tests, the researcher reported.
This is great news for anyone looking at improving their hearing. We encourage you to give us a call and see what hearing aids or other assistive listening device options are available to you. Life is hard enough, don’t let hearing loss make it even harder for you.
