Cognitive Decline

What is the relationship between degree of hearing loss and the severity of dementia?

The greater the hearing loss, the higher the chances of dementia

What did Dr. Lin find in terms of the speed of cognitive decline with hearing loss?

Older adults who had some hearing loss had a decline 30-40@. They had the same mental decline of 7.7 years as someone with normalhearing in 10.9 years

Which three factors does Dr.Lin feel underly cognitive decline in those with hearing loss?

• Those with hearing loss tend to feel isolated since it's hard to join conversations or be in social situations. Thus, feeling lonely or isolated may be linked to dementia and the speed with which it sets

• The brain has to work harder to process sound if an individual doesn't hear well. One theory is that one has a fixed amount of mental resources that could be depleted if it is necessary to work hard to hear = COGNITIVE OVERLOAD

• If the anatomy of the cochlea and the 8th nerve have been damaged (aging, genetics, diabetes, noise exposure, drugs, etc.) there are fewer signals getting to the brain. Thus, the brain declines without the normal input

Dr. Wingfield and Dr. Fang found what brain changes occur with hearing loss?

Wingfield: adults with hearing loss have less gray matter in the part that receives and processes sound

Fang: poor hearing performance was associated with worse cognitive function. Hearing impairment was related to lower volume of temporal cortex, hippocampus, inferior parietal lobe, precuneus, etc. and to lower integrity of white matter tracts

What is the relationship between lonliness and dementia?

The more lonely, the higher the chance of dementia

What is the relationship between hearing loss, cortisol, and dementia?

When you are lonely, your stress and cortisol levels rise and cortisol levels rise. More cortisol levels = risk of dementia

What is the evidence that wearing hearing aids can improve the likelihood of dementia?

People who wear hearing aids have the same incidence of dementia as people who don’t have hearing loss. Wearing the hearing aids eliminated the increased risk of dementia.

How can dementia be improved?

• Reduce cognitive load of processing degraded sound by wearing a hearing aid

• Provide increased brain stimulation

• Improve social engagement