Aging, Cognitive Load, Dementia and Hearing Loss

Abstract

Sensorineural systems play a crucial role in the diagnosis, treatment and management of several neurological disorders. The function of the eye and ear represents a unique window for testing various conditions in cognitive decline or dementia. Touch and smell have also been found to be strongly involved in neurodegenerative conditions, and their decline has been significantly associated with the progression of the disease; hence, the idea that restoring sensory function in cognitively impaired adults might enable a significant improvement in their cognitive status, reducing the worldwide incidence and prevalence of dementia. Not all sensorineural ‘windows' can benefit equally from the same procedures; however, hearing and vision can certainly gain the most from dependable therapeutic and other diagnostic options. The ear, including the vestibular system, deserves an honored place among the sensory organs in this context due mainly to the sophisticated electrical devices available that have amply demonstrated their effectiveness in treating hearing loss. Restoring an individual's hearing can reduce the cognitive ‘load', i.e. the neural activity needed to understand/recognize the spoken word - an activity that becomes more demanding if the brain is obliged to recruit different neural populations to achieve the same performance, as happens in older adults with sensory impairments. The sensory interfaces may also facilitate the early diagnosis of conditions characterized by a lengthy preclinical phase, as well as enabling noninvasive, follow-up procedures to assess the outcome of rehabilitation measures and distinguish physiological brain aging from neurodegenerative disorders. The present study is a brief literature review on the issues and prospects relating to the unique relationship between hearing and cognitive decline, with a general introduction to the main topics before focusing on rehabilitation training with hearing aids and cochlear implants to combat cognitive decline.

Cochlear implantation improves hearing and vertigo in patients after removal of vestibular schwannoma

“…Especially in seniors, CIs become more important to enable better speech understanding and to include them therewith in the social environment 25 . It is also discussed whether better hearing can diminish dementia 26,27 . Beside improvement of speech understanding and therefore communication, the balance system plays an important role in the rehabilitation especially of older patients [27][28][29] .…”

“…It is also discussed whether better hearing can diminish dementia 26,27 . Beside improvement of speech understanding and therefore communication, the balance system plays an important role in the rehabilitation especially of older patients [27][28][29] . Because the inner ear function includes also the labyrinthine, this has to be observed carefully while defining the indication to CI surgery and has to be monitored after surgery.…”

Sensorineural Organs Dysfunction and Cognitive Decline: A Review Article

“…Hearing impairment is the most common sensory deficit with prevalence reported to be as high as 64.1% in the population age above 65 years old[5, 6]. Since Uhlmann et al promoted a hypothesis that a relationship exists between hearing impairment and Alzheimer’s type dementia in the elderly[7], multiple sources have demonstrated a clear association between these two conditions[1, 6, 8-11].…”

Aging, Cognitive Decline and Hearing Loss: Effects of Auditory Rehabilitation and Training with Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants on Cognitive Function and Depression among Older Adults

“…Several studies have confirmed the correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline [Lin, 2011;Lin et al, 2011aLin et al, , b, 2013Lin et al, , 2014, and it has become increasingly evident that even very old people can benefit from procedures, such as cochlear implantation, that previously were recommended mainly for younger hearing-impaired patients [Castiglione et al, 2015;Ciorba et al, 2012]. Growing interest has been spreading in the scientific community for the potential to influence cognitive function, focusing on the possible role of auditory rehabilitation through digital devices in counteracting dementia [Fattahi et al, 2015;Martini et al, 2014;Mosnier et al, 2015]. The restoration of sensory functions among hearing-impaired older adults may allow for significant positive effects in their cognitive status.…”