Little Changes in Hearing Can Impact Your Brain

When you are born with a loss of hearing, your brain develops a little differently than it otherwise might. Surprised? That is because we commonly have false ideas about brain development. Your mind, you tell yourself, is a static thing: it only changes because of damage or trauma. But the truth is that brains are a little more dynamic

Hearing Aids Fort Wayne
Hearing Aids Fort Wayne

Hearing Affects Your Brain

You have probably heard of the idea that, as one sense wanes, the other four senses will become more powerful to compensate. The well-known example is always vision: your senses of hearing, taste, and smell will become stronger to compensate for the loss of vision.

There could be some truth to this but it has not been verified scientifically. Because the architecture of your brain can be and is altered by loss of hearing. It is open to debate how much this is the case in adults, but we know it is true in children.

The physical structure of children’s brains, who suffer from hearing loss, has been demonstrated by CT scans to change, changing the part of the brain normally responsible for interpreting sounds to be more sensitive to visual information.

How hearing aids can help prevent dementia

Researchers found that hearing loss affects how quickly and severely dementia progresses. Fortunately, correcting the loss of hearing with Hearing Aids Fort Wayne can possibly prevent the effects of cognitive decline.

Improved brain function

In a study of first-time hearing aid users, hearing aids helped brain function in multiple ways. Before they started wearing hearing aids, participants took behavioral and cognitive tests to measure their hearing, memory, and processing speed. After using hearing aids for six months, the group took the same tests and saw the following results: 

·      Improved memory

·      Improved speech processing

·      Greater ease of listening

Reduced mental strain

Straining to hear conversations is a common symptom of hearing loss. Continual stress on the brain to process sounds pulls resources away from other parts of the brain, reducing memory. If this strain continues, your brain could stop being able to conduct these functions altogether, allowing dementia to set in. Wearing hearing aids makes it easier to listen and limits brain strain, enhancing memory and brain functioning.

Prevent social isolation

When people cannot process the sounds around them, they tend to avoid social situations. This isolation is a leading cause of dementia because their cognitive functions are not being used and deteriorate quicker. The wearing of hearing aids can help you participate in the conversation again. 

Get your hearing checked

Hearing Aids Fort Wayne

Only a small percentage of people with hearing loss wear Hearing Aids Fort Wayne, but they’re an important tool that will improve your ability to hear and provide long-term benefits. If you believe you have hearing loss, schedule a hearing test, and take the necessary steps towards improved cognitive function and better hearing.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Often Should I Have My Hearing Tested?

Image
Most people are accustomed to making regular Hearing Test Austin Tx a routine part of their medical care. Annual physicals, dental exams, and vision tests are all commonplace. Fewer individuals pay as much attention to their hearing, however. It’s not that they intentionally neglect their hearing; many are simply unaware of how often they should have their hearing tested, and the number of physicians recommending routine hearing evaluations is small.   How often you have your hearing tested depends on your age. Newborn hearing screenings are essential, of course, and regular checkups throughout childhood are commonplace. Few adults give their hearing much thought unless they are experiencing a noticeable loss or a sudden change in their hearing ability. By then, their options for treatment may be more limited, so it’s important to follow the guidelines to detect hearing loss early.   Healthy adults ages 18-40 years old, who are not experiencing any noticeable hearing loss, sho
Read more

Are Hearing Aids In Fort Wayne Waterproof?

Image
Before giving an answer to this question, it’s important to first clarify the difference between waterproof and water-resistant. While many people use these terms interchangeably, the reality is they mean very different things. Accidentally mistaking –resistant for –proof could mean a visit to the Audiologist Fort Wayne Indiana much sooner than anticipated. So how do these two terms differ, and what does this mean for your hearing recovery? To put it simply, waterproof hearing aids could be submerged in water without damaging the electronics, while water-resistant aids cannot. Water-resistant hearing aids Water-resistant or water-repellent refers to an item made to create a hindrance against penetration by water. Note that this is not a guarantee that water will not eventually seep in. With regards to hearing aids, this means that they have some sort of protective coating or sealant that protects them against casual contact with moisture, at least for short amounts of time.
Read more

Austin Hearing Center’s 5 Reasons To Wear Two Hearing Aids

Image
Audiologist Austin is frequently asked whether it’s necessary to wear two hearing aids rather than one in the ear with the greatest measurable hearing loss . Considering the expense of each hearing aid, it doesn’t hurt to ask, but the answer is almost always yes – and here’s why. 1. Sounds Will Naturally Be Louder Wearing hearing aids in both ears increases the perception of loudness by up to 10 decibels. This is due to a concept known as binaural summation. Basically, amplifying sounds through hearing aids in both ears increases the overall quality of the sounds without having to adjust the gain. 2. Sounds Will Be Clearer There’s more to sound than just its volume; we also want to hear things – especially speech – crisply and clearly. The clarity of sound is noticeably better when you wear two hearing aids instead of one. 3. Your Brain Will Have An Easier Time Localizing And Focusing On Speech In Background Noise Although our ears receive sound, our brain processes it.
Read more