Hearing aids and the brain: What's the connection?

I certainly am. But first, how about a quick review? At Fort Wayne Audiology The term “auditory plasticity” is sometimes used to describe the brain's capacity to change. We typically think of hearing as it relates to the ear, but sound travels along many nerve fibers and through many nuclei before reaching the auditory cortex.

Along these pathways, the acoustic content of the signal (i.e., frequency, intensity, and timing information) is coded by highly organized neural systems. Even though we are typically born with the capacity to code this acoustic information, our brain—specifically the central auditory system—“changes” as a function of auditory deprivation and stimulation. 

It reorganizes itself throughout our lifespan according to the auditory input that it receives.

What do you mean when you talk about “deprivation” and “stimulation”?

Think of the saying “Use it or lose it.” The central auditory system of a person who has been diagnosed with a conductive or sensorineural hearing loss has experienced deprivation-related plasticity. For example, physiological maps in the brain used to code frequency information change when they have not been activated for a period of time.

So what happens when you fit the person with Hearing Aids Fort Wayne or a cochlear implant?

A couple of things are presumed to take place. First, introducing sound to a previously deprived auditory system again alters the way spectral and temporal information is represented in the central auditory system. 

Second, hearing aids at Fort Wayne Audiology Center and cochlear implants, through signal processing circuitry, modify the content of the incoming sound and deliver a modified signal to the central auditory system.

In a sense, these modified signals are new signals because they are unfamiliar to the listener and so are likely to stimulate the auditory system in a new way. It is widely believed that people learn how to relate the modified signal, and the altered neural spectral and temporal codes, to an existing memory of sound.

It's possible that the degree of benefit a particular patient receives from hearing aids (or a cochlear implant) depends in part on the ability of that person's system to adapt to the modified cues delivered by the device.

According to the Fort Wayne Audiology, People who don't experience significant benefits from cochlear implants may have auditory systems that are less plastic, i.e., less capable of representing new cues.