Hearing aids may help seniors regain cognitive abilities once thought lost.
That’s according to an investigation of nearly 100 adults aged 62 to 82 years old with hearing loss. After wearing hearing aids for 18 months, executive function abilities either improved or stabilized in fully 97% of participants.
Executive function includes the ability to plan, organize information and initiate tasks. Once lost, it is not something that is usually regained in older adults, reported audiology researcher Julia Sarant, Ph.D., from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Participants also experienced an increase in speech perception, self-reported listening abilities and quality of life by the study period’s end, wrote Sarant. In addition, the more frequently participants used the aids, the greater their cognitive function gains.
Women were not only more diligent at wearing the devices than men, they also showed the greatest overall cognitive improvement amongst the study participants, the researchers added. They had significant gains in working memory – used for reasoning and decision-making – as well as most other cognitive functions assessed.
While the study did not prove cause, the results suggest a link between better hearing and overall cognitive and life benefits, Sarant concluded.
“Although there are successful treatments for hearing loss, there is currently no successful treatment for cognitive decline or dementia,” she said.
