It can be difficult to stick to activities that are good for your well-being. From waking up early to eating enough vegetables, things that are good for your brain and body can often be a challenge to stick to. Despite the challenges associated with implementing healthier habits, a research-backed tool for better well-being is something most people already do on a regular basis – regularly engaging in conversations with loved ones and friends.
In math class, we learned about the transitive property: If A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C. In audiology, as researchers continue to discover new information about the relationship between hearing loss (A) and cognitive decline (C), I am often interested, along with many patients, in the issues of (B) – social isolation and ways for whom better hearing can help them reconnect with friends, family and the world around them.
As we know, for decades, studies have indicated that there is a relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline. But they have also successfully identified relationships between hearing loss and social isolation and between social isolation and cognitive decline. In short, Hearing loss can make people withdraw from social situationsand lack of socialization—even loneliness— it can lead to cognitive decline and other health problems.
So it stands to reason, if hearing loss can lead to social isolation and social isolation can lead to cognitive decline, then hearing loss can influence cognitive decline.
And this is important to understand because it can be difficult to draw a line directly from hearing loss to cognitive decline. There is much more to learn about the causal relationship between the two. But we can begin to explain it factors of hearing loss that can conflict (not necessarily causing) cognitive decline, such as social isolation, leading to reduced brain stimulation and less cognitive reserve to fend off the effects of decline.
For those with untreated hearing loss, one of the best ways to ward off social isolation and its associated risks is to enable better communication — to allow them to reconnect with conversations that their hearing loss might otherwise block.
Ethical and responsible communication is vital
Because people are living longer, the number of people diagnosed with dementia, a devastating, incurable disease, has increased significantly. This has fueled a wealth of research into dementia prevention. A large body of research has examined modifiable risk factors associated with dementia, including age-related hearing loss. Given the complexity associated with dementia and society’s clamor for its prevention, many of the key research findings are open to misinterpretation.
To address these misconceptions of dementia/hearing loss research, Signia recently sponsored a 90-minute class at the Academy of Audiology’s annual meeting. Led by NYU School of Medicine professor Jan Blustein, MD, PhD, the course teaches hearing professionals how to ethically and responsibly discuss how hearing loss can affect dementia and possible hearing aids play a role in slowing him down. The course can be viewed here.
Hearing aids strengthen social connections
Among the studies investigating the link between hearing health and cognitive health are those that specifically suggest Hearing aids can slow cognitive declineincluding related conditions such as dementia. These studies are encouraging, but as many have pointed outthere is still much to discern about the difference between correlation and causation.
But we know it very well Hearing aids can help with socializationemotional health and well-being. Indeed, hearing aids can amplify what the user was missing, making them feel more a part of their environment. But the key to improving socialization is to help them socialize. And that’s where advances in hearing aid technology come into play.
To prevent people with hearing loss from withdrawing, risking isolation and thus jeopardizing their cognitive health, hearing aids had to evolve to support the most basic yet difficult social situation: group conversation. Because it’s one thing to improve one’s ability to have a one-way conversation in a noisy restaurant, for example. It’s another to consider that multiple speakers change positions and enter the conversation at different times and volumes — especially in noisy environments.
However, this is the group discussion. It is of course dynamic. After years of developing hearing aids that reduce ambient noise and better preserve speech, a new category now fully represents the dynamism of conversation, allowing users to reconnect, contribute, engage and avoid the social isolation that could threaten their cognitive health.
Rejoin the chat
At Signia, this new class of hearing aids is designed around the Integrated Xperience (IX) platform, the first of its kind designed specifically to optimize performance in group conversations and social situations. It builds on Signia’s 20-year heritage of wireless communication between the wearer’s left and right hearing aids and enables Integrated Xperience devices to detect and amplify conversations from three auditory snapshots in front of the wearer and one behind. Other hearing aids offer some tools to help improve the user’s conversational ability and engagement, but in fast-paced, dynamic social situations, they may struggle to keep up with the pace of the conversation.
Signia Integrated Xperience is unique in its multi-stream architecture, which can locate multiple moving chat partners in real-time. Signia’s RealTime Conversation Enhancement solution analyzes, augments and adapts to the dynamic flow of multi-party conversational environments.
In addition, hearing aids developed with the integrated Xperience platform, such as Signia Styletto IX, Silk Pure Charge&Go IX and Insio IX are designed to be both discreet and stylish. This helps to normalize and even hide the hearing aids themselves so that the user feels more confident using them and therefore participating in a group conversation.
This confidence for people with hearing loss to prioritize their hearing health and reconnect with conversation is really the goal – conversations and social engagement are critical aspects of our cognitive health and should be treated as such.
As hearing technology makes great strides, it’s important to take advantage of what we can with today’s advances. Conversation isn’t just one of the most natural aspects of human connection, it’s a tool for mitigating social isolation and prioritizing cognitive health and overall well-being, and it’s something that, with new hearing aid technology, we can and should to treat with the respect it deserves.
Brian Taylor, AuD, is Senior Director of Audiology at Signia, a division of WS Audiology.
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