Understanding age-related hearing loss and cognitive decline

By:

Dr. Melissa Tanner

“Time and tide wait for no man”

-Geoffrey Chaucer, 1395

This quote speaks to the fact that no one is able to stop the passage of time, and no one is spared from the aging process. Similarly, no one body part or bodily function is spared. As we age, there is a gradual slowing or blunting of bodily functions. Mental processing speed and walking speed are reduced. Hearing and vision become less sharp. These changes are accepted as part of the aging process, though the inter-relationship between the changes is not always fully understood.

The correlation between age, hearing loss, and cognitive decline is well-established, but, removing age from the equation, the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline is more ambiguous. Age is often assumed to be the causative factor accounting for changes in the other two variables. However, a recent meta-analysis suggests that, controlling for age, hearing loss may represent a distinct risk factor for cognitive decline. Researchers examined data from 36 studies to find that people with age-related hearing loss were twice as likely to have cognitive impairment and 2.4 times as likely to have dementia as peers without hearing loss (Loughrey, Kelly, and Kelley, 2018).

It remains unclear how hearing loss may contribute to cognitive decline. One theory is that hearing loss causes a person to devote greater mental energy to perception and comprehension of speech. This detracts from other cognitive processes, including those involved in memory, and, with time, those cognitive processes begin to deteriorate. Another theory is that hearing loss contributes to social isolation, decreased access to meaningful engagement, and depression, each of which is associated with a higher risk of dementia.

This research underscores the importance of prioritizing communication and meaningful engagement in aging populations. Please refer to the BCAT®’s Great 8 communication tips for guidance on how to effectively communicate with someone who has cognitive impairments and/or age-related hearing loss. The BCAT®’s MemPics® exercises promote meaningful activity for people with dementia through directed engagement and cognitive stimulation. MemPics® exercises are based on the principle that people with dementia have the same needs for meaningful activity as cognitively intact people but lack the cognitive skills to seek out meaningful activities independently. A selection of MemPics® books can be found in our shop.

It may be true that time and tide wait for no man, but the BCAT® Research Center is committed to the development of evidence-based tools to help sustain quality of life in the wake of age-related changes; we cannot stop time, but we can enhance the meaningfulness of the time we do have.