UCL researchers have confirmed direct links between hearing loss and dementia in a review published in the Journal of Neurology.
The review follows previous research which suggests dementia may result, in part, from the social isolation inherent in hearing loss, a known risk factor for dementia.
Researchers, led by Professor Jason Warren from the NIHR Queen Square Dementia Biomedical Research Unit, confirmed in the review that hearing loss of any kind reduces a patient’s ability to communicate and often means their cognitive difficulties are over-estimated or go undetected.
Professor Warren said: “Hearing has long been the poor relation of memory and vision in dementia clinics. We hope this review will help draw attention to a complex area that has almost certainly been under-recognised in the past. Sound presents the brain with a demanding challenge of neural computing – we envisage the day when cognitive ‘stress tests’ based on sounds are used for early diagnosis of dementia and to assess the impact of treatment.”
The researchers found patients with different forms of dementia exhibited different hearing impairments; and that profiles of hearing changes can help define and distinguish dementias, which provide clinicians with important information about the effect of these diseases on brain function.
Professor Warren said: “Symptoms range from Alzheimer’s patients having difficulty following conversations in busy environments; to patients with frontotemporal dementias displaying an inability to recognise voices, accents and other kinds of sounds. These effects can be understood from the anatomical patterns of brain damage and dysfunction in particular dementia diseases.”
The researchers anticipate their review will go towards informing clinical practice and improving quality of life for dementia patients. Professor Warren said: “Sounds embrace some of our most precious experiences. We are hopeful more research into earlier diagnosis of hearing loss can help put patients back in touch with such experiences that will improve their wellbeing.”
Click here to read Hearing and Dementia in the Journal of Neurology.
