New research is shedding light on the correlation between hearing loss and dementia, and could have long term implications for hearing loss screening and intervention. A study done at the University of Colorado’s Department of Speech Language and Hearing Science, looked at how neuroplasticity — how the brain reorganizes itself by forming new neuron connections throughout life — plays into the adaptation of the brain after hearing loss.

The participants in the study were adults and children with varying degrees of hearing loss; some had only mild hearing loss while others were severely hearing impaired or deaf. The team of researchers used EEG recordings to measure brain activities in response to sound stimulation. By doing this, they were able to understand how the brains of people with different degrees of hearing loss respond differently than those of people with normal hearing.

The researchers found when hearing loss occurs, areas of the brain devoted to other senses such as vision or touch will actually take over the areas of the brain which normally process hearing. It’s a phenomenon called cross-modal cortical reorganization, which is reflective of the brain’s tendency to compensate for the loss of other senses. It is a makeover of sorts, but one that can have a seriously detrimental effect on cognition.

The team at the University of Colorado isn’t finished yet; practical applications of the study are next. “Our goal is to develop user-friendly EEG technologies, to allow clinicians to easily image the brains of individual patients with hearing loss to determine whether and to what degree their brains have become reorganized,” said Sharma. “In this way, the blueprint of brain reorganization can guide clinical intervention for patients with hearing loss.”

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