Effects of hearing aid use on cognitive functions and auditory neurophysiology in older adults: a prospective randomized controlled study
Description: Objectives: Age-related hearing loss is no trivial issue. Highly prevalent among older adults, the sensory deficit not only contributes to speech perception difficulties, moreover it is associated with cognitive declines and atrophy in the aging brain. Our current aim is to examine whether remediation of hearing loss offers prevention from cognitive decline. We will employ a prospective randomized controlled trial to investigate the impact of amplification – hearing aid on cognitive functions, moreover, the subcortical and cortical functions along the auditory pathway. This proposed research will be among the first study examining systematically the amplification-induced changes in both cognition and auditory neurophysiology. Methods: A cohort of 70 older adults with moderate to moderate-severe hearing loss will be randomly assigned to either receive a hearing aid (treatment group, N = 35), or join a wating list (control group, N = 35). Cognitive and auditory neurophysiological measures will be collected at baseline, 9th month and 18th month follow-ups. Expected results: Given that increased sensory stimulation may lead to functional and structural reorganization of auditory areas further affecting cognitive functions that rely on the affected brain regions, we anticipate that 1) hearing aid treatment will result in cognitive improvement in hearing aid users than non-hearing users; 2) Hearing aid use will result in changes in subcortical and/or cortical neurophysiology.
Funder: Health and Medical Research Fund
Amount: HKD 1,500,000
Funding type: grant
Funder scheme: HMRF - Advanced Medical Research
Start date: 2017-01-01
Investigator: Michael Chi-fai TONG
Institution: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 06171006
OpenAlex ID: G3442670871