Recent research shows that aging members of the community who experience hearing loss may also begin to experience a decline in memory and cognitive abilities. That is why hearing loss cannot go untreated. In fact, studies suggest that hearing loss may have a similar effect on younger adults suffering with hearing loss. Though there has been no conclusive evidence as to why this is happening, research proves that there is a correlation between the decrease of mental skills and the loss of hearing, and there are several theories as to why.

One theory to go along with this research suggests the possibility that the same mechanism in the brain that causes hearing impairment, may also be responsible for memory decline.

A second theory suggests that with a decline in hearing, a person’s brain must work harder to hear muffled sounds and make sense of them. This strain may re-route effort in the brain to focus harder on this one particular region, while ignoring other, equally important functions, including memory and the ability to discern language.

Lastly, the isolation caused by deafness or near-deafness may inhibit the brain because of reduced stimuli and, by extension, decreased social interaction.

Many of us assume that hearing loss and dementia are just some of the results of aging. The good news is that the more effort we put into seriously maintaining our hearing health (by getting checked regularly and using hearing aids where required), we could be greatly reducing the changes of cognitive decline.

http://blog.aarp.org/2013/01/23/hearing-loss-may-speed-up-dementia/

https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-07-2013/hearing-loss-linked-to-dementia.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4075051/