It’s impossible to forget getting your first car. How great was that feeling of independence? It was your decision when and where you went and with who you went with. For many, getting their first hearing aids is a lot like that feeling.
Why would getting your first pair of hearing aids be like getting your first car? It’s not only the obvious reasons for using hearing aids, but also the less obvious ones that can restore your independence. As it turns out, your hearing has a significant impact on your brain’s functionality.
Neuroplasticity
To reveal how well your brain will react to change, consider this: You’re on the way to your job, taking the same route you always take. As you go to make that first turn you discover that there is a road-block. How would you respond? Is quitting and going back home an option? Probably not unless you’re trying to find an excuse to avoid the office. Finding a different route is more than likely what you would choose to do. As long as your regular route was closed this new route would turn into your new routine. If this new route turned out to be more efficient, you would substitute the old one with it.
When a normal brain function is stopped, your brain does the exact same thing. Brand new pathways are forged in the brain due to a function defined as neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity can assist you in learning new languages, or in learning new abilities such as playing an instrument or developing healthy habits. Tasks that were at one time challenging come to be automatic as physical modifications inside the brain slowly adjust to match the new pathways. Neuroplasticity can be equally as good at making you forget about things you already know as it can be at assisting you in learning new skills.
Hearing Loss And Neuroplasticity
Hearing loss is the perfect example of how neuroplasticity has a negative impact on your day-to-day life. As explained in The Hearing Review, The pathways inside of your brain will immediately begin to be re-purposed if they stop processing sound according to research conducted by the University of Colorado. And it may not be ideal for them to alter in that way. The association between hearing loss and cognitive decline can be explained by this.
When you have hearing loss, the areas of your brain in charge of functions, including vision or touch, can take over the less-utilized pathways of the brain responsible for hearing. The available resources in your brain used to process sound are diminished and so is your ability to understand speech.
So, if you find yourself asking “what was that?” regularly, you already have hearing loss. Additionally, it might be a more substantial issue than injury to your inner ear, it’s possible that the neglected hearing loss has caused your brain structure to change.
Can Hearing Aids Help You
This ability of your brain has an upside and a downside. Neuroplasticity improves the performance of your hearing aids even though it may possibly cause your hearing loss to get worse. Thanks to your brain’s talent of regenerating tissue and to reroute neural pathways, you can make the most of the technology at your ear. Because the hearing aids stimulate the parts of the brain that regulate hearing loss, they encourage mental growth and development.
The American Geriatrics Society published a long term study, in fact. It found that having a set of hearing aids reduced cognitive decline in people with hearing loss. The study, titled Self-Reported Hearing Loss: Hearing Aids and Cognitive Decline in Elderly Adults: A 25-year Study, followed over three thousand adults age 65 and older over a 25 year period. What the scientists discovered was that the rate of cognitive decline was higher in those with hearing loss compared to those with healthy hearing. However, people that used hearing aids to correct their hearing loss displayed no difference in the rate of cognitive decline as compared to those with normal hearing.
We already knew quite a bit about neuroplasticity and this study confirms that understanding: if you don’t use it you will end up losing it because the brain organizes its functions according to the amount of stimulation it receives and the need at hand.”
Maintaining a Young Brain
The brain is powerful and can adapt itself at any time regardless of your age. It’s also important to note that hearing loss can speed up mental deterioration and that simple hearing aids prevent or minimize this decline.
Don’t disregard your hearing aids as cheap over-the-counter sound amplification devices. According to leading brain plasticity expert Dr. Michael Merzenich, you can improve your brain function regardless of any health issues by forcing yourself to complete challenging new tasks, being socially active, and practicing mindfulness among other strategies.
To guarantee your quality of life, hearing aids are a must have. Becoming isolated and withdrawn is common for people with hearing loss. If you would like to remain active and independent, get a pair of hearing aids. After all, you want your brain to keep receiving stimulation and processing the sounds you hear so it will stay as young as you feel!