Have you ever left a conversation with a new idea, a fresh perspective, or a solution to a problem you were facing? If so, then you have experienced the connection between hearing and cognition.
As humans, we are social creatures. We learn through conversations, stories, and shared experiences. Whether it’s a family gathering, lunch with friends, or a chat with a neighbor, these interactions help us stay connected and continue learning throughout
our lives. Now imagine having a conversation, but you can’t clearly hear what is being said. You catch some words but miss others. You find yourself filling in the blanks or guessing what was said. Sometimes your guesses are correct, but sometimes they are not. Overtime, this can become exhausting and frustrating.
How Does Hearing Loss Affect Thinking?
Our brains need to process sounds, understand language, and connect new information to what we already know. When hearing becomes difficult, the brain has to work harder to decode the messages. The more time we spend simply trying to hear the message, the less we are using our brain for other things like problem solving, comprehension of the message, formulating our own opinion and memory of what is being said. Even mild hearing loss can make communication more mentally demanding thus negatively impacting the relationship between hearing and cognition. Research has also identified hearing loss as one of the largest modifiable risk factors for dementia1. This means that identifying and treating hearing loss early may help reduce the risk of cognitive decline later in life for those who are predisposed to it. Our amazing brains can identify the hidden messages in speech when we can hear it clearly.
Hearing Supports More Than Understanding Others
Hearing plays an important role in monitoring our own speech. As we speak, we listen to ourselves and make subtle adjustments to our volume, pronunciation, and word choice. We call this a feedback loop. This helps us communicate clearly and effectively. When hearing is reduced, this process can become more challenging, affecting both how we receive and express language.
Why Social Connection Matters
Conversations do more than help us connect with others. They help keep our brains active. Social interactions challenge us to pay attention, process information, recall memories, formulate opinions and respond thoughtfully. When hearing loss makes communication difficult, some people begin to withdraw from social situations which is why hearing and cognition are both important aspects of communication. They may avoid restaurants, family gatherings, or group conversations because listening has become tiring or frustrating. Unfortunately, less engagement can mean fewer opportunities to stimulate the cognitive skills that help keep our brains active and healthy.
What Should You Do Next?
If you think you may have hearing loss or auditory processing challenges, speak with your medical care team about a referral to an audiologist. An audiologist can evaluate your hearing and recommend strategies to improve access to speech and communication and recommend aural rehabilitation. The audiologist may also recommend working with a speech-language pathologist (SLP), who can provide additional tools and strategies to support auditory comprehension, expression, memory, attention, problem solving, executive function and other cognitive-communication skills.
While hearing loss treatment cannot prevent every cause of cognitive decline, addressing hearing concerns early can help you stay connected, engaged, and functioning at your best. Protecting your hearing is about more than hearing sounds. It’s about staying connected to people, ideas, and experiences. When we hear well, our brains can focus less on decoding speech and more on understanding, learning, and participating in the world around us with ease.
— Isabella Firpo M.S. CCC-SLP | Speech-Language Pathologist written for Listening Between the Lines
References:
1 Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Liu, K. Y., Costafreda, S. G., Selbæk, G., Alladi, S., Ames, D., Banerjee, S., Burns, A., et al. (2024). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet, 404(10452), 572-628.
