bannerspot-BH-approach-1920x800

BrainHearing™

It all starts with the brain.

Actively using hearing aids reduces the risk of cognitive decline

Hearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and possibly also with the onset of dementia in older adults. The vast majority of scientists in the area have agreed that cognitive decline is likely related to the lack of social interaction that older adults have because of their hearing loss.

A new study, “Self-Reported Hearing Loss: Hearing Aids and Cognitive Decline in Elderly Adults: A 25-year Study”, just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, compared the trajectory of cognitive decline among older adults who were using hearing aids and those who were not. The study found no difference in the rate of cognitive decline between people with no reported hearing loss and people with hearing loss who used hearing aids.

[1] Hélène Amieva, “Self-Reported Hearing Loss: Hearing Aids and Cognitive Decline in Elderly Adults: A 25-year Study," Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

textimagespot-BH Approach-1200x788

Putting the brain first

BrainHearing™ describes the approach that Oticon takes when creating solutions for those with hearing loss. It starts with the fundamental observation that speech understanding is a cognitive process – it happens in the brain.

Our BrainHearing™ approach focuses on managing sound so that we provide the brain with the most complete sound picture possible. Of course we want to create an excellent signal-to-noise ratio when that is possible, but we also want to provide a complete, natural sound picture.

The role of amplification is to feed the brain the very best information possible. At Oticon our goal is to preserve information in the details of the speech waveform and to provide a complete picture of where sound comes from. This provides the hearing instrument user with the most complete, most natural and most successful listening experience possible.

Actively using hearing aids helps reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

Download infographic

 

textimagespot-Eriksholm-1200x788

At Oticon, we have been putting the brain first for nearly 20 years. BrainHearing™ reflects our audiological focus of supporting the way the brain makes sense of the sound it receives from the ears. 

We understand that the brain needs to perform key functions in order to make sense of sound. Because the brain performs these functions simultaneously, we have to understand all of them and support them continuously.

Oticon’s Eriksholm Research Center has been at the forefront of understanding the relationship between cognitive function and hearing instrument use.


Learn more about the Eriksholm Research Center