Your hearing, Your cognition,
Your Social Sense
Your Hearing
We often don't consider our hearing health checks as a vital part of our healthcare or our healthcare check-ups. In fact, most people don't get their hearing checked or their ears looked at until it's a problem.
​
Our ability to hear and listen is often done in a dynamic, yet automatic process. I am reluctant to say we take our hearing ability for granted; however, this is my clinical observation. Our behaviours and our actions towards communications, especially with our significant others, demonstrates to me, that our hearing and another person's, is often taken for granted. Consider this scenario, do you talk to your partner when they are in another room or when they are focused on a task (like watching TV or cooking)?
​
There's a tonne of research showing the links between hearing loss, social isolation, depression and social withdrawal, and a few years back, I hopped on the radio with Jessica Strutt from ABC Perth to talk about it. You can listen to the full episode here with my mate Chee Lai.
​
I'll add a list of recently published articles that you may like to access. Some may be open source (freely available) and others may require a purchase amount. I've added them because they are good quality articles that contribute to the importance of understanding hearing, hearing loss and the social impacts for you and your loved ones.
​
Your Social Sense
Listen to The social isolation of hearing loss here.
"Hearing loss is something that's commonly associated with old age, so what's it like for those who have hearing loss earlier in life, and how isolating can it be?"
​
Guests:
Chee Lai – 31 year-old yoga teacher who is deaf in his left ear because of a benign brain tumour
Kat Penno – Audiologist and Founder of the Hearing & Cognition Centre
Danielle Zappavigna – Psychologist who's worked with AUSLAN students with hearing impediments.
​
Our brain and hearing loss
Lots of good quality research exists to show the benefits of managing your hearing loss. Generally, the research showed that people who had hearing loss in both ears (binaural hearing loss) and managed their hearing loss with hearing aids were found to have better speech recognition then those people who did not manage their hearing loss. When we think about this sentence from your brain's processing capacity, what we can say is your brain's ability to process speech and the auditory information from the noisy world is that these people's cognition was better than those who did not use hearing aids. When we look at their hearing loss, the thresholds may have changed during this time; however their brains ability to process speech remained higher than those who did not use hearing aids. ​
​
Interestingly, other studies showed that adults who did not use hearing aids when recommended due to hearing loss, their brains re-mapped from the auditory processing areas to other areas for compensatory processing abilities. For example, as the auditory processing and listening area's decreased in brain capacity due to not being stimulated, the visual areas of the brain increased their neural processing capacity. More research is needed to understand this area, however it is interesting to read this and anecdotally witness it in clinic.
​
When it comes to hearing we need to think broadly. How are your personal and professional relationships, how are your friendships, are you socially active and have good meaningful conversations and connections, how is your brains processing ability and capacity, are you fatigued at the end of the day from your listening efforts - these are just some of the questions I consider as an audiologist when someone presents to my rooms.
​
Yes I perform a set of audiology specific tests to get some information on your hearing; however, what I am striving to understand is a whole gambit of things that make you up as a person. That's why I started my own clinics. To truly give people time and continuity of care. Audiology is a life long partnership and one I hope to support you and your family with (& inspire our community to do the same along the way).
​
Happy hearing and listening,
Kathryn Penno
Principal Audiologist
​
Links to research and articles:
​
Ceuleers, Dorien1; Keppler, Hannah2,3; Degeest, Sofie; Baudonck, Nele2; Swinnen, Freya2; Kestens, Katrien3; Dhooge, Ingeborg1,2. Auditory, Visual, and Cognitive Abilities in Normal-Hearing Adults, Hearing Aid Users, and Cochlear Implant Users. Ear & Hearing 45(3):p 679-694, May/June 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001458
​
Sarant J, Harris D, Busby P, Maruff P, Schembri A, Lemke U, Launer S. The Effect of Hearing Aid Use on Cognition in Older Adults: Can We Delay Decline or Even Improve Cognitive Function? Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2020; 9(1):254. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9010254
​
Windle, R, Dillon, H, Heinrich, A. A review of auditory processing and cognitive change during normal ageing, and the implications for setting hearing aids for older adults. Journal of Neurology. S Neuro-Otology. 2023; Volume 14 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1122420
Does this scenario sound familiar?
Calling out to our partner or kids to come to dinner whilst you are cooking over the stove, and they are in another room, or they are focused on another task (watching TV for example)?
​
At work, you are in the kitchen making coffee and you call out to your colleague to have a discussion. They are in another room, or further away from you (over 2meters) and working on a task. You are surprised and frustrated they haven't answered back.
​
We all do this, or we have all done this form of communication. We see it done on the television, in movies, in YouTube content and it is role modeled in our everyday life! It's no ones fault, however it is not a good form or method of communication behaviours.
We are not taught how to kindly, or properly, communicate with people. In fact, we take this form of communication for granted.
​
Happy hearing and listening,
Kathryn Penno
Principal Audiologist
