Presbycusis: A Brain Disorder? "The Ears Listen, the Brain Hears"

George Gates
2012 Seminars in Hearing  
Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is the most common cause of hearing loss. The audiometric profile of peripheral presbycusis is well known, but little attention has been paid to the role of central auditory dysfunction in both the diagnosis and management of presbycusis. Central presbycusis is typified by difficulty understanding speech in noise. Central presbycusis appears to involve or arise from decrements in executive functioning, which may be age-related or dementia-related. Tests
more » ... loying speech in noise are appropriate measures for identifying patients who understand speech relatively normally in quiet but have undue difficulty understanding in background noise. The message of this discussion is that such testing should be done routinely for patients complaining of this problem. Identification of central presbycusis with such testing is important for proper auditory rehabilitation. Learning Outcomes: As a result of this activity, (1) the participant will be able to describe the associations between auditory processing and cognitive impairment; (2) participants will be able to implement recommendations for assessing auditory processing in older patients. Age-related hearing loss-presbycusisis the most common type of hearing loss. Although the earliest signs have been observed in 20-year-olds, presbycusis generally begins to materially impact hearing in our 60s and gets progressively worse thereafter. Although hearing aids help, dissatisfaction with these devices is common. Emerging evidence points to
doi:10.1055/s-0032-1315721 fatcat:kg7j5z5mgfaebihio2olmwuhhi