Does Unilateral Hearing Loss Impair Working Memory? An Italian Clinical Study Comparing Patients With and Without Hearing Aids

Abstract

Working memory (WM) function can be reduced in patients suffering from unilateral hearing loss (UHL) and can affect their academic performance. We aimed to compare the WM abilities of three categories of children with UHL: patients implanted with hearing aids (HAs), patients receiving a bone-anchored hearing implant (BAHI), and subjects who did not receive hearing devices. A randomized clinical study, in which 45 children (mean age: 9.5 years) were evaluated by pure tone audiometry (to identify the side and the severity of the UHL), was conducted in a tertiary referral center. Patients were simply randomized into three groups: (1) children without HAs (No-HA group), (2) patients with a (digital) HA (HA group), and (3) children with a BAHI (BAHI group). Their working and short-term memories were studied in both noisy and silent conditions at the recruiting time (T0, baseline) and 6 months after (T1) the treatment. Statistical analyses were performed to analyze the variances between T0 and T1 within each group and between the three groups. The No-HA group improved its T1 WM scores in silence (p < 0.01), but not in noise. The HA and BAHI groups showed statistically significant variances of T1 WM in noise (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively). The HA and BAHI groups did not show statistically significant variances compared to T1. Our results suggest that hearing devices (HA and BAHI) in children with sensorineural UHL (SUHL) can improve WM capacity in noise. We speculate that bilateral hearing capacity might improve the quality of life of this population, especially during everyday activities where noise is present.

Hearing Loss and Cognitive Impairment: Epidemiology, Common Pathophysiological Findings, and Treatment Considerations

“…Available evidence confirms that hearing impairment is an independent and modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline. Our group already showed that hearing rehabilitation could positively impact the elderly brain function [24]; in fact, the amelioration of hearing positively improves both attention and memory functions [109]. Progressive limitation in cognitive skills, functional independence and social relations have been shown in patients with cognitive decline and hearing loss; hence, the need to strengthen research that investigates the connections between the two conditions is necessary to find adequate clinical answers.…”

Comparative Analysis of Intellectual Quotient in Developmental Population with Severe Hearing Loss: Hearing Aids vs. Cochlear Implant Users

“…The absence of differences in terms of cognitive development may indicate that CI works better than HA, as previously shown in the literature [4,6]; in fact, some of the patients in the HA group had moderate hearing loss (Table 3) at T0, which could have impacted the IQs at T1. Indeed, preservation of the auditory functions has been associated with better functioning of all brain connections [2,8,9], and has been shown that severe and moderate hearing loss affects brain development differently [11,20]. Children with mild-to-severe hearing loss tend to develop the right hemisphere of the brain more than healthy subject to compensate the auditory deficit, allowing them to present cognitive abilities like normal hearing subjects [21].…”

“…Any device for supporting reduced hearing functions, or restoring hearing in case of deafness, could be considered a valid tool to help developmental functions in children with hearing impairment and avoid deterioration of the cognitive function in adults with hearing loss [8,9].…”

Working Memory and Language Relate to Report of Socio-Emotional Functioning in Children with Hearing Loss

“…Working memory, and especially auditory working memory, has been found to be poorer in individuals with hearing loss when compared to their typically hearing peers [ 17 , 18 ]. In children with single-sided deafness, significant differences in working memory performance were observed between those with amplification (i.e., hearing aids or bone-anchored hearing aids) and those without [ 19 ].…”