When an older person has trouble hearing, it is often assumed the complication stems from an ear-related issue; however, researchers have found another part of the body that is responsible for a great deal of age-related hearing loss: The brain.
Specifically, it's the way the brain processes information that results in poor hearing.
And in addition to a previously discovered "timing" problem that limits people's hearing as they age (focused on how people are not as adept as they once were at detecting slight gaps in speech), evidence was found regarding a "feedback" problem that inhibits the brain's ability to organize the information the ears record.
Feedback and the Brain's "Filtering System"
From colors and shapes seen, to textures and objects felt, to the range of sounds on the street heard, the brain does an amazing job of sorting, filtering and making sense of the information that flows through people's senses. The brain stem sorts out the mass of information in ways that make it easy for people to carry on with life. Yet it's this ability of the brain--not hearing itself--that is diminished in older people who pronounce they can't hear well. Moreover, it's the brain's ability to provide proper feedback to the ear, by filtering out unwanted information that declines when people reach their 40s and 50s.
Without this "filtering system" a person is likely to be overcome by a mass of information that is difficult to sort out.
Finding the Root of the Problem
Researchers are investigating the role of a breakdown of calcium regulation in the brain stem, throwing off the way nerve cells talk to each other and possibly resulting in a toxic buildup of calcium in some brain cells, in hopes to detect the cause of age-related hearing problems. Also, recent studies offer promising leads concerning genes that affect the function of brain chemicals like glutamate and GABA--important neurotransmitters that allow nerve cells in the ear and brain to talk to each other.
Until more research and findings have been made, a cure for age-related hearing loss remains non-existent. However, the following are steps to follow to lessen the devastating effects of age-related hearing loss in older people:
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Do not speak loudly--many older people are especially sensitive to loud sounds; also, speaking louder won't help someone with age-related hearing loss
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Look at the person and speak slowly and clearly; speak as if talking to someone who speaks a foreign language
Audiology & Neurotology January/February 10, 2005;(1): 44-52
Medical News Today February 23, 2005
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