Audiologist screening for cognitive reasons
Vanessa Lee, an audiologist and owner of Auglaize/ Sidney Audiology, has helped people with hearing issues for over 25 years. She conducts hearing tests, balance screenings and dizziness drills. She recently started screening for cognition and exploring hearing testing that not only looks at how loud sound should be for hearing, but also looks at how hearing and speech interacts with us on a daily basis.
"I wanted to help others, and I found that this would be a good way of doing that," Lee said. "I'm passionate about helping people stay connected and communication. And so an audiologist isn't just someone that helps you hear better, but [ through] hearing better it helps us communicate better. "
In this way, Lee sees herself as a communicator. And communication is critical in her field, because if a patient is having problems hearing
it can affect their cognition and serve as a risk factor for dementia as identified by a recent study in the Lancet, a peer- reviewed medical journal.
"When we don't have as good of hearing, we're not having as much stimulation in our brain," Lee said. "A lot of times people think about hearing with our ears. We don't always recognize that hearing starts at the ear, but it ends at the brain, and when we're hearing it's stimulating multiple areas in the brain: language centers, memory centers."
According to Lee, when people hear things, sounds go straight to a working memory, and this working memory helps connect what's happening around us with what we know in order to create an accurate response to stimulation.
"When we don't have as good of hearing we're not having as much stimulation in our brain," Lee added. "A lot of times people think about hearing with our ears. We don't always recognize that hearing starts at the ear, but it ends at the brain, and when we're hearing it's stimulating multiple areas in the brain: language centers, memory centers."
By losing that stimulation, it forces our brains to work harder to hear. This overcompensation comes at a price, a process Lee compares to a computer problem.
"There's only so much working capacity in our brain, kind of like a computer," she said. "It only has so much working capacity in its CPU [ central processing unit] that if you're overloading it just in that communication then we're using it all up for that instead of for other functions in our life."
To prevent an overload, Lee recommends the use of hearing aids for those experiencing hearing difficulties.
Currently, she is conducting a beta study designed to make listening easier so "you don't have to use as much of your working memory in your brain to be able to hear and understand what's happening."
It's her hope that by keeping people more engaged in conversations - as opposed to spending extra energy simply trying to understand the conversation - people will be modifying one of the 12 risk factors for dementia accounting for 40 percent of dementia. But just because a person experiences cognitive decline does not mean the worst is yet to come.
"I think that a lot of people are fearful of cognitive decline, are fearful of dementia because a lot of times folks think ' well, if I'm starting to have cognitive decline that's it, I'm probably doomed, I'm going to end up with Alzheimer's,'" Lee said. "And the research shows that having the beginnings of cognitive decline does not mean it's going to progress to serious forms of dementia."
Detecting a cognitive decline early enough can actually be a good thing, according to Lee.
"When we find out about it ( cognitive decline) early enough and we take steps not just addressing hearing loss but addressing things like in your diet, other health concerns like diabetes, our weight and exercise, all of those things we know are good for us," Lee said, "it shows we can potentially curb that cognitive decline from progressing into a more serious form of dementia."
According to Lee, other ways to prevent memory loss involving brain stimulation include doing puzzles, engaging in conversations and thinking about things.
Lee also cautions against overstimulation with hearing, and recommends not turning up the sound volume.
"If sound is too loud it can be damaging to the ear, so you don't want that for sure," she said.