Abstract
Sensory input provides the signals used by the brain when listeners understand speech
and participate in social activities with other people in a range of everyday situations.
When sensory inputs are diminished, there can be short-term consequences to brain
functioning, and long-term deprivation can affect brain neuroplasticity. Indeed, the
association between hearing loss and cognitive declines in older adults is supported
by experimental and epidemiologic evidence, although the causal mechanisms remain
unknown. These interactions of auditory and cognitive aging play out in the challenges
confronted by people with age-related hearing problems when understanding speech and
engaging in social interactions. In the present article, we use the World Health Organization's
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and the Selective
Optimization with Compensation models to highlight the importance of adopting a healthy
aging perspective that focuses on facilitating active social participation by older
adults. First, we examine epidemiologic evidence linking ARHL to cognitive declines
and other health issues. Next, we examine how social factors influence and are influenced
by auditory and cognitive aging and if they may provide a possible explanation for
the association between ARHL and cognitive decline. Finally, we outline how audiologists
could reposition hearing health care within the broader context of healthy aging.
Keywords
Social isolation - social support - healthy aging - age-related hearing loss (ARHL)
- cognitive aging
