Cochlear Implants Improve Cognition In Older Adults With Severe Hearing Loss & Mild Cognitive Impairment

Findings from a prospective longitudinal cohort study in Belgium suggest that adults over the age of 55 with severe hearing loss and at-risk for mild cognitive impairment may see improvements in cognitive function 12 months after receiving a cochlear implant. Twenty-one participants participated in the study and eight (38%) showed sufficient cognitive improvement that they were considered cognitively normal. As a group, 16 showed some level of cognitive improvement. The participants also had improved speech recognition in noise, which was also associated with improvement in cognitive function.

These findings were reported in “Evaluation of Cognitive Functioning Before and . . .