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Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
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Hearing Aid Use is Associated with Faster Visual Lexical Decision
Ruijing Ning1, Carine Signoret1, Emil Holmer1
1Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Trends in Hearing
|September 19, 2025
Summary
Hearing aid (HA) use improves visual word recognition in individuals with hearing loss. Long-term HA users demonstrated faster visual lexical decision (LD) performance, suggesting cognitive benefits beyond auditory processing.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive science
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Hearing loss can impact cognitive functions.
- Hearing aids (HA) are primarily used to improve auditory perception.
- The cognitive effects of long-term HA use are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of hearing aid (HA) use on visual lexical decision (LD) performance.
- To determine if HA use enhances phonological processing and visual word recognition.
- To compare visual LD performance between short-term HA users, long-term HA users, and nonusers.
Main Methods:
- Visual lexical decision (LD) task administered to three groups: short-term HA users (n=92), long-term HA users (n=98), and nonusers (n=55).
- Statistical analysis controlled for hearing level, age, and years of education.
- Reaction times and accuracy in visual LD were measured.
Main Results:
- HA users exhibited significantly faster reaction times in visual LD compared to non-HA users.
- Long-term HA use was associated with a smaller difference in reaction time between pseudowords and nonwords.
- No significant difference in accuracy was reported, but trends suggested faster processing for HA users.
Conclusions:
- Hearing aid (HA) use is associated with faster visual word recognition.
- Long-term HA use may indicate enhanced cognitive functions, including phonological processing.
- Findings suggest potential cognitive advantages linked to sustained hearing aid use.
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