Exploring resting EEG correlates of age-related hearing difficulties

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Audiology

Background:

• Hearing loss is a significant modifiable risk factor for dementia and age-related cognitive decline.
• The impact of hearing loss on brain function, particularly in relation to pathological brain aging, remains unclear.
• Resting-state electroencephalography (rEEG) offers neural indices associated with cognitive impairment and dementia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between hearing ability and rEEG indicators of pathological brain aging.
• To explore correlations between hearing measures and brain oscillatory activity (alpha and theta bands) and individual alpha frequency (IAF).
• To examine the association between hearing factors and working memory capacity.

Main Methods:

• The study analyzed data from 62 community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults.
• Bivariate and partial correlations were used to assess relationships between pure-tone-average (PTA) hearing loss, speech-in-noise ability, self-reported hearing difficulty, and rEEG measures.
• Working memory capacity was also correlated with hearing ability measures.

Main Results:

• A significant association was found between greater PTA hearing loss and reduced oscillatory power in the alpha band (8-13 Hz).
• Correlations between rEEG measures and hearing ability were small-to-moderate (rho = -0.25).
• While bivariate correlations showed links between hearing ability and working memory, these weakened and became non-significant after controlling for age and education.

Conclusions:

• Poorer hearing ability in older adults may be associated with reduced resting alpha power.
• The observed effect size is comparable to the known association between hearing loss and working memory capacity.
• Further research is needed to explore alpha power as a potential biomarker for brain function changes linked to hearing loss.