“Can we improve hearing performance with cognitive training”

Abstract

Hearing impairment is affecting approximately 466 million individuals across the globe. Although the hearing aids amplify sounds, they cannot increase the ability of the patient to interpret speech or fully understand what was said because listening requires robust cognitive function. Therefore, this study aims to examine the efficacy of cognitive training for improving hearing performance. 70 participants were recruited in this mixed-method design study. Participants were given cognitive training. Hearing performance was examined within and between subjects using four hearing tests: The Profile of Music Perception Skills (PROMS), Audiometry, and HearWHO, and Digit Span Determination test. Findings showed that there were no statistically significant differences in hearing performance for both the Digit Span Determination test, whereas there were statistically significant findings in both the PROMS test and the HearWho test. This shows that the cognitive training did not positively affect the attention efficiency, whereas it improved participants’ ability to hear sound in noise as well as their short term working memory. To sum up, cognitive training can be promising as it may improve the short term memory capacity as well as ability to hear the voice in noise, which are very important for hearing performance, but there is a need to take the complexity of the intervention (e.g., delivery at home, clinics, through headphones, speakers, etc.) into consideration.