Cognitive and Depressive Status of Younger and Older Hearing Impaired Adults, before and after Cochlear Implantation

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Angelika Illg
• Subject Area: Otolaryngology, Phoniatrics and Audiology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 460884009

Cognitive abilities are the basis for hearing, understanding and all communication. One influencing factor on these cognitive abilities is age. Cognitive decline can begin as early as middle age and affects episodic memory, processing speed, attention and executive functions in particular, while semantic memory and implicit knowledge are not affected by aging. These changes in cognitive functions have been associated with changes in brain structure and neurochemistry. In particular, the overall size of the brain, the white matter in the prefrontal areas and the number of dopaminergic neurons decrease with age. Depression also affects an entire network of brain areas. In the long term, depression changes the grey and white matter of the brain and can affect cognitive decline.Inner ear hearing loss appears to be another factor influencing these abilities. They are classified as chronic diseases and occur in the world population in adulthood, according to WHO estimates, 17.2% (2008) and tend to increase (18.7% in 2017). The effects of sensorineural hearing loss appear to be not only poor speech understanding in quiet and noise, but also a reduction in cognitive abilities. Various population studies also show that hearing loss in adulthood increases the probability of depressive problems and disorders. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that depressive problems may play an intermediary role between adult-onset hearing loss and changes in cognitive performance although other causes, such as socioeconomic status, must also be considered. This study is designed to provide an explanatory approach to the association between hearing loss, cognitive decline and depressive symptoms throughout adulthood and not only in seniors. The aim of the study is to analyze the effects of hearing impairment on cognitive changes and depressive symptoms in adulthood and to clarify whether cognitive changes following cochlear implantation can be explained by a possible decrease in depressive symptoms. The data of the younger hearing impaired people (25-49 years) will be compared with those of the older hearing impaired people (50-75 years). This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to refer to this relationship in younger hearing impaired people compared to older ones.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Anke Lesinski-Schiedat
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Maria Huber