How Hearing Aids Improve Working Memory

How Hearing Aids Improve Working Memory and Speech Comprehension

Have you ever taken a course, or went to a lecture, where the information was presented so quickly or in so complicated a fashion that you learned practically nothing? If so, your working memory was most likely overloaded over and above its total capacity.

The limitations of working memory

All of us process information in three steps: 1) sensory information is received, where it is 2) either disregarded or temporarily retained in working memory, and last, 3) either discarded or stored in long-term memory.

The issue is, there is a limitation to the quantity of information your working memory can hold. Think of your working memory as an empty glass: you can fill it with water, but once full, extra water just flows out the side.

That’s why, if you’re talking to someone who’s distracted or on their cell phone, your words are just pouring out of their already occupied working memory. So you have to repeat yourself, which they’ll fully grasp only when they clear their cognitive cup, devoting the mental resources necessary to fully understand your message.

Working memory and hearing loss

So what does working memory have to do with hearing loss? When it comes to speech comprehension, just about everything.

If you have hearing loss, in particular high-frequency hearing loss (the most typical), you very likely have trouble hearing the higher-pitched consonant sounds of speech. Because of this, it’s easy to misinterpret what is said or to miss words entirely.

But that’s not all. In addition to not hearing some spoken words, you’re also taxing your working memory as you try to understand speech using extra data like context and visual signs.

This constant processing of incomplete information burdens your working memory past its capability. And to complicate things, as we age, the capacity of our working memory declines, exacerbating the effects.

Working memory and hearing aids

Hearing loss burdens working memory, produces stress, and obstructs communication. But what about hearing aids? Hearing aids are supposed to enhance hearing, so theoretically hearing aids should clear up working memory and improve speech comprehension, right?

That’s exactly what Jamie Desjardins, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Speech-Language Pathology Program at The University of Texas at El Paso, was intending to find out.

DesJardins studied a group of individuals in their 50s and 60s with two-sided hearing loss who had never utilized hearing aids. They took an initial cognitive test that measured working memory, attention, and processing speed, prior to ever putting on a pair of hearing aids.

Then, after using hearing aids for two weeks, the group retook the test. What DesJardins found was that the group participants showed appreciable enhancement in their cognitive ability, with greater short-term recollection and faster processing speed. The hearing aids had broadened their working memory, decreased the quantity of information tied up in working memory, and helped them accelerate the speed at which they processed information.

The implications of the study are wide-ranging. With elevated cognitive function, hearing aid users could observe enhancement in practically every area of their lives. Better speech comprehension and memory can improve conversations, strengthen relationships, enhance learning, and augment efficiency at work.

This experiment is one that you can test out for yourself. Our hearing aid trial period will permit you to carry out your own no-risk experiment to see if you can achieve similar improvements in memory and speech comprehension.

Are you up for the challenge?