<p>Hearing impairment affects key areas of the brain, contributing to memory loss, a new study has found.&nbsp;<br></p>



<p>Previous research has shown that age-related hearing loss is linked to a higher risk of dementia and cognitive decline. While the reasons haven&rsquo;t been clear, investigators in the current study believe that constant changes in the hippocampus &ndash; an area of the brain that processes memory &ndash; play a major role.<br></p>



<p>The researchers studied mice with hereditary hearing loss that is similar to age-related hearing loss in humans. The greater the animals&rsquo; hearing impairment, the weaker the brain plasticity in the hippocampus. Greater hearing loss was also tied to spatial memory deficits, wrote Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Ph.D., Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, and colleagues.<br></p>



<p>These brain changes shifted constantly as the animals gradually lost hearing. This prevented the hippocampus from working effectively, and &ldquo;profoundly&rdquo; altered brain function, Manahan-Vaughan wrote.<br></p>



<p>The results provide new insights into the relationship between cognitive decline and age-related hearing loss in humans, the researchers concluded.<br></p>



<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/cercor/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhaa061/5810460" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">The study</a> was published online in the journal <em>Cerebral Cortex</em>.<br></p>
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