Brain Exercises Could Help You Hear in Noise

If you are like many people who dread office meetings or family gatherings because it is difficult for you to understand the conversations, your hearing may benefit from some brain games. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary researchers seem to think so anyway.

Their new study suggests speech-in-noise accuracy can be improved in some cases by playing specifically designed computer games. While hearing aids are still the best treatment for various types of hearing loss, expertly fit by a hearing health care professional, one day brain training exercises could be part of the hearing loss treatment plan.

The Study 

Approximately 48 million Americans are living with some form of disabling hearing loss, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. It is one of the most common, chronic medical conditions and affects many older adults who often have problems separating speech from other noise in a room. It can be particularly difficult in a noisy restaurant or crowded street. Age-related hearing loss is called presbycusis and is a result of the natural aging of the auditory system.

The study conducted by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary focused on senior participants training for eight weeks on a closed-loop (CL) computerized audio game. It challenged them to listen to subtle changes in sound to complete jigsaw puzzles using a touchscreen tablet. The random, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial found that participants in the CL training group “could correctly identify 25% more words in spoken sentences or digit sequences presented in high levels of background noise.”

Hearing and the Brain 

We may not immediately think about the role of the brain in our hearing ability, but it is integral to not only hearing, but also comprehension and speech. The inner ear has hair cells that are responsible for converting the noise gathered by the outer ear into electrical signals, which travel along an auditory nerve to the brain. Every one of the hair cells is responsible for converting a pitch or frequency. They are also irreparable if they become damaged or die, so the brain must work harder to process information it is receiving due to the loss of that function.

When hearing is functioning normally, three areas of the brain work in tandem with the auditory system to decipher sound and generate speech:

• The temporal lobe is located behind your ears and extends to both sides of the brain. It is involved in processing sensory input into derived meanings for the appropriate retention of, among others, language comprehension.
• Wernicke’s area, located in the temporal lobe on the left side of the brain, is a region of the brain important for language development and is responsible for speech comprehension.
• Broca’s area, located in the lower left of the frontal lobe, is related to speech production.

Training Programs for Listening

Schedule an evaluation of your hearing with an audiologist or other hearing health care professional. If you are diagnosed with hearing loss and hearing aids are advised, start using them as soon as possible. Users report better quality of life than people with untreated hearing loss, including relationships with friends and family, emotional well-being, and hobbies and social activity.

If you would like to train your brain in the meantime, you can check out these auditory listening training programs:

• LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement)

This program was developed by audiologists at the University of California at San Francisco and is designed to retrain the brain to comprehend speech up to 40 percent better in difficult listening situations. A reliable internet connection is required and the cost for a one-user training program is $79.

• clEARWorks4EARs

This subscription-based program comes with professional support from either an online audiologist or one in your community. The program is customized and trains your ability to recognize speech in both noisy and quiet environments while exercising necessary cognitive skills for word memory, speech, and attention. The cost for a three-month subscription is $150.

• Angel Sound

Through a series of PC-based, interactive modules which cover different aspects of the listening process, this program allows people with processing disorders, cochlear implants, or hearing aids to practice identifying and discriminating sounds and speech components at their own pace.

Treating Hearing Loss

By 2020, it is estimated that revenues in the brain training industry will reach $6 billion. And though brain games have been around for more than a century, they likely will not replace hearing aids as a treatment for hearing loss.

If you think you may have a hearing loss, or would like more information about ways to exercise your listening muscles, schedule an appointment with your hearing doctor and discuss options that are best suited to you.