Content Library Articles Longevity Journal

Can Hearing Aids Slow Brain Aging? The Hidden Risks of Hearing Loss.

August 2, 2026

Did you know that hearing loss is the leading modifiable risk factor for dementia?¹ 

Most people think of hearing loss as an inconvenient part of getting older. But it may also change the way your brain ages.

When hearing becomes difficult, your brain has to work harder to decode sound. Not only does this affect brain function, but you might also start to withdraw from conversations, social gatherings, and other forms of stimulation—all of which help keep your brain active and connected. This creates a vicious cycle that can shape your brain for years to come. 

Indeed, the Lancet Commission estimates that hearing loss contributes to more dementia cases than depression, traumatic brain injury, physical inactivity, diabetes, obesity, or even smoking.¹ 

Take a moment to let that sink in—because it’s truly stunning. 

And it’s especially worrisome given how common hearing loss is. Nearly half of people older than 60—and most people older than 90—have hearing loss severe enough to affect daily life.²

Now, for the encouraging part: 

Hearing loss is something you can act on.

Read on to learn the simple lifestyle changes that can help protect your hearing—and your brain. 

What Happens When Your Brain Can’t Hear

As sounds travel into your ears, various structures vibrate, causing sophisticated hair cells called cilia to sway. As these cilia sway, they convert vibrations into electrical signals that your auditory nerve carries to your brain. 

Cilia are delicate. Loud noises, high blood pressure, and a range of other insults can damage them. Unlike your skin cells, your body can’t repair or replace cilia. As they die off, some sounds will stop reaching your brain, making it more difficult to understand what people are saying. 

This resulting loss of hearing can speed brain aging and raise your risk of dementia in the following ways.

Hearing Loss Tires Out Your Frontal Lobe

When you lose your hearing, you generally don’t lose all frequencies of sound at once. Instead, you’ll first lose higher-frequency sounds, such as the voices of many women and children.³ 

You’ll likely also struggle to hear specific consonants, especially “f,” “s,” and “th.” Someone might say, “I took my kids to their first concert at the Sphere.” But you’ll hear something quite different: “I took my kid to err irt conert at the ear.” 

As your brain tries to make sense of incomplete auditory information, it recruits your frontal lobe for help. This area of the brain is your planning, decision-making, organizing, and attention center—and it’s particularly prone to fatigue.

The more your brain taps your frontal lobe for hearing, the less energy it has for recalling people’s names, noticing where you’ve just deposited your phone or car keys, or remembering to pick up bread on your way home from work.

Hearing Loss Starves Your Brain of Needed Input 

Much like your muscles, your brain is a “use it or lose it” organ. Without enough stimulation, parts of it may begin to shrink.

Lack of auditory stimulation doesn’t only affect the auditory centers of the brain. In a four-year study of 500,000 people, hearing impairment was linked to widespread brain atrophy. Even the hippocampus and precuneus shrank. These brain structures are critically important for memory storage and retrieval, social cognition, and learning.⁴

(By the way, vision loss also robs the brain of important input.⁵ So, make sure to see an eye doctor every one to two years for a vision test too. Your brain thrives on rich, diverse input.)

Hearing Loss Increases Social Isolation 

When you can’t hear, it’s difficult to carry on conversations. Yes, you could ask people to talk louder or repeat themselves. However, if you’re like most people, you likely won’t do that. Instead, you’ll either pretend to understand, or you’ll avoid socializing altogether. 

Lack of social contact can further rob your brain of needed stimulation. Research shows that, as social interactions drop, brain tissue shrinks.⁶ Social isolation can also lead to negativity, stress, and loneliness, all of which can drive up brain inflammation.⁷  

Is Your Hearing in Need of a Tune-Up?

If you’re like many people, you may already have some hearing loss and not know it. Consider:

• Do you struggle to follow group discussions?
  
  
• Does background noise make it harder for you to hear the person next to you?
  
  
• Does your spouse frequently complain that you didn’t hear what was said?
  
  
• Do people point out high-pitched sounds—perhaps the chirping of some birds or the buzzing of cicadas—that you can’t hear?
  
  
• Does it sometimes seem as if everyone is mumbling or speaking too softly? 
  
  
• Do you have a harder time understanding children or women than you do men?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, consider talking to a health professional about getting your hearing checked. Definitely get a baseline hearing test by age 65.

If a health professional recommends hearing aids, don’t put them off. 

By restoring hearing, these devices can protect your brain. In one study, hearing aids reduced the rate of cognitive decline in people with hearing loss by 50% over three years.⁸

Hearing aids have also come a long way over the years, with many different options to choose from. Some are so small that they’re hardly noticeable. Because of their sophisticated sound-processing technology, modern hearing aids can amplify only the frequencies you need, helping you to separate speech from background noise. 

How to Reduce the Risk of Hearing Loss

Among the various ways to protect your brain, taking steps to preserve hearing is truly one of the simplest. 

Primarily, you want to avoid dangerously loud sounds. 

Sounds louder than 85 decibels can damage your hearing if maintained long enough. That includes your lawn mower, blender, and many power tools, along with your average sports arena and concert. 

Of course, it’s not always possible or desirable to completely avoid loud sounds. You can still help protect your hearing while enjoying music concerts, doing carpentry, and keeping your grass cut. Just use the following four strategies.

▶ Turn Down the Volume: Wear ear protection when using power tools or when in loud environments. If you listen to music through headphones, cap the volume at 50% of its maximum setting.⁹ Use the noise feature on your smartphone to warn you about loud environments. 

▶ Set an Hourly “Ear Break” Reminder: Periodically, give your ears the gift of silence. Remove headphones and rest your ears at least once an hour. 

▶ Create Some Distance: Walk away from the source of the noise, if possible. For example, if you’re enjoying a walk with your dog, change up your route to avoid getting too close to that neighbor who happens to be out mulching a tree. Similarly, when in a city, consider crossing the street to get as far away as possible from that construction worker with the jackhammer. 

▶ Take Care of Your Overall Health: High blood pressure, high blood glucose, and inflammation can all raise the risk of having hearing loss.^10–12 So, in addition to practicing hearing hygiene, make sure to consume a balanced, anti-inflammatory diet, get plenty of exercise, maintain a healthy body composition, and avoid nicotine. 

Support Your Brain as You Age

Brain aging isn’t determined by a single decision. It’s the result of thousands of small choices made over a lifetime. 

Protecting your hearing is just one piece of the puzzle. 

Your diet, gut health, sleep, movement, metabolic health, inflammation levels, nutrient status, and more all work together to shape how your brain feels and functions.

That’s exactly what I teach you inside Brainshaping Academy. This six-week program is designed to help you protect your cognitive health using food, lifestyle, and targeted nutritional strategies. 

If you’re ready to take a more comprehensive approach to supporting your brain as you age, I’d love to have you join me.

References

1. Livingston G, Huntley J, Liu KY, Costafreda SG, Selbæk G, Alladi S, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. Lancet. 2024 Aug 10;404(10452):572–628.

2. Reed NS, Garcia-Morales EE, Myers C, Huang AR, Ehrlich JR, Killeen OJ, et al. Prevalence of hearing loss and hearing aid use among US medicare beneficiaries aged 71 years and older. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jul 3;6(7):e2326320.

3. Reed NS, Jiang K, Deal JA. Hearing loss among older adults: Epidemiology, disparities, and gaps in research. Annu Rev Public Health. 2026 Apr;47(1):41–58.

4. Wang HF, Zhang W, Rolls ET, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Li Y, Wang L, et al. Hearing impairment is associated with cognitive decline, brain atrophy and tau pathology. EBioMedicine. 2022 Dec;86(104336):104336.

5. Zheng DD, Lee DJ, Rundek T, Lam BL, Gregori NZ, Curiel RE, et al. Visual impairment and cognitive function in aging adults: Sex and age differences in mediating effect of social isolation and depression. Am J Ophthalmol. 2025 Jun;274:196–208.

6. Imai A, Matsuoka T, Narumoto J. Older people with severe loneliness have an atrophied thalamus, hippocampus, and entorhinal cortex. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry [Internet]. 2022 Dec;37(12). Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gps.5845

7. Qi X, Ng TKS, Wu B. Sex differences in the mediating role of chronic inflammation on the association between social isolation and cognitive functioning among older adults in the United States. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2023 Mar;149(106023):106023.

8. Lin FR, Pike JR, Albert MS, Arnold M, Burgard S, Chisolm T, et al. Hearing intervention versus health education control to reduce cognitive decline in older adults with hearing loss in the USA (ACHIEVE): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2023 Sep 2;402(10404):786–97.

9. Mayes JL, Fink D. Personal audio system use can harm auditory health. J Acoust Soc Am. 2021 Apr 1;149(4_Supplement):A124–A124.

10. Toyama K, Mogi M. Hypertension and the development of hearing loss. Hypertens Res. 2022 Jan;45(1):172–4.

11. Akcay G, Danısman B, Basaranlar G, Guzel P, Derin N, Derin AT. The effect of increase in blood glucose level on hearing loss. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2022 Nov;88 Suppl 3:S95–102.

12. Li L, Chen D, Lin X, Luo J, Tan J, Li P. Understanding the role of inflammation in sensorineural hearing loss: Current goals and future prospects. Brain-X [Internet]. 2023 Sep;1(3). Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/brx2.34