Love Your Hearing, Protect Your Hearing
HEARING LOSS AND THE BRAIN
"Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see"
- Mark Twain
HOW IS HEARING LOSS DIAGNOSED?
HOW IS HEARING LOSS DIAGNOSED?
01
PHYSICAL EXAM
Your doctor will look in your ear for possible causes of your hearing loss, such as earwax or inflammation from an infection. Your doctor will also look for any structural causes of your hearing problems.
02
GENERAL SCREENING TEST
Your doctor may use the whisper test, asking you to cover one ear at a time to see how well you hear words spoken at various volumes and how you respond to other sounds. Its accuracy can be limited.
03
AUDIOMETER TEST
During these more-thorough tests conducted by an audiologist, you wear earphones and hear sounds and words directed to each ear. Each tone is repeated at faint levels to find the quietest sound you can hear.
04
TUNING FORK TEST
Tuning forks are two-pronged, metal instruments that produce sounds when struck. Simple tests with tuning forks can help your doctor detect hearing loss. This evaluation may also reveal where in your ear the damage has occurred.
THE BRAIN
The hearing part of the brain is known as the auditory cortex and is involved in processing and understanding sounds. In a study conducted by the charity ‘Action on Hearing Loss’, it shows that the auditory cortex changes its role; it becomes more involved in the working memory. The working memory can be described as a mental workspace where we mentally store, manipulate and update information to help us with ‘cognitive’ tasks like problem solving and decision making. This study shows that the brain can change from its usual roles of sensory processing to a new role of cognitive processing. In the study, the auditory cortex in deaf people kept the role of location and movement but instead of sound it turned to processing the location and movement of visual images. From the study the brain maintains its usual role but changes so that it can be used for the different senses.
DIAGRAM OF HOW HEARING AIDS WORK
