In this project, Dr Chris Hardy, University College London, explored how dementia affects hearing and communication, and how changes in “brain hearing” could help improve diagnosis and support for people living with dementia.
Dr Chris Hardy’s Fellowship was co-funded in partnership with the Vivensa Foundation.
Project start date: January 2019
Project end date: November 2022
About the project
Research has shown that hearing loss in mid-life is linked to an increased risk of dementia later in life. However, it is not yet clear how hearing loss and dementia are connected.
Dementia can affect the parts of the brain that process sound, making it harder to understand speech and other sounds, especially in noisy environments.
This project explored hearing and communication difficulties in people with Alzheimer’s disease and primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a less common form of dementia that mainly affects speech and language.
How it works
Chris investigated hearing and brain function in people with Alzheimer’s disease and primary progressive aphasia (PPA). He used hearing tests, brain imaging and assessments of everyday functioning to understand how hearing difficulties relate to changes in the brain and the impact of dementia on daily life.
What have we learned so far?
This project has shown that dementia can affect not just how well people hear, but how their brains process and interpret sounds. Researchers found that different types of dementia are associated with different hearing difficulties, helping to explain why communication can become more challenging for some people.
The team also developed new tests of “brain hearing” that were better at identifying everyday listening and communication problems than traditional hearing tests. These tools could help improve how hearing difficulties are assessed and monitored in people living with dementia.
Together, these findings are helping researchers better understand the links between hearing and dementia. The new tests developed through this project could help improve diagnosis and assessment of hearing difficulties in people living with dementia, leading to better support and treatment in the future.
About the researcher
Chris Hardy is a Principal Research Fellow at the Dementia Research Centre, University College London. He was awarded the RNID-Vivensa Foundation Fellowship in 2019.
When we’re in a busy environment, such as a pub or restaurant with lots of people talking, the brain must work hard to focus on a single voice. That’s an example of the type of ability we refer to as ‘brain hearing’. This is challenging for everybody, but our RNID-Vivensa Foundation-funded research shows that it’s even harder for people with a form of dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease.”
