(PP603) Can Improved Cardiovascular Health Improve Central Auditory Function and Cognition in Older Adults?

Past and current research indicates a positive relationship between improved cardiovascular health and its influence on central auditory function and cognition in older adulthood. This presentation provides a review of research that supports that relationship, its potential for future research, and implications for adult aural rehabilitation.

Summary: 

Purpose of the Presentation

        This presentation will provide a review of seventy years of research-based evidence of a positive relationship between cardiovascular health and both central auditory function and cognition in adulthood, including evidence supporting the positive influence of improvements in cardiovascular health on both.

Summary of Proposal

Past and current research indicates a positive relationship between improved cardiovascular health and enhanced central auditory function in adults, including older adults, even among those who have previously led sedentary lives. This has been evidenced through research by Kramer, Hahn, Cohen and Chason (2001); Alessio, Hutchinson, Price and Sautman (2002); Colcombe and Kramer (2003; and more recently by Tore, Cruikshanks, Klein and Klein (2005); Noomiya, Momiya, Kariya, Okano, et al (2008); Agrawal, Platz, and Niparko (2008); Stanek, Gunstad, Spitznagel, Waechter, et al (2011); Gates, Anderson, McCurry, Feeney, Larson, et al (2011); Lin, Yaffe, Xia, Harris, Purchase-Helzner, et al (2013); and many others. Studies have ranged from establishing a relationship between cardiovascular health and resistance of the auditory system to the potentially damaging effects of noise, to investigations of the possible relationship between improvements in cardiovascular health and improvements in central auditory processing and cognition into older adulthood.

Among the most intriguing studies are those that have supported a positive relationship between improved cardiovascular health among older adults, and improvements in both central auditory processing and cognition. Studies pertaining to older adults who possess both peripheral and CNS auditory dysfunction and parallel improvements in those auditory systems in response to improvements in cardiovascular health are among the most dramatic and will be of interest to those who will be attending this presentation.

And, if proven to have consistent benefits for older adults with presbycusis, it may also prove to be a positive avenue for aural rehabilitation on their behalf. 

The Presentation

This presentation will address (1) the current state of research in this important area; (2) avenues for future/expanded research; and (3) implications of this information on potential future avenues for hearing rehabilitation services on behalf of older adults with impaired peripheral and central auditory function.