Hearing aids are used to improve audibility for patients with hearing loss and improve speech perception. In addition to these immediate benefits, amplification has the potential to have long-term effects on higher level auditory processing abilities, such as cognition or other abilities required for complex listening tasks. These long-term acclimatization effects are not well understood and merit further behavioral and physiological examination. Hearing aids will be fit on inexperienced hearing aid users and outcome measures will be used to determine immediate and long-term effects of hearing aids. This research may provide a more detailed view of individual differences that contribute to receiving benefit from a hearing aid and may lead to more individualized treatment of hearing loss.
Hearing aids are being fit on inexperienced hearing aid users and the short-term and long-term effects are measured. This research aims to improve understanding of the individual factors that contribute to receiving benefit from hearing aids and lead to more individualized treatment of hearing loss.