Elevated Pure Tone Thresholds Are Associated with Altered Microstructure in Cortical Areas Related to Auditory Processing and Attentional Allocation.

Publisher: IOS Press Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 9814863 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1875-8908 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 13872877 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Alzheimers Dis Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Amsterdam ; Washington : IOS Press, c1998-

Auditory Perception* ; Hearing Loss*; Humans ; Female ; Male ; Hearing ; Brain/pathology ; Water

Background: Hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline and increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, but the basis of this association is not understood.
Objective: To determine whether hearing impairment is associated with advanced brain aging or altered microstructure in areas involved with auditory and cognitive processing.
Methods: 130 participants, (mean 76.4±7.3 years; 65% women) of the Rancho Bernardo Study of Healthy Aging had a screening audiogram in 2003-2005 and brain magnetic resonance imaging in 2014-2016. Hearing ability was defined as the average pure tone threshold (PTA) at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz in the better-hearing ear. Brain-predicted age difference (Brain-pad) was calculated as the difference between brain-predicted age based on a validated structural imaging biomarker of brain age, and chronological age. Regional diffusion metrics in temporal and frontal cortex regions were obtained from diffusion-weighted MRIs. Linear regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, education, and health-related measures.
Results: PTAs were not associated with brain-PAD (β= 0.09; 95% CI: -0.084 to 0.243; p = 0.34). PTAs were associated with reduced restricted diffusion and increased free water diffusion primarily in right hemisphere temporal and frontal areas (restricted diffusion: βs = -0.21 to -0.30; 95% CIs from -0.48 to -0.02; ps < 0.03; free water: βs = 0.18 to 0.26; 95% CIs 0.01 to 0.438; ps < 0.04).
Conclusions: Hearing impairment is not associated with advanced brain aging but is associated with differences in brain regions involved with auditory processing and attentional control. It is thus possible that increased dementia risk associated with hearing impairment arises, in part, from compensatory brain changes that may decrease resilience.

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R01 AA021187 United States AA NIAAA NIH HHS; R01 DK031801 United States DK NIDDK NIH HHS; R21 HL089622 United States HL NHLBI NIH HHS; R37 AG007181 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; R01 AG028507 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; RF1 AG054067 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; P30 AG062429 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; R01 AG007181 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; R01 AG077202 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; R00 AG057797 United States AG NIA NIH HHS

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; MRI; dementia; hearing impairment; neuroimaging

059QF0KO0R (Water)

Date Created: 20231113 Date Completed: 20231127 Latest Revision: 20240802

20240802

PMC10793660

10.3233/JAD-230767

37955091