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The deeply robust elder Deaf community itself is proof that the brain tissue loss described in the article is probably not due to the hearing loss itself. I hav
by brothercolor 10y ago
The deeply robust elder Deaf community itself is proof that the brain tissue loss described in the article is probably not due to the hearing loss itself. I have never heard of a culturally Deaf individual experiencing this kind of degeneration of the brain. If I had to hazard a hypothesis it would be on the social end of things, such as social isolation causing decreased function, similar to to the social contexts that encourage addiction.
In other words, when one loses hearing, the culture around them fails to accommodate that leading to increased anxiety, stress, and other kinds of undesirable outcomes that are shown to impact health. It is immeasurably tragic in many ways that this phenomenon is being used to sell hearing aids and more anxiety.
- epalmer 10y ago>It is immeasurably tragic in many ways that this phenomenon is being used to sell hearing aids and more anxiety. I think it is plausible that areas of the brain that are used for processing sound atrophy when used less. I'm not experienced with the deaf community so can't comment on that aspect of your comment. I came upon the article on my own. The article was not used to sell me hearing aids. But it helped me get over the stigma of having hearing aids. So for that I am grateful for having read the article and having it help my motivation. Having hearing aids for 6 months now have been valuable beyond description.
- brothercolor 10y agoGood point, maybe its the sound processing areas. A greater question is whether areas of the brain atrophy at all due to less stimuli coming through a specific organ. All evidence I've seen point to brain plasticity; that areas used for specific things get re-mapped to other similar functions. For example, Deaf individuals experience a strong inner voice that activates similar centers in the brain as actual voices.