from https://www.nextavenue.org/determining-the-best-care-for-her-deaf-mother-with-dementia/ https://www.nextavenue.org/determining-the-best-care-for-her...: "

from https://www.nextavenue.org/determining-the-best-care-for-her-deaf-mother-with-dementia/ https://www.nextavenue.org/determining-the-best-care-for-her...: "Hope Lanter, lead audiologist for Hear.com, says that because people with congenital deafness don't have access to sound, "the dementia risk is not strongly correlated due to the brain not encountering a change in stimulation that occurs with late deafened adults." However, congenitally deaf people do wear hearing aids and have access to some, or many, sounds. But there is apparently little to no research that has assessed the dementia risk for this marginalized group. "There are no studies that I know of that confirm a higher risk of dementia for Deaf individuals," said Melissa Karp, a doctor of audiology with the Audiology & Hearing Services of Charlotte, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Members of the Deaf community have their own language with structure, syntax and interactions with others. You would also have to tease out other factors like genetics and socioeconomic status before making that determination.""