Hearing loss is associated with gray matter differences in older adults at risk for and with Alzheimer's disease

N Giroud; M K Pichora-Fuller; P Mick; W Wittich; F Al-Yawer; S Rehan; J B Orange; N A Phillips

doi:10.1016/j.nbas.2021.100018

Hearing loss is associated with gray matter differences in older adults at risk for and with Alzheimer's disease

Aging Brain. 2021 Jun 28:1:100018. doi: 10.1016/j.nbas.2021.100018. eCollection 2021.

Authors

N Giroud^{1

2}, M K Pichora-Fuller³, P Mick⁴, W Wittich⁵, F Al-Yawer¹, S Rehan¹, J B Orange⁶, N A Phillips^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
² Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
⁵ School of Optometry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁶ School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Western University, London, Canada.
⁷ Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Abstract

Using data from the COMPASS-ND study we investigated associations between hearing loss and hippocampal volume as well as cortical thickness in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's dementia (AD). SCD participants with greater pure-tone hearing loss exhibited lower hippocampal volume, but more cortical thickness in the left superior temporal gyrus and right pars opercularis. Greater speech-in-noise reception thresholds were associated with lower cortical thickness bilaterally across much of the cortex in AD. The AD group also showed a trend towards worse speech-in-noise thresholds compared to the SCD group.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s dementia; CLSA; Hearing loss; Mild cognitive impairment; Subjective cognitive decline.