November 12, 2025
A new analysis underscores the importance of good hearing for good brain health. A new study found that people in their 50s with even slight impairments to their hearing had brain changes typical of the earliest stages of dementia. They were also at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia years down the road. Brain risks were especially prominent in people who carried a common gene linked to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Many of the previous studies of hearing loss and dementia have focused on people age 70 and older, when hearing loss becomes more common and pronounced. This study, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at a younger population, following them for 15 years. Researchers at Boston University and other institutions analyzed data from 2,178 men and women who were part of the Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked the cardiovascular and neurologic health of thousands of men and women over multiple generations. Their average age at the start of the study period was 58.
Participants were free of dementia or other serious memory problems at the study’s start. They got regular hearing exams as well as tests of memory and thinking skills, and many got MRI brain scans and other tests to look for brain abnormalities. Genetic testing was done to see whether they carried the APOE-E4 gene variant, which increases the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease late in life.
The researchers found, through follow-ups over the 15-year period, that participants who had hearing loss of more than a slight degree in midlife had a 70 percent or greater increase in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. The risk of Alzheimer’s was especially prominent in those with midlife hearing loss who inherited the APOE-E4 gene variant from one or both parents, with a near tripling of dementia risk. The good news was that APOE-E4 carriers who wore hearing aids to correct their hearing loss significantly reduced their risk of developing dementia.
Hearing loss in midlife was also associated with signs of brain aging. Those who showed mild or greater hearing loss in midlife had significantly smaller brain volumes than their peers with only slight or no hearing loss. Smaller brain volume is a sign of brain aging that increases the chances of developing dementia down the road. Accelerated declines in executive function, which involves skills like organization and planning, were also seen. Participants with even slight hearing loss also had a larger volume of white matter hyperintensities, a sign of blood vessel disease that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
The results underscore the importance of getting hearing tests even in midlife. A hearing exam may be especially important if you find yourself having trouble hearing others at parties or in noisy restaurants or other social settings.
Hearing loss may place a cognitive load on the brain, scientists suspect. Straining to hear things in a noisy environment can take a lot of mental effort, pulling attention away from other mental tasks. Poor hearing can also make people feel isolated and less likely to seek out social contact. Social withdrawal can lead to isolation and increase feelings of loneliness and depression, all of which are well recognized risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
If even slight hearing impairments are detected, a hearing aid may be a wise investment for long-term brain health. Quality over-the-counter hearing aids are fast becoming more affordable and available, and many are very small and unobtrusive. As ear buds and other on-the-ear devices become increasingly common among young people, wearing a hearing aid carries far less of the social stigma that it did in earlier generations. Your doctor can help determine which hearing aids might be right for you.
By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source: Francis B. Kolo, PhD; Sophia Lu, MS; Alexa S. Beiser, PhD; et al: “Hearing Loss, Brain Structure, Cognition, and Dementia Risk in the Framingham Heart Study.” JAMA Network Open, November 5, 2025
