It may come as a surprise, but hearing is actually a brain process.

Your ears are one part of an auditory system that collects and delivers a wide variety of sound signals; it is in the brain that listening happens - the act of applying meaning and making sense of sound. Two people could have the same hearing sensitivity, but how their brain processes information and the mental effort required to do so will be completely different.As we lose our hearing, the brain receives degraded and incomplete information from the ears making it increasingly difficult to communicate and interact with ease. This leaves many people frustrated and eventually, isolated.Although it may appear that the communication problems experienced is due to hearing loss alone, often this is not the primary issue. In many instances, it may be related to the ability to filter out distraction, focus attention, process information and our working memory. The fact is, successful and effortless hearing is reliant on these key cognitive skills and for a person with hearing loss, they are even more reliant on these skills. Sadly, these cognitive skills can start to decline early on in adult life and if these abilities continue to decline, hearing and communication become harder still.Hearing loss is generally identified by conducting a routine pure tone hearing test. This gives people insight into their hearing sensitivity which is a great starting point. However, it does not give insight into how we make sense of sound at the level of the brain. For this reason, in addition to exploring your hearing sensitivity, here at Cubex, we also assess the key cognitive skill sets that are relevant to hearing. This approach allows us to provide our patients with a real awareness of their current state of living and enables us to provide the best possible support and the greatest improvement in their communication skills. We explore this at the first contact with a Cubex Audiologist during a Consultation and Discovery.

Don’t wait till it’s too late to make positive lifestyle changes.

Have you ever thought about how much effort your brain exerts to understand what is being said today’s acoustically chaotic listening environments?

Even if you do not experience signs of hearing loss or tinnitus, the modern mind is bombarded with noise and multiple distractions. We are overstimulated with information and exist with scattered thoughts, anxiety and worry. We tend to function through life in an automated and reactive mode on a daily basis with little awareness.Every day we apply so much cognitive energy to navigate through our auditory world, especially when living in a loud, chaotic, fast-paced cities like London. For the most part, we are unaware of the cognitive skills and the mental effort involved.

Here are 3 steps that you can take to reduce stress, prevent hearing loss and look after your long-term cognitive health.

Have an awareness of your current state of living – It is vital to understand your current state of auditory cognitive well-being. It gives you a baseline from which you can make positive lifestyle changes and start the process of building a “cognitive reserve”, which means strengthening the brain’s networks so it can continue to function in later life.Mindfulness and meditation – The act of mindfulness and regular practice of meditation promotes the relaxation response in the brain and has the potential to reverse the effects of stress and encourage new neural network connections and contributing to a healthier brain.Hearing protection – We lead very noisy lifestyles and we are at risk of developing hearing loss due to Sociocusis. But this is preventable. Protect your hearing and long-term cognitive health by using custom-made protection solutions in environments that are hazardous to your hearing eg, the underground, gigs, concerts and anywhere else where sound levels are 80dB or more.

Or call our Cubex Concierge to book your Consultation & Discovery Session