Disrupted within-network segregations and between-network integrations in age-related hearing loss with cognitive decline

Age-related hearing loss is generally associated with dementia. However, the underlying mechanisms and causal relationship linking ARHL to dementia are poorly understood. Based on resting-state fMRI, the study found that ARHL disrupts specific aspects of resting-state functional connectivity patterns across frontal-parietal regions of the central nervous system; these changes presumably reflect cortical reorganization resulting from auditory sensory deprivation and/or the long-term consequences of effortful listening. The ARHL disruption of network information processing presumably accelerates brain aging and contributes to cognitive decline.