Aural Training and Brain Health
Hearing aids are highly effective at improving access to sounds, however for some people, that is just the first step – the brain often needs to relearn how to listen and process speech.
This is because hearing involves more than detecting sounds; it involves recognising speech patterns, differentiating pitch and tone, and tuning out background sounds. When the brain struggles to interpret new sounds from hearing aids, users can become frustrated and discontinue their use.
Aural training can help with this adjustment and is beneficial for all new users of hearing aids. It can also be highly beneficial for long-term hearing aid wearers who continue to struggle in noisy settings and other challenging listening environments.
Aural Training involves structured exercises aimed at strengthening the brain’s ability to process and understand sounds. Research indicates that people who use hearing aids experience significant benefits from aural training, as it helps the brain adapt to and interpret new sounds. The benefits include improved speech understanding, reduced listening effort, and greater communication confidence, particularly in challenging listening situations. Additionally, by reducing the mental strain involved in hearing, cognitive performance in other areas can also improve.
While there are many apps and online tools available to support auditory training, I offer the option of a personalised aural training program tailored to your specific needs, that you can follow at home.
“We hear with our ears,
but we listen with our brains.”
Here are some other simple effective listening exercises to help practice your listening skills:
- Audiobooks: Try listening to audiobooks to enhance your listening skills and help adapt to new hearing aids.
- Reading Aloud: Have someone read aloud or read aloud yourself from newspapers, books, or magazines to improve listening while speaking.
- Watching TV with Subtitles: Subtitles can reinforce speech recognition by connecting written words with spoken sounds.
Try my Online Hearing Screen
If you suspect you may have some hearing loss, try my free online hearing screen.
(You’ll need headphones or earphones for this test.) start test
