Your ears collect sound, but it’s your brain that actually understands it.

Good hearing helps your brain stay fit throughout your life – and helps avoid many
other health problems. This means that hearing health is brain health.

That is why we have developed BrainHearing™ technology for hearing aids.

Do you ever find...

  • People keep mumbling?
  • You miss the point in their stories?
  • Or you can’t hear the TV?

 

And do you ever feel...

  • Tired or stressed from socialising?
  • Confused about conversations?
  • Or that you’d prefer to stay at home?

Your brain may need more sound!

If your brain doesn’t get the sound information it needs, you'll find it more difficult to
understand what people are saying and what's happening around you.

In this way, a hearing problem becomes a brain problem, which turns into life problems.

It’s because of how hearing works in the brain's hearing centre.

How hearing works in the brain

Sound travels from your ears to your brain's hearing centre, where there are two subsystems: The orient subsystem and the focus subsystem*. These constantly work together to help you understand the sound scene around you.


1: The orient subsystem constantly scans your surroundings to create a full overview of the sound scene.

2: The focus subsystem helps you select which sounds to listen to and which sounds to switch your attention to – while the irrelevant sounds are filtered out.


From here, sound is used by other brain centres including those for memory and emotions.

Read more about the science of BrainHearing here

*O’Sullivan et al. (2019) & Puvvada et al. (2017)

What happens if your brain
doesn’t get enough sound?

With hearing loss, there isn’t enough sound information coming to your brain from
your ears, or the quality of that information is too low.

This makes it much harder for the brain to orient itself in your surroundings –
which then makes it harder to focus on what’s important.

It affects all the different parts of your brain that make sense of your
surroundings. They all have to work harder.

This leaves fewer mental resources for other things like remembering.

  • Conversations are harder to follow

    Missing sound information makes it especially hard in situations like cafes and family gatherings where lots of people are talking.

  • Listening takes more effort

    The brain has to work harder to recognise sounds from incomplete sound information while filling in the gaps by remembering and guessing.

  • Mental load increases for hearing

    With less mental capacity left over for other things, it becomes harder for all the different parts of your brain that also make sense of your life.


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Potential consequences of
untreated hearing loss

Because hearing is a mental process, untreated or poorly treated hearing loss can
lead to negative consequences for your brain.

For your brain to work in the way it is meant to, it needs the full sound perspective.

If the brain’s access to sound is limited – such as by inadequate treatment of
hearing loss – it could lead to serious problems in life:

What can you do to keep
your brain healthy?

Get professional hearing advice

One of the most important things you can do is to get a hearing test – and then get proper treatment if you have any type of hearing loss.

A good sense of hearing with effective treatment of significant hearing loss is a key to maintaining a healthy brain throughout your life.

A qualified hearing care professional or audiologist can test your hearing for any signs of hearing loss. They can advise you on good, brain-friendly hearing aids and set them up to support your brain in the best way possible.

Choose brain-friendly hearing aids with BrainHearing technology

If you choose Oticon hearing aids, you choose technology that always strives to support your brain in working effectively.

Our hearing aids help your brain receive the quality sound information it needs.

We call this unique approach BrainHearing, and it is what makes Oticon hearing aids unique.

View hearing aids with BrainHearing technology here

Experience BrainHearing for yourself

Words can only do so much. To fully appreciate BrainHearing, you should let your own brain experience the difference.
Ask your local hearing care professional to fit you with Oticon hearing aids featuring BrainHearing technology – and let your brain be the judge.

Find a hearing care professional near you