ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1591496
Dual Improvement of Cognitive Function and Auditory Ability in Elderly Patients with Hearing Impairment by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation-Assisted Auditory Rehabilitation Training
Provisionally accepted
- PLA Strategic Support Force Characteristic Medical Center, Beijing, China
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To analyze the dual improvement effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-assisted auditory rehabilitation training on cognitive function and auditory ability of elderly patients with hearing impairment.100 cases of elderly patients with hearing impairment admitted to our hospital between January 2020 and January 2025 were prospectively selected as study subjects. The patients were divided into sham tDCS group (N=50) and tDCS group (N=50) according to the randomized numeric table method. All patients received conventional auditory rehabilitation training, and were intervened for 1 month, 3 times/week, 1h each time. tDCS was given to patients in both groups before conventional auditory rehabilitation training, patients in the tDCS group underwent dual-site sequential high-definition tDCS stimulation, and patients in the sham tDCS group used sham dual-site sequential high definition tDCS stimulation.There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, BMI, degree of hearing loss, education level, smoking and drinking habits, laboratory indicators [FBG, ALP, ALT, AST, TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C], comorbidities, and family history of hearing loss (all p > 0.05). The hearing thresholds and HHIE-S scores of patients in both groups after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (both p = 0.001), and the hearing thresholds and HHIE-S scores of patients in the tDCS group after treatment were significantly lower than those in the sham tDCS group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). The MoCA and MMSE scores of patients in both groups were significantly higher than those before treatment (both p < 0.001), and the MoCA and MMSE scores of patients in the tDCS group were significantly higher than those in the sham tDCS group after treatment (p = 0.048 and p = 0.038, respectively). Hearing thresholds and HHIE-S were negatively correlated with MoCA and MMSE scores in elderly patients with hearing impairment (all p < 0.05).Bootstrap mediation analysis (Table S1) suggests that changes in hearing impairment may partially mediate improvements in cognitive function. Transcranial direct current stimulation-assisted auditory rehabilitation training may improve the cognitive and auditory functions of elderly patients with hearing impairment and enhance the quality of life of patients.
Keywords: transcranial direct current stimulation, auditory rehabilitation training, elderly hearing loss, hearing impairment, Cognitive Function, Auditory ability
Received: 11 Mar 2025; Accepted: 15 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Han, Zhang, Zhang, Duan, Su, Li, Sun, Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Gang Wang, PLA Strategic Support Force Characteristic Medical Center, Beijing, China
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