Tracing the source of hearing loss in Alzheimer’s disease

2024

Challenge

There is considerable interest in whether sensory deficits are associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In particular, recent findings suggest a relationship between Alzheimer’s and hearing loss, but this link remains poorly understood.

Advance

IRP researchers studying mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease discovered that hearing loss occurred early in the disease’s development in the animals. Moreover, the hearing loss was linked to a buildup of DNA damage in the brain and the cochlea, a part of the ear that is critical for turning sounds into electrical signals the brain can interpret.

Impact

This work suggests that DNA damage may play an important role in both hearing loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, the study’s findings show the earliest hearing loss in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease reported in the scientific literature. This suggests that evaluating hearing may provide a way to diagnose the disease more quickly, thereby enabling early treatment before other signs of the illness become apparent.

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