When it’s just too noisy … test how well you’re listening

More than 15 years ago, we began integrating cognitive screening into our audiological consultations at the clinic. To many in our professional fraternity, it seemed a bit of an oddity - although at around the same time, researchers were already starting to make noises about something significant:

Hearing loss - especially when it goes untreated - doesn’t just leave gaps in the conversation. It leaves gaps in cognition.

So for those who chose to adopt hearing technology early on - when you first started to ‘notice things’ - we know you 

know how good that decision has been. Owning a hearing device and sticking to it, in spite of the life admin that goes with it, is a daily commitment. 

On the flip side, though, it’s also a huge gift to your life and cognitive health and, as studies have shown, an intelligent proactive step in keeping your mind sharp.

The research on this topic is fascinating.

A 2023 Lancet Commission report identified hearing loss as the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia. It found that treating hearing loss in mid- and later life may reduce the risk of cognitive decline by up to 8% — more than treating hypertension or diabetes.

But there’s more to this story than risk reduction, when one looks at how the brain compensates for hearing loss - and this matters to our ability to engage successfully in life’s conversations, especially in challenging environments. We’re talking situations where your focus is on hearing and following speech in noisy places.  If you want to hear speech and conversations in situations with more than one person in the chat, it’s important to know what’s going on with your ability to grasp the detail, focus, listen and fill in the gaps - ie. how your working memory is doing - because it’s not your ears that are responsible for this aspect of hearing, it’s your brain, or cognitive function.

Those of us who are using hearing technology are already doing something deeply preventative — and neuroprotective. That’s huge. But you might still be wondering whether you’re hearing well enough when the conversation you want to tune into is competing with a whole lot of noisy chaos, whether your working memory is in a good place, retaining auditory information as well as it could. The goal, for all of us, really, is to hear - and remember the detail of - more conversations in more situations, more easily.

Want to know how well your brain actually hears?

We’re offering you a complimentary hearing-related cognitive test - a small but powerful way to deepen your understanding of your own hearing brain.

Please choose from one from the three free test options:

Speech-in-Noise Test

Measures how effectively you’re able to distinguish relevant speech from background sound - a test that mimics real-world everyday listening challenges, like in a restaurant or a busy meeting room.

Limited time offer! Valid until 20 May 2025 - 10 test slots available.

Working Memory Test

Looks at your brain’s ability to retain and manipulate information along with its ability to ‘fill in the gaps’ - crucial when making out speech in noisy settings or following fast-paced dialogue.

Limited time offer! Valid until 20 May 2025 - 10 test slots available.

Attention Test
Evaluates how well you focus in the presence of distraction - a skill that’s important to successful real-life listening and communication.

Limited time offer! Valid until 20 May 2025 - 10 test slots available.

We’re not asking you to sign up for anything!

We know our brains crave attention. These quick tests are interesting, illuminating, free(!) and, we think, also quite fun to do ; ) 

And we really want to keep the conversation about cognitive hearing health going — something we’ve believed in since long before it went mainstream!

Book your complimentary test before 20 May 2025

Thanks, as always, for being the kind of patient who’s curious, proactive, and ready to take things to the next level.

You’re an inspiration to us.