Abstract
Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia which affects a growing number of people worldwide. Early identification of people at risk to develop AD should be prioritized. Hearing loss is considered an independent potentially modifiable risk factor for accelerated cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. The main outcome of interest of this review is the alteration of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential (CAEP) morphology in an AD or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) population with and without hearing loss.Methods: Two investigators independently and systematically searched publications regarding auditory processing on a cortical level in people with cognitive impairment (MCI or AD) with and without hearing loss. Only articles which mentioned at least one auditory elicited event-related potential (ERP) component and that were written in English or Dutch were included. Animal studies were excluded. No restrictions were imposed regarding publication date. The reference list of potential sources were screened for additional articles.Results: This systematic review found no eligible articles that met all inclusion criteria. Therefore, no results were included, resulting in an empty systematic review.Conclusion: In general, dysfunction – being either from cognitive or auditory origin – reduces CAEP amplitudes and prolongs latencies. Therefore, CAEPs may be a prognostic indicator in the early stages of cognitive decline. However, it remains unclear which CAEP component alteration is due to cognitive impairment, and which is due to hearing loss (or even both). In addition, vestibular dysfunction – associated with hearing loss, cognitive impairment and AD – may also alter CAEP responses. Further CAEP studies are warranted, integrating cognitive, hearing, and vestibular evaluations.
Highlights
As the world’s population increases in age, a growing number of people are confronted with cognitive impairment and dementia
This study aimed to systematically review the literature on how Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential (CAEP) are affected in people with cognitive impairment (MCI or Alzheimer’s disease (AD)) with and without hearing loss
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to systematically review how CAEP morphology is affected in people with cognitive impairment (MCI or AD) with or without hearing loss
Summary
As the world’s population increases in age, a growing number of people are confronted with cognitive impairment and dementia. When people experience a greater-than-expected cognitive decline but are still able to perform their activities of daily life autonomously, the concept mild cognitive impairment (MCI (Albert et al, 2011; Dubois et al, 2014) is used. When their ability to perform activities of daily life is impaired, the term dementia is applied (McKhann et al, 2011). Hearing loss is considered an independent potentially modifiable risk factor for accelerated cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. The main outcome of interest of this review is the alteration of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential (CAEP) morphology in an AD or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) population with and without hearing loss
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