New groundbreaking EEG research proves that Oticon Opn S™ hearing aids support the brain’s natural ability to organize and prioritize sounds
Copenhagen, Denmark, February 5th 2020 – Leading hearing aid manufacturer, Oticon, has added new evidence to its already rich collection of scientific evidence substantiating the effectiveness of Oticon’s groundbreaking and life changing BrainHearing™ technologies. Thanks to new breakthrough EEG research, Oticon proves that Oticon Opn S™ hearing aids help people with hearing loss* to experience a more natural sound experience and creates much better conditions for following conversations, even when there are multiple speakers and noise.
Having a hearing loss affects the brain’s ability to understand and organize sound. This diminishes the ability to monitor surroundings and switch attention when focusing on speech, especially in noisy environments. A new EEG testing method to objectively measure how a brain organizes sound has proven that Opn S™ hearing aids enhance so-called ‘selective attention’ - the ability to switch between the sounds you want to focus on.
The new test, developed with independent researchers in a large EU research project, was performed by the researchers at the Oticon research center, Eriksholm, and was able to measure a person’s selective attention ability by measuring how the brain responds to speech and noise. Mimicking a real-life conversation, including speech to ignore while focusing on a particular conversation and background babble to suppress, the test demonstrates that Opn S™ users are able to better focus on the voice of their choice and find it much easier to distinguish, and therefore switch attention between the other voices around them.
“Living with a hearing loss without the support the brain needs to effectively make sense of sounds can be detrimental to quality of life which can go on to affect a person’s health”, says Thomas Behrens, Chief of Audiology, Oticon. “With a hearing loss it takes a lot of effort to understand speech, especially in noisy environments or when several people are talking simultaneously, and this takes its toll on the brain. Without the vital selective attention ability, communication, and therefore social interaction, is extremely difficult and literally exhausting. This is why it is no surprise that so many people with hearing loss often choose to avoid social events, and why hearing loss is a major risk factor for conditions such as dementia.”
A recent study of health insurance data revealed that people with hearing loss were, within three years, able to reduce their risk of Alzheimers by 17%, depression by 14% and injuring falls by 13% by wearing hearing aids.
With Oticon’s groundbreaking OpenSound Navigator™ and OpenSound Optimiser™ BrainHearing™ technologies working together, Oticon Opn S™ hearing aids provide 360° access to sound, apply fast, precise and effective noise reduction that gives speech clarity, and ensure optimal gain with no risk of feedback.
“Oticon Opn S™ is helping users to make sense of sound and, in a number of ways, enabling users to hear just like people with normal hearing*. Opn S™ users can once again enjoy the family dinners, restaurants and social events that previously would have been too challenging. By continuously improving the way hearing aids can increase speech understanding and reduce listening effort with technological innovation, we are changing people’s lives,” concluded Thomas Behrens.
For more information on Oticon visit: www.oticon.global.
* for people with mild-moderate, non-complex hearing loss
About Oticon
500 million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss. The majority are over the age of 50 while eight percent are under the age of 18. Oticon's vision is to create a world where people are no longer limited by hearing loss. A world where hearing aids fit seamlessly into life and help people realise their full potential, while avoiding the health consequences of hearing loss. Oticon develops and manufactures hearing aids for both adults and children and supports every kind of hearing loss from mild to profound and we pride ourselves on developing some of the most innovative hearing aids in the market. Headquartered in Denmark, we are a global company and part of Demant with more than 15,000 employees and revenues of over DKK 14 billion. Changing technology. Changing conventions. Changing lives. Oticon – Life-changing hearing technology. www.oticon.global