Forgetting things more often? That ringing in your ears could be to blame. Emerging research shows a link between chronic tinnitus and memory loss.
Over 50 million adults hear annoying phantom ringing, buzzing, or roaring sounds due to tinnitus. An estimated 20 percent of these individuals will also experience more frequent episodes of forgetfulness.
Tinnitus stems from damage to tiny nerve hairs in the inner ear, often from loud noise, head trauma, or simply aging. Even with no outside noise, these damaged nerves misfire and send scrambled signals to the brain. The brain mistakes these signals for constant sounds.
This phantom ear noise makes it harder to concentrate and accurately encode new memories. Tinnitus also disrupts memory consolidation, where fresh memories are transferred from short-term to long-term storage. Sleep problems, common in tinnitus patients, further obstruct proper memory formation.
Brain imaging reveals that chronic tinnitus is linked to shrinkage in memory centers like the hippocampus. Individuals with tinnitus perform worse on verbal, visual, and working memory tests, regardless of normal age-related decline.
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