Hearing loss impacts gray and white matter across the lifespan: systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression

Hearing loss affects brain reorganization across the lifespan. Here, we quantitatively analyze brain structural alterations using all brain magnetic resonance imaging studies of hearing loss to date. Hearing loss was found to affect gray matter (GM) and underlying white matter (WM) in nearly every brain region. In particular, GM and WM in the frontal lobe were significantly affected. The hemispheric asymmetry of frontal lobe changes was opposite in congenital and acquired hearing loss subjects. These results open new research avenues and possibly a paradigm shift in the treatment of hearing loss. This work will appear in the journal NeuroImage.

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921001038