Alexandru Ionut HRISTIAN
ABSTRACT :
This article investigates differences in cognitive performance trajectories between audiologically rehabilitated and untreated individuals with hearing loss, emphasizing the role of time-dependent neural plasticity in the recovery of executive functions. The 25-month longitudinal dataset (n = 155 aided; n = 648 unaided) demonstrates that rehabilitation not only improves audiological thresholds but also facilitates the strategic reallocation of prefrontal cortical resources toward more efficient information encoding. A 37-percentage-point advantage observed in rehabilitated participants at the critical mild-to-moderate hearing loss threshold supports the hypothesis that auditory prosthetic intervention represents a fundamental neuroprotective strategy. Furthermore, the study identifies a Cognitive Collapse Point—the transition from moderate to severe hearing loss—as a critical window beyond which neural reorganization may become maladaptive and potentially irreversible.
Keywords: neural plasticity; cognitive rehabilitation; hearing loss; longitudinal study; auditory prosthetics; cognitive load; dementia prevention; cross-modal plasticity.