Music Training Program

Emerging evidence suggests that music may help delay the onset of dementia and improve brain function and information recall. Victory Hearing & Balance’s owner and audiologist, Dr. Jill Davis, has seen remarkable progress in patients who incorporate music training into their lives. She is a strong advocate for music training and is proud to offer the Victory Music Program to patients. In fact, Dr. Davis is the first audiologist to create a brain training program using music instead of speech to supplement hearing aids as a form of auditory rehabilitation.

Aging and Hearing Loss

Hearing loss causes lack of stimulation to the brain. That, along with aging, can create changes in the brain that may lead to cognitive decline, memory loss and difficulty hearing speech in background noise.

When Hearing Aids Are Not Enough

Hearing aids amplify sounds and stimulate the brain to reverse the negative changes due to hearing loss, but they cannot correct for changes in the brain due to aging. Even with hearing aids, it may still be difficult to hear in noise. Auditory training can help your brain recognize the sounds coming from your hearing aids and increase speech processing. Victory Hearing & Balance currently has a number of speech-based auditory brain training programs available. Dr. Davis created the music version of these auditory brain training programs based on research that brain stimulation is greater when listening to music versus listening to speech.

Music and the Brain

Research suggests that playing a musical instrument has the potential to change your brain function and structure when done over a period of time and can reverse aging in older adults. Music stimulates different parts of the brain and that stimulation can help reduce cognitive decline and improve speech understanding. It can also reduce stress and increase mental alertness. Both listening to music and playing music help your brain in different ways. Studies show:

• Playing piano improves attention, memory and problem-solving skills
• Musicians outperform non-musicians in difficult speech-in-noise tasks
• Musicians perform better in background noise and have better brain function on brain training exercises
• Music training leads to better speech understanding in background noise and improved working memory

Victory Music Program

Music training improves the function and connectivity of brain regions. The Victory Hearing Program can help increase your brain volume and strengthen the communication between brain areas. Playing an instrument changes how your brain interprets and integrates a wide range of sensory information. Music training at Victory Hearing is available to everyone. You’ll need a smartphone or tablet or you can make an appointment to use our devices in the office lab.

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