Protect & Improve Your Hearing & Brain Health | Dr. Konstantina Stankovic
Dr. Konstantina Stankovic, a leading medical expert in hearing science from Stanford, shares her deep insights into how our ears function and the staggering impact of hearing loss on cognition. She discusses the emotional connections to tinnitus and the risks posed by environmental noise. Stankovic offers practical strategies for protecting hearing, including the role of magnesium and earplugs. The conversation touches on the link between hearing loss and dementia, the evolution of auditory systems, and the exciting potential of AI in hearing aids.
Top snips
Hearing: tiny organ, huge impact
4:12 – 4:30
The inner ear (cochlea) is micro-sized — ~3 raindrops of fluid and detects sub-angstrom motion. Yet hearing shapes emotion, social bonds, and cognition.
- 1.5 billion people have hearing loss; 500M disabled.
- WHO predicts +1B more by 2050.
Hearing loss is a huge problem.
— Konstantina Stankovic
How sound becomes meaning
5:10 – 13:23
Sound → eardrum → tiny bones (malleus, incus, stapes) → fluid waves → hair cells → auditory nerve → brain.
High frequencies encoded at the base; low at the apex. The high-frequency end is more vulnerable to noise, drugs, and aging.
Everything is tuned in the inner ear.
— Konstantina Stankovic
Loud noise: hidden, lasting damage
32:22 – 34:26
Ringing after a concert can mean lasting harm — hidden hearing loss damages synapses even if an audiogram looks normal.
- 80 dB ≈ safe for 8 hrs.
- Every +3 dB → safe time halves.
Concerts: 110–120 dB. Use earplugs (check attenuation).
Some forms of temporary threshold shift are in fact permanent.
— Konstantina Stankovic
Simple protections: magnesium + earplugs
40:35 – 41:14
Before loud events: earplugs + consider magnesium.
- Fit earplugs correctly (musician plugs ≈14 dB; some give 30 dB).
- Studies: magnesium taken before noise reduced hearing loss in military cohorts.
Those who took magnesium beforehand had less hearing loss.
— Konstantina Stankovic
Tinnitus & the brain: attention matters
25:46 – 1:01:56
Tinnitus is often a phantom sound the brain makes after reduced input — like phantom limb pain.
Best-supported treatments:
- Hearing aids (if indicated)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Distract, get evaluated, and rule out asymmetry/tumor when appropriate.
It's a phantom sound.
— Konstantina Stankovic
Hearing loss → social withdrawal → cognition decline
1:20:07 – 1:21:47
Hearing loss raises risks of social isolation, depression, and cognitive decline — there’s a strong link to dementia.
Standard audiograms can miss early damage; speech-in-noise tests help detect risk earlier.
Practical: face the person, slow down, remove background noise, and get evaluated.
There is mounting evidence for a strong link between hearing loss and dementia.
— Konstantina Stankovic