According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, physicians at Johns Hopkins University have found that hearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline in older adults. The study found that older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop problems with thinking and remembering than older adults whose hearing is normal. Volunteers with hearing loss had cognitive abilities that decline some 30 to 40% faster than those with normal hearing over a six year testing period. The researchers also found that the greater the hearing loss, the greater the levels of declining brain function.