My guest is Konstantina Stankovic, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology at Stanford School of Medicine. She explains how hearing works and why hearing loss—affecting over 1.5 billion people—impacts people of all ages. We discuss how hearing loss impairs focus and increases the risk of cognitive decline, as well as the role of menopause and other biological milestones in hearing health. We share science-backed protocols to protect your hearing and highlight risks to avoid. And we discuss tinnitus—its causes and treatment options. AGZ: https://drinkagz.com/huberman Wealthfront*: https://wealthfront.com/huberman Our Place: https://fromourplace.com/huberman David: https://davidprotein.com/huberman Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman *This experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients of Wealthfront, and there is no guarantee that all clients will have similar experiences. Cash Account is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. The Annual Percentage Yield (“APY”) on cash deposits as of September 26, 2025, is representative, subject to change, and requires no minimum. Funds in the Cash Account are swept to partner banks where they earn the variable APY. Promo terms and FDIC coverage conditions apply. Same-day withdrawal or instant payment transfers may be limited by destination institutions, daily transaction caps, and by participating entities such as Wells Fargo, the RTP® Network, and FedNow® Service. New Cash Account deposits are subject to a 2-4 day holding period before becoming available for transfer. Investment advisory services are provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Securities investments are not bank deposits, bank-guaranteed or FDIC-insured, and may lose value. 00:00 Konstantina Stankovic 03:27 Hearing Loss, How Hearing Works, Types of Hearing Loss 10:58 Sound Waves, High vs Low Frequency, Communication, Importance of Hearing 15:26 Sponsors: Wealthfront & Our Place 18:40 Sound Projection, Intensity, Speech; Moving Ears; Larger Ears 22:59 Sounds & Emotionality; Tinnitus 26:43 Painful Sounds, Hyperacusis, Phonophobia; Memory, Auditory Hallucinations 32:19 Concerts & Ringing in Ears, Hidden Hearing Loss; Tool: Safe Sound Threshold 39:15 Concerts & Protecting Hearing, Tools: Ear Plugs, Magnesium Threonate 43:44 Magnesium Food Sources & Supplements; Migraines & Tinnitus 47:30 Tinnitus; Hearing Loss, Genetic & Environmental Factors 53:19 Sponsors: AGZ by AG1 & David 56:04 Individualization; Tinnitus Examination & Treatment, Supplementation? 1:04:36 Headphones, Tough vs Tender Ears, Children, Tool: Safe Sound Levels 1:09:41 Compounded Damage, Concerts & Hearing Loss, Tool: Ear Plugs 1:12:59 Transitioning Environments, Hyperacusis; In-Utero Hearing 1:15:56 Dogs & Sea Animals, Sound Pollution 1:19:54 Hearing Loss, Dementia & Cognitive Decline; Tool: Slow Speech & Face Listener 1:26:26 Sponsor: Joovv 1:27:38 Lip Reading; AI-Enhanced Hearing Aids 1:30:12 Sleep, Tool: Earplugs; Hearing Yourself Speak, Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence 1:36:54 Hearing & Balance, Vibrations; Sound Therapy 1:42:05 Music, Dance, Hearing & Frequency Map; Cochlear Implants 1:48:20 Sponsor: LMNT 1:49:52 Hearing & Social-Cognitive Development, Mental Health; Cochlear Implants 1:56:07 Men vs Women, Estrogen; Hearing Loss, Environment, NSAIDs 2:01:52 Environmental Toxins, Heavy Metals, Plastics; Tool: Heating Plastic 2:06:39 Tool: Avoid Regular NSAIDs Use; Birds & Hair Cell Regeneration; Cancer 2:12:05 Head & Neck, Lymphatic System & Surgery 2:14:44 Adult Auditory Plasticity, Music & Language 2:17:37 Splitting of Senses, Podcasts, AI & Human Progress 2:22:20 Prevent Hearing Loss & Recap 2:25:09 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
So now there is mounting evidence for a strong link between hearing loss and dementia. It's not that everyone with hearing loss will develop dementia. However, we are trying to identify who is at risk. Hearing loss is a huge problem. It currently affects one and a half billion people and disables half a billion of them.
And the World Health Organization estimates that another billion will be affected by 2050.
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. Konstantina Stankovich.
She is a medical doctor and researcher and the chair of the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we discuss hearing and how to protect yours, as well as how to deal with common problems related to hearing like tinnitus or ringing of the ears, which is a very debilitating condition that many millions of people suffer from.
Most of us don't think about our hearing very often unless it's compromised. And yet we now know that our ability to hear clearly in many ways drives our ability to think and engage with the world, which is of course not to say that deaf people don't have excellent cognition and the ability to engage with the world,
but they of course compensate for that hearing loss with the use of sign language and lip reading. Most people of course have the ability to hear and yet don't know that even subtle deficits in hearing can lead to focus issues, mild cognitive impairment, and more serious hearing loss is directly related to dementia.
And while until recently we thought about partial hearing loss as really something that accompanies aging, it turns out that for various reasons related to loud environments, the use of headphones, et cetera, progressive subtle hearing loss is occurring much earlier in people's lives, even as early as childhood.
Today, you're going to learn from one of the top experts in the world how your auditory system works. We'll talk about how it works from the time you were in your mother's womb. Yes, indeed, you could hear quite well, even within your mother's womb, all the way through adolescence and into old age. And you're going to learn the specific things that you can do to protect your hearing.
And I'm certain that you'll realize that some or many of the things that you're doing are subtly or not so subtly damaging your hearing. And fortunately, you can remedy that very easily. We talk about some of the behavioral protocols that are backed by science, as well as things like the use of magnesium to protect against hearing loss.
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