Loneliness has been long recognized as an adverse outcome of hearing loss, but whether it contributes to hearing loss as a risk factor has remained unclear. In this cohort study using data from 490,865 UK Biobank participants, researchers found that individuals who reported feeling lonely at baseline were significantly more likely to develop hearing loss over a median 12.3-year follow-up period. The study, published in Health Data Science, controlled for a broad range of demographic, lifestyle, clinical, and genetic factors, yet loneliness remained an independent predictor of incident hearing loss.

The association was most pronounced for sensorineural hearing loss and stronger in women than in men. The findings highlight a possible bidirectional relationship between loneliness and hearing loss, suggesting a reinforcing cycle. The authors propose that loneliness may affect auditory health through mechanisms such as inflammation, stress-related neuroendocrine changes, and unhealthy behavior patterns. The research team aims to explore these pathways in future studies and evaluate whether interventions that reduce loneliness can mitigate hearing loss risk.

In the rapidly evolving field of quantum computing, silicon spin qubits are emerging as a leading candidate for building scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers. A new review titled "Single-Electron Spin Qubits in Silicon for Quantum" published May 2 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal, highlights the latest advances, challenges and future prospects of silicon spin qubits for quantum computing.