Harley Street and Wigmore Street, London
Verified Hearing & Tinnitus Clinic
Brain-Based Hearing Programme™
Hearing loss is not a volume problem.
It is a problem of how the brain decodes sound.
This programme addresses both.
Every audiologist in the world knows how to fit a hearing aid. Very few are trained in what comes after: the structured clinical work that retrains how the brain processes the signal the hearing aid delivers. The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is that work.
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The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ explained
6 minutes
The first step
Start with the Brain-Based Hearing Assessment
The programme begins with a complete diagnostic assessment of both your peripheral hearing and central auditory processing. No other starting point is clinically appropriate.
- Establishes your complete auditory profile
- Identifies your specific processing deficits
- Determines the correct programme pathway
- Full written clinical report same day
- 60 to 90 minutes, both clinics available
Already own hearing aids? The programme is open to you. The assessment will identify what is still missing from the picture.
Before We Explain the Programme
What your audiologist probably did not tell you about your hearing loss
Most people are told they have a certain degree of hearing loss, given an audiogram, and offered hearing aids. What they are rarely told is what that loss is actually doing inside the brain. Here is the complete picture.
It begins in the cochlea
Age, noise exposure, or other factors damage the delicate hair cells inside the cochlea. These cells convert sound vibrations into electrical signals for the brain. When they are damaged, the signal they send is not simply quieter. It is distorted, degraded, and incomplete. The information reaching the brain is altered at source.
The degraded signal reaches the auditory cortex
Neural signals from the cochlea travel through the auditory brainstem to the auditory cortex, where the brain performs the complex work of organising, filtering, and interpreting sound. The cortex has been receiving a degraded, distorted signal. Over time, it begins to adapt to that degraded input, changing how it processes and decodes sound to compensate for what it is no longer receiving clearly.
The brain reorganises itself around the loss
Published research in the Journal of Neuroscience (2024) demonstrates that cortical thickness in areas responsible for auditory processing changes measurably with the duration of hearing loss. Areas of the auditory cortex deprived of their normal input begin to be recruited by other sensory systems, most commonly vision. This cross-modal reorganisation is the brain's adaptation to deprivation. It is measurable on MRI. It is directly linked to how long hearing loss has been left unaddressed.
The brain's adaptation becomes the biggest obstacle to treatment
When a hearing aid amplifies sound, it delivers a louder version of the same distorted signal to a brain that has been working for years with degraded input. The brain does not automatically decode this louder signal correctly. It continues to use the maladapted processing patterns it developed in the absence of clear sound. Without structured retraining of how the brain processes what it receives, clarity does not return. Volume returns. Clarity does not.
The Most Common Misunderstanding in Audiology
Why hearing aids alone are not the complete answer
This is not a criticism of hearing aids. They are an important clinical instrument. The issue is in how they are used, and what they are expected to do without the support of structured brain retraining.
What you were told
This model assumes hearing loss is a simple volume deficit that amplification resolves. Research consistently shows this is not what happens.
What actually happens
Distorted signal
Maladapted patterns
The signal remains distorted. The brain continues to decode it using the maladapted patterns it developed in the absence of clear sound. Without retraining, this does not change.
The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™
Technology
signal
sessions
decoding correctly
This is the approach that leading researchers describe as equivalent to physical therapy after surgery. The technology opens the door. The structured retraining teaches the brain to walk through it.
"Getting hearing aids without auditory training is like getting a knee replacement without physical therapy."
Joe Montano, Chief Audiologist, New York Presbyterian Hospital
The Lancet Commission 2024
Hearing loss and long-term brain health: what the science says
This section presents the findings of peer-reviewed scientific research. It is not written to cause concern. It is written because the evidence is significant enough that anyone with hearing loss deserves to know about it.
In July 2024, the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care published its most comprehensive update to date. It analysed data from populations around the world and concluded that approximately 45% of all dementia cases could potentially be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors.
Of those 14 factors, hearing loss in midlife was identified as the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia. Accounting for 7% of the total modifiable dementia risk, it ranked above smoking, physical inactivity, depression, and diabetes.
The Commission found that the risk of developing dementia increases by between 4% and 24% for every 10 decibel decrease in hearing ability. Specific speech-in-noise hearing loss, described in the report as "the deficit in understanding speech when background noise is present," was highlighted as particularly significant.
On the question of treatment, the Commission reached a striking conclusion. In their words: "The evidence that treating hearing loss decreases the risk of dementia is now stronger than when our previous Commission report was published."
They described implementing hearing aids as "likely cost saving if effective in preventing dementia." And the observational evidence of hearing aids reducing dementia risk, they concluded, "is consistent and supportive."
The research does not ask you to be afraid. It asks you to take your hearing seriously. Because your hearing and your long-term brain health are more connected than most people are ever told.
#1
Hearing loss is the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia in midlife
Lancet Commission 2024
7%
Of all potentially modifiable dementia is attributable to untreated hearing loss in midlife
Lancet Commission 2024
4–24%
Increase in dementia risk for every 10 dB decrease in hearing ability
Multiple studies reviewed by Lancet Commission
Livingston G, Huntley J, Liu KY, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet. Published online July 31, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0
View full paper ↗What this means for the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™
Hearing aids, as the Lancet Commission notes, show evidence of reducing dementia risk when used appropriately. The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ goes further. By combining precise hearing technology with structured brain retraining, it addresses both the signal arriving at the auditory cortex and how that cortex processes it. The programme is designed to keep the brain's auditory processing system active, engaged, and correctly decoding sound, which is exactly the mechanism the research points to as protective.
Auditory Memory and the Brain
Why the programme works with your brain's memory, not just its ability to detect sound
The auditory cortex is not a passive receiver. It is an active, plastic system that continuously adapts to the sounds it receives, or fails to receive. Research confirms that "auditory experience is vital for the development and maintenance of the higher auditory cortex." When that experience is degraded or absent, the cortex changes. When it is restored and trained, the cortex changes again.
The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ works with this plasticity deliberately. Each structured brain retraining session targets specific auditory processing functions, presenting stimuli in a way that progressively challenges and restores the brain's ability to decode speech, separate signal from noise, hold auditory information in working memory, and integrate sounds arriving from multiple directions simultaneously.
This is auditory memory work. The programme is not simply teaching you to hear louder sounds. It is rehabilitating the neural pathways that allow you to decode, retain, organise, and make sense of what you hear. This is what keeps the auditory system active, and what the neuroscience consistently identifies as the mechanism behind long-term hearing health.
Use it or lose it
Auditory pathways that are not regularly stimulated with clear, complete sound weaken over time. The programme ensures those pathways receive the precise stimulation needed to remain functional and responsive.
Neuroplasticity works both ways
The same plasticity that causes the brain to adapt negatively to hearing loss can be directed toward positive change. Structured, progressive training rebuilds the processing efficiency that hearing loss eroded.
Training alongside technology
The hearing technology in the programme provides a stable, precise signal. The brain retraining sessions teach the cortex to decode it correctly. Neither alone produces the complete outcome that both together make possible.
The Programme
Brain-Based Hearing Programme™: what it is and how it works
The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is a structured clinical rehabilitation system. It is not a hearing aid fitting service. It is not a product. It is a clinically designed pathway combining two things that, on their own, produce incomplete outcomes.
The first component is precisely fitted hearing technology, selected and continuously optimised to deliver a stable, clear signal to the auditory cortex. The second component is a series of structured brain retraining sessions, each targeting specific auditory processing functions within the cortex.
Together, they address what no hearing aid alone and no brain training alone can achieve: the restoration of how sound is interpreted, not just how it is detected.
This is not amplification alone.
This is the restoration of auditory processing.
The distinction matters. Amplification makes sound louder. Auditory processing restoration makes sound intelligible. Intelligibility is what allows you to understand speech, follow conversations, and hear with confidence in the environments that matter most to you.
The four core auditory processing domains the programme addresses
Each domain represents a specific function of the auditory cortex. When any of them fails, the result is a distinct and recognisable difficulty. The programme assesses and targets each one specifically.
Decoding
When impaired you experience:
"Words sound unclear, even at normal volume"
What the programme restores:
The brain's ability to interpret fine phonemic detail, distinguishing between similar-sounding words and recovering speech clarity at the cortical level.
Tolerance Fading Memory
When impaired you experience:
"I forget what someone just said before they finish speaking"
What the programme restores:
Auditory working memory capacity and the reduction of cognitive overload, so incoming speech is retained long enough to be processed fully before the next sentence arrives.
Integration
When impaired you experience:
"Background noise completely overwhelms the conversation I'm trying to follow"
What the programme restores:
The brain's capacity to process multiple sound sources simultaneously and separate speech from competing noise, reducing listening effort in complex acoustic environments.
Organisation
When impaired you experience:
"Group conversations feel chaotic, I can't follow who is saying what"
What the programme restores:
The sequencing and structural processing of auditory information, so conversations feel organised rather than overwhelming, and rapid speech becomes easier to follow.
The clinical method: what happens in the protocol sessions
Phonemic training
Structured exercises that retrain the brain's ability to distinguish between similar speech sounds, rebuilding the fine-grained phonemic processing that hearing loss erodes.
Auditory memory development
Progressive training of the auditory working memory system, extending the duration and capacity of the brain's ability to hold incoming speech while it is being processed.
Dichotic listening
Training the brain to process simultaneous input arriving at both ears, improving binaural integration and the ability to function in complex listening environments.
Sequencing exercises
Targeted work on the auditory cortex's ability to organise sounds in temporal order, which directly addresses the experience of conversations feeling disorganised or difficult to follow.
Each protocol is tailored following the Brain-Based Hearing Assessment, which establishes the specific processing deficits present in your profile. The sessions are structured and progressive: as function improves, the protocols advance accordingly. Hearing technology is fitted, verified, and continuously optimised throughout to ensure the brain receives a stable and precise signal at every stage.
The Technology in the Programme
Precision instruments, not retail products
The hearing technology we select for the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is chosen entirely on the basis of clinical requirement. The device fitted to you is the one whose signal processing characteristics best match the auditory profile established in your Brain-Based Hearing Assessment. It is a clinical instrument in a rehabilitation programme, not a product sold in isolation.
We work with the leading hearing technology manufacturers. All devices are fitted with Real Ear Measurement verification to confirm the signal reaching your auditory cortex precisely matches your clinical prescription. Technology selection, fitting, and ongoing optimisation are included throughout the programme.
ZeroDelay™ and PureSound™ Technology
Widex is known for producing the most natural sound of any hearing aid manufacturer. Their ZeroDelay™ processing eliminates the latency between sound arriving and the brain receiving it, which is critical for correct temporal processing. The Allure (2025) uses the W1 chip. The Moment 440 offers up to 37 hours battery life. Both prioritise signal quality above all else, making them a strong clinical choice for patients whose primary challenge is speech clarity in quiet to moderately noisy environments.
Learn about Widex technology ↗DEEPSONIC™ Dual-Processing Technology
Phonak's Sphere Infinio achieved the highest independent speech-in-noise performance scores of any hearing aid reviewed in 2025-2026 (ranked in the top 3% by HearAdvisor). Its DEEPSONIC processor separates speech from noise using a dedicated second chip running deep learning in parallel with standard processing. For patients whose primary challenge is complex listening environments, this technology delivers a signal precision that directly supports the Integration domain of the programme. AutoSense OS 7.0 adapts automatically to over 200 environments.
Learn about Phonak technology ↗BrainHearing™ Deep Neural Network 2.0
Oticon is the only major manufacturer whose technology is explicitly designed around the brain's processing of sound, which directly aligns with the clinical philosophy of our programme. Their BrainHearing™ approach uses a second-generation Deep Neural Network trained on over 12 million sound inputs. The result is that Intent 1 delivers 35% more speech cues to the brain than earlier technologies, providing the auditory cortex with the most complete acoustic picture possible. For patients on the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™, this means the brain retraining sessions are working with a richer, more accurate signal from the outset.
Learn about Oticon technology ↗Integrated Xperience and Own Voice Processing
Signia's Integrated Xperience platform separates processing of the wearer's own voice from all other sounds, addressing one of the most common early complaints among hearing aid users: that their voice sounds strange or distorted. For patients undergoing phonemic training, a natural perception of their own speech is clinically significant. The IX platform also includes directional processing that adapts to the wearer's movement and listening focus, which is relevant to the Integration domain of the programme.
Learn about Signia technology ↗DNN 360 with Spatial Awareness Technology
Starkey's 2026 platform processes sound through a 360-degree spatial awareness system, delivering improved speech clarity across directional sources rather than only in front of the wearer. The Omega AI uses DNN 360 which delivers 19.6% better speech clarity than its predecessor. Starkey's platform also includes brain health monitoring features aligned with the growing body of evidence connecting hearing treatment to long-term cognitive health. This makes it a particularly relevant choice for patients motivated by the research on hearing and dementia prevention.
Learn about Starkey technology ↗Full Programme Access at a More Accessible Investment Level
Rexton and Unitron offer access to the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ at a more accessible investment level. The brain retraining protocol, the clinical method, and the structured sessions remain identical to the premium programme. What changes is the precision of the signal delivered to the brain. At lower technology levels, the acoustic environment performance is more limited, particularly in complex or noisy situations. For patients with simpler listening needs, this remains a clinically appropriate and effective entry point to the programme.
Already own hearing aids?
A significant number of patients who register on the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ already own hearing aids. Some have worn them for years. They come to us because they continue to struggle, and they suspect that something more is needed.
They are right. The technology alone is not the barrier. The absence of structured brain retraining is. Your hearing aids are working. Your auditory cortex is not decoding the signal they deliver correctly, because it was never retrained to do so.
The Brain-Based Hearing Assessment will establish the specific processing deficits present in your profile. From there, the programme addresses what your hearing aids have never been able to fix on their own.
In some cases, the technology you already own is appropriate for use within the programme. In others, a different device will better serve your specific auditory profile. The assessment determines this.
Book the AssessmentWho Should Enquire
The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is designed for patients who recognise any of the following
You have hearing loss and want it treated properly
You have a diagnosis of hearing loss and want a clinical pathway that addresses the complete picture. Not just an audiogram and a device recommendation. A programme that restores how your brain processes what it hears.
You have hearing aids but are still struggling
You wear hearing aids but continue to struggle in noise, experience listening fatigue, or find group conversations difficult. The technology is doing its job. The brain retraining component was simply never delivered alongside it.
You are aware of the dementia research and want to act on it
The Lancet findings have persuaded you that treating hearing loss is not optional. You want the most complete approach available: one that addresses both the peripheral and central auditory systems, and keeps the brain's auditory processing active and engaged.
You want the most clinically advanced option available
You have done the research. You understand that the brain-based approach represents the current frontier of evidence-based hearing rehabilitation. You are not looking for the most convenient option. You are looking for the most complete one.
The Specialists Who Deliver the Programme
Your Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ audiologists
Awajimijana Otana
Founder and Clinical Audiologist
Known as AJ, our founder was nationally recognised by the British Academy of Audiology during his training years. He holds an MSc in Audiology from the University of Manchester and brings experience from NHS specialist posts and private practice across two continents. The brain-based method he practises continues a clinical lineage established by his father, Allison Otana (formerly Okpojo), PhD, an inventor in the field of audiology. AJ is known for his precision, warmth, and ability to explain complex neuroscience in terms that make immediate clinical sense to patients.
Abby Pillay
Clinical Audiologist
Abby specialises in diagnostic audiology and speech-in-noise testing, both of which are central to the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ assessment and protocol design. Her approach to patient explanation is consistently described by patients as the clearest and most thorough they have experienced. She is a RHAD registered clinical audiologist with specialist expertise in the areas the programme addresses most directly.
Google Reviews
What patients say
"I came in because I was told my hearing was fine, yet I still struggled in every meeting and social situation. The assessment revealed exactly what was happening in my auditory processing. The programme changed how I hear. Not just volume. Clarity. Real clarity. I cannot overstate how different this is from anything else I had tried."
Michael A.
Google Review, Harley Street
"I had worn hearing aids for three years with limited improvement in the things that actually mattered, conversations in restaurants, following meetings, group dinners. Starting the programme was a turning point. The approach explained everything that had been missing."
Sarah T.
Google Review, Wigmore Street
"AJ explained exactly what had been happening in my brain for years. The way he connected the science to my daily experience was unlike anything I had encountered in years of audiology appointments elsewhere. I finally understood my own hearing. And then we started fixing it."
Richard K.
Google Review, Harley Street
The First Step
The programme begins with the Brain-Based Hearing Assessment
Before any programme pathway is determined, your auditory profile must be fully mapped. The Brain-Based Hearing Assessment is the only clinically appropriate starting point for any patient considering the programme.
The assessment takes 60 to 90 minutes at either our Harley Street or Wigmore Street clinic. It tests both your peripheral hearing and your central auditory processing across all four programme domains. The same day, you receive a full written clinical report. Your audiologist discusses your results and the programme pathway that fits your specific profile.
There is no obligation to proceed with the programme. Many patients book the assessment simply to understand the complete picture of their hearing health. The report alone is of significant clinical value.
Brain-Based Hearing Assessment
£199
8 components · Same-day report · No GP referral · Both clinics
What the assessment establishes
- The type and degree of your peripheral hearing loss (audiogram)
- Whether your hearing loss is sensorineural, conductive, or mixed
- Your speech discrimination score and what it reveals
- Your speech-in-noise performance and processing function
- Which of the four auditory processing domains are affected
- The specific protocol pathway your programme will follow
- The technology level and device type your auditory profile requires
- The written clinical report you take away on the same day
Questions
Frequently asked questions
A standard hearing aid fitting provides a device calibrated to your audiogram. The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is a structured clinical rehabilitation system combining precisely fitted hearing technology with a series of brain retraining sessions targeting the auditory processing functions that hearing loss impairs. It is not a product. It is a programme. The device is one clinical instrument within it, not the outcome.
Yes. Many patients who enrol on the Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ already own hearing aids and continue to struggle with clarity, noise, or listening fatigue. The technology alone is not the barrier. The absence of structured brain retraining is. The Brain-Based Hearing Assessment determines whether your existing technology is appropriate for use within the programme, or whether a different device would better serve your auditory profile.
The 2024 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention identified hearing loss as the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia in midlife, accounting for 7% of all potentially modifiable dementia risk. Research reviewed by the Commission shows a 4 to 24 percent increase in dementia risk for every 10 decibel decrease in hearing ability. The Commission concluded that the evidence treating hearing loss decreases dementia risk is now stronger than ever before. The full paper is available at The Lancet: Livingston G, Huntley J, Liu KY, et al. The Lancet, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0.
The first step is the Brain-Based Hearing Assessment at £199. This is the only clinically appropriate starting point for any patient considering the programme. It takes 60 to 90 minutes, tests both peripheral hearing and central auditory processing, and provides a full written clinical report the same day. Your audiologist will discuss the results and the programme pathway appropriate for your specific auditory profile. Book at the top of this page or by calling 020 3011 1280.
The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is a bespoke clinical pathway. The appropriate programme level, the technology selected, and the number of protocol sessions required are all determined by the results of the Brain-Based Hearing Assessment. Listing a single price would imply a one-size-fits-all approach that would be clinically inaccurate. Programme options and investment levels are discussed at your assessment appointment. All programme options include a structured series of brain retraining sessions, precisely fitted hearing technology, and ongoing clinical support.
We have two central London clinics. 1 Harley Street, London W1G 9QD (nearest tube: Oxford Circus, 5 minutes) and 126 Wigmore Street, London W1U 3RY, directly opposite Selfridges (nearest tube: Bond Street, 3 minutes). Both clinics are open Monday to Saturday including evenings until 7pm. No GP referral required.
Our Clinics
Two central London locations
Wigmore Street
126 Wigmore Street, London W1U 3RY
Location Directly opposite Selfridges
Nearest tube Bond Street, 3 min walk
Hours Monday to Saturday, 9am to 7pm
The complete approach to hearing loss
Hearing care as it was always meant to be
The Brain-Based Hearing Programme™ is the only clinical pathway in London that addresses both the peripheral and central auditory systems. The first step is the Brain-Based Hearing Assessment. Everything that follows is built on that complete clinical picture.
Monday to Saturday including evenings until 7pm. Harley Street and Wigmore Street, London.