Of the five senses, hearing is our second most vital. Johns Hopkins Medicine has linked hearing loss to increased risk dementia by up to 5x. As hearing becomes more difficult, your brain has to work harder to register and comprehend what you’re listening to. This steals energy needed for memory and thinking. The nonprofit HIA works with the medical community and hearing aid manufacturers in an ongoing public service awareness effort for improving hearing health: “Hear Well. Stay Vital.” Thorburn worked with HIA to create a PSA campaign promoting an “apple-a-day” strategy to rally humans everywhere to add a hearing check to their annual schedule of preventative health check-ups.