Central Auditory Processing Disorders In Concussed Athletes

Abstract

A central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a specific auditory dysfunction in sensory encoding and speech perception without any problems in peripheral hearing. The majority of studies with brain injured patients investigated peripheral hearing problems. Recently, a single case study found that a mild traumatic brain injury caused deficits for certain aspects of central auditory processing, including dichotic hearing, duration pattern recognition, compressed speech and competing speech comprehension (Musiek, Baran & Shinn, 2004). PURPOSE: To assess the presence of a central auditory disorder in university level male athletes who suffered a concussion. METHODS: We assessed peripheral and central auditory processing in a group of sport related concussed athletes and in a group of teammates who never suffered from a concussion, sport related or otherwise. All athletes came from contact sports, soccer and football. Peripheral and central auditory processing were assessed using standard clinical tests. RESULTS: The two groups of athletes had normal and comparable results on the tests of peripheral auditory perception. In contrast, the brain injured athletes showed central auditory processing deficits on frequency perception, duration perception and competing speech comprehension. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that a sport related concussion can disrupts the neurological mechanisms implicated in central auditory processing and suggest that central auditory perception should be considered in the clinical assessment of concussed athletes.