Characterization of Mismatch Negativity in children, adolescents and young adults

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an objective measure of central auditory discrimination. MMN alterations have been shown in children with language and/or developmental disorders. In benign focal epilepsies, neuropsychological disorders are often reported and linked to interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs) during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. There are few studies reporting MMN in children with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) and sleep IEDs. Moreover, no MMN recording has yet been reported in atypical BECTS children with continuous spike-and-wave during sleep (CSWS). We retrospectively compared MMN in typical and atypical BECTS children, particularly addressing the impact of NREM sleep IEDs on auditory discrimination. Moreover, we attempted a neuropsychological characterization of patients. The MMN was recorded in 9 normal controls and 23 patients (14 typical BECTS and 9 atypical BECTS) in an oddball paradigm with syllable stimuli. MMN, sleep electroencephalography (EEG) and neuropsychological evaluation were realized in the same testing session. Measurable MMN responses to speech stimuli were identified in both the control and patient groups. A significant difference between control and atypical BECTS children was found with respect to amplitude (p=0.0061). Atypical BECTS also showed a lower MMN amplitude with respect to typical BECTS, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.0545). Statistical comparisons between groups revealed no differences in latency. Among the neuropsychological variables, academic difficulties were significantly more prominent in the patients with atypical BECTS (p=0.04). CSWS EEG pattern affects auditory discrimination and may have a long-lasting impact on academic skills acquisition, whereas in typical BECTS children with a lower degree of IED NREM sleep, plastic brain reorganization or the preservation of participating networks may prevent such difficulty. Early electrophysiologic identification of auditory discrimination deficits in epileptic children could be used in early rehabilitation, thereby reducing the risk of developing neuropsychological disorders.

ABSTRACTObjective To analyze the latency and the amplitude values of Mismatch Negativity and P300 cognitive potential in children with stuttering, with no auditory complaints, with auditory thresholds within the normality range, comparing them to the findings of a Control Group.Methods A cross-sectional study involving 50 children of both sexes, 15 with stuttering and 35 without stuttering, aged 6 to 11 years, with no diagnosis of ear pathology or other diseases. All children were submitted to peripheral audiological evaluation (meatoscopy, pure tone testing, speech audiometry, and acoustic immittance measures) and a central audiological evaluation (investigation of the Mismatch Negativity and P300 cognitive potential). For the evaluation of fluency, all children with stuttering had a specific history taken and were video recorded in a spontaneous speech. Afterwards, the transcription was done, followed by speech analysis to classify children according the severity of stuttering.Results There was a significant difference in the latencies of Mismatch Negativity and P300 cognitive potential, as well as in the amplitude of Mismatch Negativity.Conclusion There was a significant delay in the latencies of Mismatch Negativity and P300 cognitive potential, as well as increase in the amplitude of the Mismatch Negativity in children with stuttering when compared to children in the Control Group. Changes in the morphology of the waves were found in the Stuttering Group.

Automatic detection of deviant sounds in the environment, such as upcoming traffic, is often affected in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a way to quantify automatic deviancy detection, using electroencephalography. In this study, auditory MMN was assessed in 35 children with ASD and 38 matched control children, revealing significantly reduced MMN in the ASD group. This may indicate that children with ASD are less able to automatically detect environmentally deviant stimuli.

65. Description of the mismatch negativity (MMN) in Mexican children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Separating mismatch negativity (<scp>MMN</scp>) response from auditory obligatory brain responses in school‐aged children

The use of cochlear implants to restore auditory sensation in deaf children is increasing, with a trend toward earlier implantation. However, little is known about how auditory deprivation and subsequent cochlear implant use affect the maturing human central auditory system. Our previous studies have demonstrated that the obligatory auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) of implanted children are very different from those of normal-hearing children. Unlike the obligatory potentials, which primarily reflect neural responses to stimulus onset, the mismatch negativity (MMN) provides a neurophysiological measure of auditory short-term memory and discrimination processes. The purpose of this investigation is to review our studies of the effects of auditory deprivation due to profound deafness and cochlear implant use on the maturation of the MMN in children, placed in the context of overall age-related changes in the AEPs. The development and application of a statistical technique to assess the MMN in individuals is also reviewed. Results show that although the morphology of the obligatory AEPs is substantially altered by the absence of a normal N₁ peak, the MMN is robustly present in a group of implanted children who have good spoken language perception through their device. Differences exist in the scalp distribution of the MMN between implanted and normal-hearing children. Specifically, the MMN appears to be more symmetrical in amplitude over both hemispheres, whereas it is initially much larger over the contralateral hemisphere in normal-hearing children. These findings suggest that, compared to N₁, the MMN is a better measure of basic auditory processes necessary for the development of spoken language perception skills in profoundly deaf children and adults who use a cochlear implant.

RESUMO O Mismatch Negativity (MMN) é um potencial cortical que ocorre em resposta a uma mudança de um estímulo acústico em meio a uma sequência de repetidos estímulos, o que reflete a capacidade do cérebro em discriminar o som de modo passivo, ou seja, sem a necessidade de atenção do indivíduo ao estímulo sonoro. Diante disso, o objetivo deste estudo foi realizar uma revisão descritiva sobre o MMN, a fim de identificar a sua aplicabilidade em crianças e adolescentes nos últimos cinco anos. Para isso, realizou-se uma busca nas bases de dados Lilacs, SciELO, Medline e Pubmed utilizando os seguintes descritores: córtex auditivo, eletrofisiologia, potenciais evocados auditivos e as palavras Mismacth e Negativity. Nesta revisão, foram encontrados 14 estudos que avaliaram crianças e/ou adolescentes com dificuldade de articulação na fala, distúrbio específico de linguagem, transtorno do processamento auditivo, Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade (TDAH), dislexia, autismo, risco para esquizofrenia, psicose, amusia, fenilcetonúria e atenção seletiva. Foi possível, assim, realizar a revisão descritiva sobre a aplicação do MMN em crianças e adolescentes, concluindo-se que, nos últimos cinco anos, houve uma produção considerável de artigos sobre o tema, embora no Brasil a presença de estudos a esse respeito ainda seja escassa. Nesse sentido, apesar de existir uma variedade de aplicações para o MMN, no que diz respeito à população brasileira, necessita-se ainda de evidências científicas que assegurem o efeito deste potencial nas diferentes faixas etárias. Verificou-se, também, que a busca por estudos sobre MMN nas bases de dados citadas pode ser realizada apenas utilizando as palavras Mismacth e Negativity.

Mismatch negativity in children with developmental Dyslexia.

Introduction Mismatch negativity (MMN) represents a negative component of event-related potentials, which is mentioned by guidelines as an important tool to provide measurable data regarding the functionality of the auditory system in acoustic processing. However, the literature still lacks reliable data that can support the clinical use of this potential in the complementary diagnosis of central auditory processing (CAP) disorder (CAPD).Objectives To analyze whether MMN assessment might be associated with the CAP behavioral test battery, as well as to assess the effects of auditory ability deficits on MMN responses in the pediatric population.Methods In total, 45 age-matched children participated in the study. They were submitted to the CAP behavior assessment and to MMN. The children were tested with a combination of speech contrast consisting of acoustic syllables [da] versus [ta], governed by the oddball paradigm.Results Mismatch negativity did not show a direct association with a single test but with the combination of the four tests used as a behavioral test battery to identify CAPD. The results also indicated that the auditory ability deficits influenced the measurement of MMN latency (p = 0.003*), but not the amplitude (p = 0.857) or the area (p = 0.577).Conclusion Mismatch negativity was shown to be statistically associated with the battery of tests used to identify deficits in auditory abilities in the studied sample rather than with a single behavioral test. The deficits in auditory abilities were observed in the MMN latency. Mismatch negativity can be used to assess children with CAPD.

Low-level neural auditory discrimination dysfunctions in specific language impairment—A review on mismatch negativity findings

A meta-analysis of mismatch negativity in children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorders

Children and adolescents on the autism spectrum display sensory disturbances, rigid and repetitive behavior, social communication problems and a high prevalence of impaired adaptive functioning. Autism is associated with slowed behavioral and neural habituation to repeated sensory input and decreased responses to sensory deviations. Mismatch negativity (MMN) reflects a pre‐attentive difference in the neural response to sensory deviations relative to regularities and studies overall suggest that children and adolescents with autism tend to have smaller MMN. However, it remains unclear whether reduced MMN in autism is coupled to severity of specific autistic symptoms or more generally to lower level of adaptive functioning. To address these questions, the present study used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess whether auditory MMN in 59 children and adolescents with autism aged 7–14 years compared to 59 typically developing children and adolescents were related to specific autistic symptoms or level in adaptive functioning. As hypothesized, the autism group had a lower MMN amplitude than controls. Smaller MMN amplitudes were specifically associated with lower adaptive functioning in the autistic subjects but not in controls while no apparent relationships were observed with autistic‐like social interaction and communication problems, atypical language, rigidity, stereotypy or sensory sensitivity symptoms. Our findings indicate that a blunted response to changes in sensory input may underlie or contribute to the generalized difficulties with adapting to daily life circumstances seen in children and adolescents with autism.Lay SummaryChildren and adolescents on the autism spectrum have a high prevalence of impaired adaptive functioning. Neuroimaging studies have reported that children and adolescents with autism display attenuated brain activity when discriminating sensory input. However, it is unknown whether this attenuation is related to autistic symptoms and/or adaptive functioning. The present study used electroencephalogram (EEG) to show that attenuated brain response in discrimination of novel compared to repetitive sounds in children and adolescents with autism is related to their impaired adaptive functioning.

Introduction The mismatch negativity (MMN) is a negative long-latency auditory potential elicited by any discriminable change in a repetitive aspect of auditory stimulation. This evoked potential can provide cortical information about the sound processing, including in children who use cochlear implants.Objective To identify MMN characteristics regarding latency, amplitude, and wave area in cochlear implanted children and to identify associations among language development, speech perception and family involvement.Methods This is a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study, which compared two groups: study group—children with cochlear implant, and control group—hearing children. The children were submitted to MMN evaluation with non-verbal tone burst stimulus, differing in frequency in sound field at 70 dBHL, with SmartEP equipment (Intelligent Hearing Systems, Miami, FL, USA). Speech perception and language development questionnaires were also applied, and the family participation in the rehabilitation process was classified.Results The occurrence of MMN was 73.3% for the control group and 53.3% for the study group. Values of latency, amplitude and area of MMN of children using cochlear implants were similar to those of hearing children, and did not differ between groups. The occurrence of MMN was not correlated to the variables of hearing, language and family categories.Conclusion Children with cochlear implants showed similar MMN responses to those of the children in the control group, with mean latency, amplitude and area of 208.9 ms (±12.8), -2.37 μV (±0.38) and 86.5 μVms (±23.4), respectively. There was no correlation between the presence of MMN and children's performance in the auditory and language development tests or family involvement during rehabilitation.

Introduction Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have abnormalities in auditory perception and sensitivity. The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the evoked potential demonstrates a brain detection response to an auditory change due to memory, and enables the identification of changes in the auditory system.Objective To analyze MMN responses in children and adolescents with ASD and compare them with those of a control group.Methods Cross-sectional and comparative study. The sample was composed of 68 children and adolescents, divided into study group (SG), which contained those diagnosed with ASD, and the control group (CG), which contained those with typical development, normal hearing thresholds, and without hearing complaints. All participants were submitted to peripheral and central electrophysiological auditory evaluations. For the electrophysiological auditory evaluation and MMN recording, the electrodes were fixed in the following positions: Fz (active electrode), M1 and M2 (reference electrodes), and on the forehead (ground electrode). Auditory stimuli were presented in both ears simultaneously, with a frequency of 1,000 Hz for the frequent stimulus, and of 2,000 Hz for the rare stimulus, in an intensity of 80 dBNA.Results Latency and amplitude values were increased in the SG, with a statistically significant difference in comparison with the CG. In the MMN analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in the comparison between right and left ears and between genders.Conclusion Children and adolescents with ASD had higher latency and amplitude values in the MMN component than the individuals in the CG.

&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background:&lt;/strong&gt; Cochlear implant provides a great opportunity for children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss to restore normal hearing. Identifying mismatch negativity (MMN) in cochlear implant recipients helps to assess the role of central auditory structures in processing speech stimuli in those patients. The objective of the present study is to evaluate tone and speech discrimination in cochlear implanted children using mismatch negativity test.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods:&lt;/strong&gt; MMN was recorded in 35 children. They were divided into two groups. Control group consisted of 15 normal hearing children, their age ranged from 3-11 years. Study group consisted of 20 children fitted with unilateral CI, and their age matched the control group. Two oddball paradigms were used; the first was tone bursts (1000 Hz as standard stimulus and 1050 Hz as deviant stimulus). The second was synthesized speech stimuli (/da/ as standard stimulus and /ga/ as deviant one). Both paradigms were presented at 75dB SPL.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="abstract"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results:&lt;/strong&gt; All cochlear implanted children included showed MMN on using both oddball paradigms. Comparing results of both groups revealed statistically significant differences in MMN latency and amplitude. There was a significant positive correlation between MMN latencies and the implantation age as well as the duration of hearing loss before implantation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/strong&gt; MMN provides an objective tool to assess the auditory discrimination abilities in cochlear implanted children which may help in their rehabilitation and also in the optimum setting of their devices.&lt;/p&gt;