Sounds Perception Test Research Articles

Brainstem Evoked Potential Indices of Subcortical Auditory Processing After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

The primary aim of this study was to assess subcortical auditory processing in individuals with chronic symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) by measuring auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) to standard click and complex speech stimuli. Consistent with reports in the literature of auditory problems after mTBI (despite normal-hearing thresholds), it was hypothesized that individuals with mTBI would have evidence of impaired neural encoding in the auditory brainstem compared to noninjured controls, as evidenced by delayed latencies and reduced amplitudes of ABR components. We further hypothesized that the speech-evoked ABR would be more sensitive than the click-evoked ABR to group differences because of its complex nature, particularly when recorded in a background noise condition. Click- and speech-ABRs were collected in 32 individuals diagnosed with mTBI in the past 3 to 18 months. All mTBI participants were experiencing ongoing injury symptoms for which they were seeking rehabilitation through a brain injury rehabilitation management program. The same data were collected in a group of 32 age- and gender-matched controls with no history of head injury. ABRs were recorded in both left and right ears for all participants in all conditions. Speech-ABRs were collected in both quiet and in a background of continuous 20-talker babble ipsilateral noise. Peak latencies and amplitudes were compared between groups and across subgroups of mTBI participants categorized by their behavioral auditory test performance. Click-ABR results were not significantly different between the mTBI and control groups. However, when comparing the control group to only those mTBI subjects with measurably decreased performance on auditory behavioral tests, small differences emerged, including delayed latencies for waves I, III, and V. Similarly, few significant group differences were observed for peak amplitudes and latencies of the speech-ABR when comparing at the whole group level but were again observed between controls and those mTBI subjects with abnormal behavioral auditory test performance. These differences were seen for the onset portions of the speech-ABR waveforms in quiet and were close to significant for the onset wave. Across groups, quiet versus noise comparisons were significant for most speech-ABR measures but the noise condition did not reveal more group differences than speech-ABR in quiet, likely because of variability and overall small amplitudes in this condition for both groups. The outcomes of this study indicate that subcortical neural encoding of auditory information is affected in a significant portion of individuals with long-term problems after mTBI. These subcortical differences appear to relate to performance on tests of auditory processing and perception, even in the absence of significant hearing loss on the audiogram. While confounds of age and slight differences in audiometric thresholds cannot be ruled out, these preliminary results are consistent with the idea that mTBI can result in neuronal changes within the subcortical auditory pathway that appear to relate to functional auditory outcomes. Although further research is needed, clinical audiological evaluation of individuals with ongoing post-mTBI symptoms is warranted for identification of individuals who may benefit from auditory rehabilitation as part of their overall treatment plan.

Long-term musical experience and auditory and visual perceptual abilities under adverse conditions.

Musicians have been shown to have enhanced speech perception in noise skills. It is unclear whether these improvements are limited to the auditory modality, as no research has examined musicians' visual perceptual abilities under degraded conditions. The current study examined associations between long-term musical experience and visual perception under noisy or degraded conditions. The performance of 11 musicians and 11 age-matched nonmusicians was compared on several auditory and visual perceptions in noise measures. Auditory perception tests included speech-in-noise tests and an environmental sound in noise test. Visual perception tasks included a fragmented sentences task, an object recognition task, and a lip-reading measure. Participants' vocabulary knowledge and nonverbal reasoning abilities were also assessed. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians on the speech perception in noise measures as well as the visual fragmented sentences task. Musicians also displayed better vocabulary knowledge in comparison to nonmusicians. Associations were found between perception of speech and visually degraded text. The findings show that long-term musical experience is associated with modality-general improvements in perceptual abilities. Possible systems supporting musicians' perceptual abilities are discussed.

Sound and the Korean Public: Sonic Citizenship in the Governance of Apartment Floor Noise Conflicts

Apartment floor noise is becoming a serious social problem in South Korea. Apartment floor noise conflicts arise from the disruption of neighbourhood community in Korean apartment complexes. To resolve the conflicts, the Korean government and apartment residents employ two modes of governance: technocratic and collaborative. These models of governance create legal and community standards of floor noise that constitute sonic citizenship—the status of residents as normal listeners with both the duty to reduce noise and the right to make noise. Using Sheila Jasanoff’s idea of ‘constitutive coproduction’, floor noise in the form of sonic knowledge is constitutively coproduced with sonic citizenship in the form of public knowledge. When apartment residents cannot bear normal sound, defined by the two modes of governance, they become abnormal listeners. If normal listeners cannot put up with the level of sound from upstairs, this sound becomes floor noise. Sonic knowledge is, therefore, vital to the construction of sonic citizenship. In technocratic governance, sonic citizenship emerges from the limits of endurance in governmental floor noise standards, based on results of an auditory perception test based on noise and vibration engineering. In collaborative governance, sonic citizenship results from voluntary agreements between apartment residents. Through such governances, governmental officials and apartment residents perceive a distinction between normal and abnormal residents or between normal and abnormal apartment life.

Association of nuclear and mitochondrial genes with audiological examinations in Iranian patients with nonaminoglycoside antibiotics-induced hearing loss.

Mitochondrial DNA mutations play an important role in causing sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of the mitochondrial genes RNR1, MT-TL1, and ND1 as well as the nuclear genes GJB2 and GJB6 with audiological examinations in nonfamilial Iranians with cochlear implants, using polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing, and RNA secondary structure analysis. We found that there were no novel mutations in the mitochondrial gene 12S rRNA (MT-RNR1) in patients with and without GJB2 mutation (GJB2+ and GJB2−, respectively), but a total of six polymorphisms were found. No mutations were observed in tRNALeu(UUR) (MT-TL1). Furthermore, eight polymorphisms were found in the mitochondrial ND1 gene. Additionally, no mutations were observed in the nuclear GJB6 gene in patients in the GJB2− and GJB2+ groups. The speech intelligibility rating and category of auditory perception tests were statistically assessed in patients in the GJB2− and GJB2+ groups. The results indicated that there was a significant difference (P<0.05) between the categories of auditory perception score in the GJB2− group compared to that in the GJB2+ group. Successful cochlear implantation was observed among individuals with GJB2 mutations (GJB2+) and mitochondrial polymorphisms compared to those without GJB2 mutations (GJB2−). In conclusion, the outcome of this study suggests that variation in the mitochondrial and nuclear genes may influence the penetrance of deafness. Therefore, further genetic and functional studies are required to help patients in making the best choice for cochlear implants.

Auditory Speech Perception Tests in Relation to the Coding Strategy in Cochlear Implant.

Introduction The objective of the evaluation of auditory perception of cochlear implant users is to determine how the acoustic signal is processed, leading to the recognition and understanding of sound.Objective To investigate the differences in the process of auditory speech perception in individuals with postlingual hearing loss wearing a cochlear implant, using two different speech coding strategies, and to analyze speech perception and handicap perception in relation to the strategy used.Methods This study is prospective cross-sectional cohort study of a descriptive character. We selected ten cochlear implant users that were characterized by hearing threshold by the application of speech perception tests and of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults.Results There was no significant difference when comparing the variables subject age, age at acquisition of hearing loss, etiology, time of hearing deprivation, time of cochlear implant use and mean hearing threshold with the cochlear implant with the shift in speech coding strategy. There was no relationship between lack of handicap perception and improvement in speech perception in both speech coding strategies used.Conclusion There was no significant difference between the strategies evaluated and no relation was observed between them and the variables studied.

Cochlear implantation in 21 patients with common cavity malformation

Conclusion: The facial recess approach is preferred in common cavity (CC) malformation with an incomplete basal turn, and the transmastoid single-slit labyrinthotomy approach in classic CC malformation. Patients with CC benefit from cochlear implantation (CI) over time, but the audiological and speech development is poorer than in cases with normal cochleas. Objectives: To discuss the surgical aspects and performance of CI in 21 patients with CC malformation. Methods: Twenty-one CC malformations were classified into 2 types: classic CC malformation and CC malformation with an incomplete basal turn. Twenty-one patients without inner ear malformation were set as the control group. Thus, data for 42 patients were analyzed. Results: The facial recess approach was used in 3 patients with CC malformation with an incomplete basal turn, and the transmastoid single-slit labyrinthotomy approach in 18 patients with classic CC malformation. After follow-up for 36 months, the average free-field hearing threshold was higher, and the scores for the CAP, SIR, IT-MAIS, and closed-set/open-set auditory speech perception tests were lower than in the control group (p < 0.05).

The lexical development of children with hearing impairment and associated factors.

This study aimed at analyzing the association between the lexical development of children with hearing impairment and their psychosocial and socioeconomic characteristics and medical history. An analytic transversal study was conducted in an Auditive Health Attention Service. One hundred and ten children from 6 to 10 years old using hearing aids and presenting hearing loss that ranged from light to deep levels were evaluated. All children were subjected to oral, written language and auditory perception tests. Parents answered a structured questionnaire to collect data from their medical history and socioeconomic status, and questionnaires about the features of the family environment and psychosocial characteristics. Multivariate analysis was performed by logistic regression, being the initial model composed by variables with p<0,20 in the univariate analysis. In the final model, we adopted a significance level of 5%. The final model of the multivariate analysis showed an association between the performance on the vocabulary test and the results of phonemic discrimination test (OR=0.81; 95%CI 0.73-0.89). The results show the importance of stimulating the auditory processing, particularly the phonemic discrimination skill, throughout the rehabilitation process of children with hearing impairment. This stimulation can enhance lexical development and minimize the metalanguage and learning difficulties often observed in these children.

The Auditory Perception Test for the Hearing Impaired-Revised: Test-Retest Reliability, Intra-rater Reliability, and Inter-rater Reliability

Purpose: The aims of this study were to assess the test-retest, intra-rater, and inter-rater reliability of the Auditory Perception Test for the Hearing Impaired-Revised (APT/HI-R) for children with hearing loss. Method: This study used a cross-sectional design. Sixteen children between the ages of 3 and 10 years with bilateral hearing loss who wear amplification and use spoken language to communicate were included in this study. Results: Test-retest reliability was high (r = 0.98) for the complete test, and for all subsections of the test with the exception of the Linguistic Perception subsection. Reliability was also high for intra-rater (r = 0.99) and inter-rater (84%–92% rater agreement) reliability. Conclusion: The APT-HI/R showed high reliability in this study, comparable to results from the original pilot study.

Factors Influencing Tests of Auditory Processing: A Perspective on Current Issues and Relevant Concerns

Tests of auditory perception, such as those used in the assessment of central auditory processing disorders ([C]APDs), represent a domain in audiological assessment where measurement of this theoretical construct is often confounded by nonauditory abilities due to methodological shortcomings. These confounds include the effects of cognitive variables such as memory and attention and suboptimal testing paradigms, including the use of verbal reproduction as a form of response selection. We argue that these factors need to be controlled more carefully and/or modified so that their impact on tests of auditory and visual perception is only minimal. To advocate for a stronger theoretical framework than currently exists and to suggest better methodological strategies to improve assessment of auditory processing disorders (APDs). Emphasis is placed on adaptive forced-choice psychophysical methods and the use of matched tasks in multiple sensory modalities to achieve these goals. Together, this approach has potential to improve the construct validity of the diagnosis, enhance and develop theory, and evolve into a preferred method of testing. Examination of methods commonly used in studies of APDs. Where possible, currently used methodology is compared to contemporary psychophysical methods that emphasize computer-controlled forced-choice paradigms. In many cases, the procedures used in studies of APD introduce confounding factors that could be minimized if computer-controlled forced-choice psychophysical methods were utilized. Ambiguities of interpretation, indeterminate diagnoses, and unwanted confounds can be avoided by minimizing memory and attentional demands on the input end and precluding the use of response-selection strategies that use complex motor processes on the output end. Advocated are the use of computer-controlled forced-choice psychophysical paradigms in combination with matched tasks in multiple sensory modalities to enhance the prospect of obtaining a valid diagnosis.

A computer-based auditory sequential pattern test for school-aged children

ObjectiveOne type of test commonly used to assess auditory processing disorders (APD) is the Frequency Pattern Test, in which triads of pure tones of two different frequencies are presented, and participants are required to accurately report the sequence of tones, typically using a verbal response. The test is widely used clinically, but in its current format, is an under-exploited means of addressing some candidate processes, such as temporal ordering and frequency discrimination, which might be affected in APD. Here we describe a computer-based version of an auditory pattern perception test, the BirdSong Game, which was designed to be an engaging research tool for use with school-aged children. MethodsIn this study, 128 children aged 6–10 with normal peripheral hearing were tested. The BirdSong Game application was used to administer auditory sequential pattern tests, via a touch-screen presentation and response interface. A conditioning step was included prior to testing, in order to ensure that participants were able to adequately discriminate between the test tones, and reliably describe the difference using their own vocabulary. Responses were collected either verbally or manually, by having participants press cartoon images on the touch-screen in the appropriate sequence. The data was examined for age, gender and response mode differences. ResultsFindings on the auditory tests indicated a significant maturational effect across the age range studied, with no difference between response modes or gender. ConclusionsThe BirdSong Game is sensitive to maturational changes in auditory sequencing ability, and the computer-based design of the test has several advantages which make it a potentially useful clinical and research tool.

음성진전 유무에 따른 내전형 연축성 발성장애의 보툴리눔 독소-A 주입 후 음성 특성 변화 양상

As BTX-A, which has been known to be the most effective treatment for ADSD, is not effective in treating vocal tremors, voice assessment must be employed to perform differential diagnosis of SD and vocal tremor in an accurate fashion. In this study, the characteristics of vocal changes after botulinum toxin injection were compared by analyzing the voice characteristics resulting from the presence of vocal tremors using objective analysis devices, with the aim of helping to provide prognoses and to determine remedial effects in clinical cases comprising patients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia accompanied by voice tremors. Respiratory function tests, aerodynamic analysis, electroglottography (EGG), acoustic analysis, auditory perception tests, and K-VHI had been conducted at intervals of four, eight, and twelve weeks before and after injection, targeting a group of 17 ADSD female patients (a ADSD group of four with vocal tremor and a ADSD group of 13 without voice tremor). For average FVC and FEV1, the T group showed statistically significant low averages compared with the NT group, whereas the T group showed statistically significant high average ATRI compared with the NT group. In addition, the T group showed a statistically significant Fatr, lower than that of the NT group. For the ADSD group of patients with voice tremor, their vocal tremor remained unchanged despite noticeable decrease in wringing voices. In other words, as the vocal tremor and wringing voices are two distinctive features, there is a need for the two features to be targeted separately for differential diagnosis.

Outcomes of cochlear implantation in deaf children of deaf parents: comparative study

This retrospective study compared the cochlear implantation outcomes of first- and second-generation deaf children. The study group consisted of seven deaf, cochlear-implanted children with deaf parents. An equal number of deaf children with normal-hearing parents were selected by matched sampling as a reference group. Participants were matched based on onset and severity of deafness, duration of deafness, age at cochlear implantation, duration of cochlear implantation, gender, and cochlear implant model. We used the Persian Auditory Perception Test for the Hearing Impaired, the Speech Intelligibility Rating scale, and the Sentence Imitation Test, in order to measure participants' speech perception, speech production and language development, respectively. Both groups of children showed auditory and speech development. However, the second-generation deaf children (i.e. deaf children of deaf parents) exceeded the cochlear implantation performance of the deaf children with hearing parents. This study confirms that second-generation deaf children exceed deaf children of hearing parents in terms of cochlear implantation performance. Encouraging deaf children to communicate in sign language from a very early age, before cochlear implantation, appears to improve their ability to learn spoken language after cochlear implantation.

Quality of life in adult cochlear implant users.

Objective To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of adult cochlear implant users (CI) and compare it with the QOL of adults with normal hearing; and study the influence of the variables socioeconomic status, education, age at assessment, auditory sensory deprivation time, device usage time and performance in auditory speech perception tests in the QOL of adult cochlear implant users. Design The QOL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) generic assessment questionnaire. Study sample Seventy adult CI users formed the experimental group (EG) and 50 adults with normal hearing formed the control group (CG). Results The EG scores were close to the maximum score in satisfactory quality of life for all domains of the WHOQOL-BREF and there were similar results between the EG and CG. The variables age at assessment, duration of auditory sensory deprivation, duration of CI use and performance in auditory speech perception did not influence the results of the QOL of adult cochlear implant users. Conclusion Evaluating the QOL should be a concern of interdisciplinary teams in CI for an intervention with humanized care.

Modality-specific alterations in the perception of emotional stimuli in Bipolar Disorder compared to Healthy Controls and Major Depressive Disorder

ObjectivesAffect identification accuracy paradigms have increasingly been utilized to understand psychiatric illness including Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). This investigation focused on perceptual accuracy in affect identification in both visual and auditory domains among patients with BD, relative to Healthy Controls (HC) and patients with MDD. Demographic and clinical variables, in addition to medications were also investigated. MethodThe visual Facial Emotion Perception Test (FEPT) and auditory Emotional Perception Test (EPT) were administered to adults with BD (n=119) and MDD (n=78) as well as HC (n=66). ResultsPerformance on the FEPT was significantly stronger than on the EPT irrespective of group. Performance on the EPT did not significantly differentiate the groups. On the FEPT, BD samples had the greatest difficulty relative to HC in identification of sad and fearful faces. BD participants also had greater difficulty identifying sad faces relative to MDD participants though not after controlling for severity of illness factors. For the BD (but not MDD) sample several clinical variables were also correlated with FEPT performance. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that disruptions in identification of negative emotions such as sadness and fear may be a characteristic trait of BD. However, this effect may be moderated by greater illness severity found in our BD sample.

E033 Factors affecting the hearing and language development in children with cochlear implant children: Theoretical study

E033 Factors affecting the hearing and language development in children with cochlear implant children: Theoretical study

Assessing Listening Skills in Children with Cochlear Implants: Guidance for Speech-Language Pathologists

Assessing Listening Skills in Children with Cochlear Implants: Guidance for Speech-Language Pathologists

Central Auditory Processing Disorders In Concussed Athletes

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.

Evaluation of cochlear implant users’ performance using middle and late latency responses

Aim of the study was to investigate whether postoperative middle and late latency responses (MLR and LLR) give some clues of postoperative performance of cochlear implant (CI) users. The study was performed in ten prelingual and six postlingual-CI patients with the age ranging from 6 to 48 years (mean 19.7 +/- 15.7 years). The following criteria were sought for inclusion: (1) to have active 15 electrodes for a Nucleus implant and six electrodes for a Medel implant at least and (2) to be cooperative for the tests. Ten healthy subjects with no hearing and balance problem were also included into the study as a control group. All implanted patients had auditory perception and linguistic development tests pre- and postoperatively, MLR and LLR testing postoperatively. Latencies and amplitudes of MLR and LLR were measured. Patients were divided into groups based on the onset of hearing loss (pre- and postlingual), auditory performance (good and moderate), and also duration of postimplantation period. Latency and amplitude of potentials were compared among the pre- and postlingual-CI patients and the control group. The same parameters were compared among the patients with good and moderate auditory performance scores and the control group. Finally, the parameters were analyzed in patients implanted within last 12 months and those implanted earlier. Latency of MLR and LLR was found to be shorter in postlingually deaf implantees compared to prelingually deaf implantees. Amplitudes of MLR and LLR tended to be higher in postlingually deaf implantees compared to prelingually deaf implantees. The better postoperative performance was associated with shorter latency and higher amplitude of MLR and LLR. MLR and LLR latencies were very close to each other in patients implanted within last 12 months and those implanted earlier. MLR and LLR amplitudes were higher in patients implanted earlier than 13 months. However, mentioned comparisons failed to yield statistical strength. Based on these results, it would be reasonable to conclude that postoperative MLR and LLR might give some clues about postoperative performance of CI users.

Emotion perception and learning potential: Mediators between neurocognition and social problem-solving in schizophrenia?

Social cognition and learning potential have been proposed as mediating variables between neurocognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia. The present study examined this relation in a schizophrenia group (N = 26) with normal IQ. Neurocognition was measured with a composite score from tests of verbal learning, psychomotor speed, and executive functioning. Functional outcome was defined as social problem-solving skills and assessed with a role-play test. Social cognition was indexed by tests of visual and auditory emotion perception; and learning potential by estimating a gain score using a triple administration of the WCST. Neurocognition was confirmed to be a strong predictor of social problem-solving, and emotion perception was related to both neurocognition and social problem-solving. When controlling for emotion perception, the association between neurocognition and social problem-solving was weakened, implying a mediating role of emotion perception. Learning potential was not significantly related to neurocognition or social problem-solving, and thus not found to mediate the studied relation. In conclusion, our study indicates that emotion perception is a mediator between neurocognition and functional outcome as assessed with a social problem-solving task and thus a key factor in understanding functional outcome of schizophrenia.

Importance of K+-dependent Na+/Ca2+-exchanger 2, NCKX2, in Motor Learning and Memory

Plasma membrane Na+/Ca2+-exchangers play a predominant role in Ca2+ extrusion in brain. Neurons express several different Na+/Ca2+-exchangers belonging to both the K+-independent NCX family and the K+-dependent NCKX family. The unique contributions of each of these proteins to neuronal Ca2+ homeostasis and/or physiology remain largely unexplored. To address this question, we generated mice in which the gene encoding the abundant neuronal K+ -dependent Na+/Ca2+-exchanger protein, NCKX2, was knocked out. Analysis of these animals revealed a significant reduction in Ca2+ flux in cortical neurons, a profound loss of long term potentiation and an increase in long term depression at hippocampal Schaffer/CA1 synapses, and clear deficits in specific tests of motor learning and spatial working memory. Surprisingly, there was no obvious loss of photoreceptor function in cones, where expression of the NCKX2 protein had been reported previously. These data emphasize the critical and non-redundant role of NCKX2 in the local control of neuronal [Ca2+] that is essential for the development of synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory.