Impaired Subcortical Detection of Auditory Changes in Schizophrenia but Not in Major Depression

Abstract The mismatch negativity is a cortical response to auditory changes and its reduction is a consistent finding in schizophrenia. Recent evidence revealed that the human brain detects auditory changes already at subcortical stages of the auditory pathway. This finding, however, raises the question where in the auditory hierarchy the schizophrenic deficit first evolves and whether the well-known cortical deficit may be a consequence of dysfunction at lower hierarchical levels. Finally, it should be resolved whether mismatch profiles differ between schizophrenia and affective disorders which exhibit auditory processing deficits as well. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess auditory mismatch processing in 29 patients with schizophrenia, 27 patients with major depression, and 31 healthy control subjects. Analysis included whole-brain activation, region of interest, path and connectivity analysis. In schizophrenia, mismatch deficits emerged at all stages of the auditory pathway including the inferior colliculus, thalamus, auditory, and prefrontal cortex. In depression, deficits were observed in the prefrontal cortex only. Path analysis revealed that activation deficits propagated from subcortical to cortical nodes in a feed-forward mechanism. Finally, both patient groups exhibited reduced connectivity along this processing stream. Auditory mismatch impairments in schizophrenia already manifest at the subcortical level. Moreover, subcortical deficits contribute to the well-known cortical deficits and show specificity for schizophrenia. In contrast, depression is associated with cortical dysfunction only. Hence, schizophrenia and major depression exhibit different neural profiles of sensory processing deficits. Our findings add to a converging body of evidence for brainstem and thalamic dysfunction as a hallmark of schizophrenia.

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Case Report: Auditory Neuropathy and Central Auditory Processing Deficits in a Neuro-Otological Case-Study of Infratentorial Superficial Siderosis

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2020.610819 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Natallia Kharytaniuk ◽

Peter Cowley ◽

David J. Werring ◽

Doris-Eva Bamiou

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Auditory Pathway ◽

Magnetic Resonance Images ◽

Auditory Neuropathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Response To Treatment ◽

Superficial Siderosis ◽

Central Auditory Processing ◽

Processing Deficits

Hearing and balance impairment are the most frequently reported features of infratentorial (classical) superficial siderosis (iSS). There are few comprehensive descriptions of audiovestibular function in iSS and therefore limited understanding of the affected segment(s) of the audiovestibular pathway. In addition, monitoring disease progression and response to treatment is challenging and currently mainly guided by subjective patient reports and magnetic resonance imaging. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous reports assessing central auditory function in iSS. We describe such findings in a patient with iSS in an attempt to precisely localize the site of the audiovestibular dysfunction, determine its severity and functional impact. We confirm the presence of (asymmetrical) auditory neuropathy and identify central auditory processing deficits, suggesting involvement of the central auditory pathway beyond the brainstem. We correlate the audiological and vestibular findings with self-report measures and the siderosis appearances on brain magnetic resonance images.

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Neurostructural Correlates of Cannabis Use in Adolescent Bipolar Disorder

The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1093/ijnp/pyaa077 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alysha A Sultan ◽

Kody G Kennedy ◽

Lisa Fiksenbaum ◽

Bradley J MacIntosh ◽

Benjamin I Goldstein

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Social Acceptance ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Intracranial Volume ◽

Significant Group ◽

Healthy Control

Abstract Objective Little is known regarding the association of cannabis use with brain structure in adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD). This subject is timely, given expanded availability of cannabis contemporaneously with increased social acceptance and diminished societal constraints to access. Therefore, we set out to examine this topic in a sample of adolescents with BD and healthy control (HC) adolescents. Methods Participants included 144 adolescents (47 BD with cannabis use [BDCB+; including 13 with cannabis use disorder], 34 BD without cannabis use [BDCB-], 63 HC without cannabis use) ages 13-20 years. FreeSurfer-processed 3T MRI with T1-weighted contrast, yielded measures of cortical thickness, surface area (SA), and volume. Region of interest (ROI; amygdala, hippocampus, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex [vlPFC], ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vmPFC], and anterior cingulate cortex [ACC]), analyses and exploratory vertex-wise analysis were undertaken. A general linear model tested for between-group differences, accounting for age, sex, and intracranial volume. Results Vertex-wise analysis revealed significant group effects in frontal and parietal regions. In post-hoc analyses, BDCB+ exhibited larger volume and SA in parietal regions, and smaller thickness in frontal regions, relative to HC and BDCB-. BDCB- had smaller volume, SA and thickness in parietal and frontal regions relative to HC. There were no significant ROI findings after correcting for multiple comparisons. Conclusion This study found that cannabis use is associated with differences in regional brain structure among adolescents with BD. Future prospective studies are necessary to determine the direction of the observed association and to assess for dose effects.

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Region of Interest (ROI) for EEG Activity in Depressed Young Adult

International Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.14419/ijet.v7i3.22.17113 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (3.22) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Lim Zi Xiang ◽

Norsiah Fauzan

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Young Adult ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Recurrent Depression ◽

Quantitative Electroencephalography ◽

Neural Activities ◽

Depressed Group ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Healthy Control

Several abnormal neural activities in regions such as dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) are known to be associated with depression. However most studies focused on major depression disorder and less on mild and moderate depression, moreover, these studies are mostly conducted in United State and European countries. This study uses data from 12 mild and moderately depressed and 12 healthy control young adult in Malaysia to examine the differences in brain activity via spectrum and coherence analysis in quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG). The study found that depressed group have higher beta on the anterior region that is found on people with depression and recurrent depression in previous studies, and higher theta on the prefrontal cortex may associate with deficits in attention and working memory in resting state compare to healthy control. Furthermore, left and right frontal showed low beta2 coherence that may indicate imbalance of functional processes.

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Representation of speech categories in the primate auditory cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00037.2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 105 (6) ◽

pp. 2634-2646 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

Joji Tsunada ◽

Jung Hoon Lee ◽

Yale E. Cohen

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Auditory Cortex ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Nonhuman Primates ◽

Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽

Auditory Pathway ◽

Auditory Stimuli ◽

The Core ◽

Ventral Pathway

A “ventral” auditory pathway in nonhuman primates that originates in the core auditory cortex and ends in the prefrontal cortex is thought to be involved in components of nonspatial auditory processing. Previous work from our laboratory has indicated that neurons in the prefrontal cortex reflect monkeys' decisions during categorical judgments. Here, we tested the role of the superior temporal gyrus (STG), a region of the secondary auditory cortex that is part of this ventral pathway, during similar categorical judgments. While monkeys participated in a match-to-category task and reported whether two consecutive auditory stimuli belonged to the same category or to different categories, we recorded spiking activity from STG neurons. The auditory stimuli were morphs of two human-speech sounds ( bad and dad). We found that STG neurons represented auditory categories. However, unlike activity in the prefrontal cortex, STG activity was not modulated by the monkeys' behavioral reports (choices). This finding is consistent with the anterolateral STG's role as a part of functional circuit involved in the coding, representation, and perception of the nonspatial features of an auditory stimulus.

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Speech Evoked Auditory Brainstem Response in Stuttering

Scientifica ◽

10.1155/2014/328646 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ali Akbar Tahaei ◽

Hassan Ashayeri ◽

Akram Pourbakht ◽

Mohammad Kamali

Keyword(s):

Auditory Processing ◽

Auditory Pathway ◽

Auditory Brainstem ◽

Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽

Control Group ◽

Central Auditory Processing ◽

Significant Group ◽

Speech Stimuli ◽

Brainstem Response ◽

Processing Deficits

Auditory processing deficits have been hypothesized as an underlying mechanism for stuttering. Previous studies have demonstrated abnormal responses in subjects with persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) at the higher level of the central auditory system using speech stimuli. Recently, the potential usefulness of speech evoked auditory brainstem responses in central auditory processing disorders has been emphasized. The current study used the speech evoked ABR to investigate the hypothesis that subjects with PDS have specific auditory perceptual dysfunction.Objectives. To determine whether brainstem responses to speech stimuli differ between PDS subjects and normal fluent speakers.Methods. Twenty-five subjects with PDS participated in this study. The speech-ABRs were elicited by the 5-formant synthesized syllable/da/, with duration of 40 ms.Results. There were significant group differences for the onset and offset transient peaks. Subjects with PDS had longer latencies for the onset and offset peaks relative to the control group.Conclusions. Subjects with PDS showed a deficient neural timing in the early stages of the auditory pathway consistent with temporal processing deficits and their abnormal timing may underlie to their disfluency.

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Disturbed Balance of Inhibitory Signaling Links Hearing Loss and Cognition

Frontiers in Neural Circuits ◽

10.3389/fncir.2021.785603 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Marlies Knipper ◽

Wibke Singer ◽

Kerstin Schwabe ◽

Gisela E. Hagberg ◽

Yiwen Li Hegner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Inhibitory Activity ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Gain Control ◽

Auditory Pathway ◽

Adjustment Processes ◽

Age Dependent ◽

Inhibitory Strength ◽

Processing Deficits ◽

Neural Gain

Neuronal hyperexcitability in the central auditory pathway linked to reduced inhibitory activity is associated with numerous forms of hearing loss, including noise damage, age-dependent hearing loss, and deafness, as well as tinnitus or auditory processing deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In most cases, the reduced central inhibitory activity and the accompanying hyperexcitability are interpreted as an active compensatory response to the absence of synaptic activity, linked to increased central neural gain control (increased output activity relative to reduced input). We here suggest that hyperexcitability also could be related to an immaturity or impairment of tonic inhibitory strength that typically develops in an activity-dependent process in the ascending auditory pathway with auditory experience. In these cases, high-SR auditory nerve fibers, which are critical for the shortest latencies and lowest sound thresholds, may have either not matured (possibly in congenital deafness or autism) or are dysfunctional (possibly after sudden, stressful auditory trauma or age-dependent hearing loss linked with cognitive decline). Fast auditory processing deficits can occur despite maintained basal hearing. In that case, tonic inhibitory strength is reduced in ascending auditory nuclei, and fast inhibitory parvalbumin positive interneuron (PV-IN) dendrites are diminished in auditory and frontal brain regions. This leads to deficits in central neural gain control linked to hippocampal LTP/LTD deficiencies, cognitive deficits, and unbalanced extra-hypothalamic stress control. Under these conditions, a diminished inhibitory strength may weaken local neuronal coupling to homeostatic vascular responses required for the metabolic support of auditory adjustment processes. We emphasize the need to distinguish these two states of excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in hearing disorders: (i) Under conditions of preserved fast auditory processing and sustained tonic inhibitory strength, an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance following auditory deprivation can maintain precise hearing through a memory linked, transient disinhibition that leads to enhanced spiking fidelity (central neural gain⇑) (ii) Under conditions of critically diminished fast auditory processing and reduced tonic inhibitory strength, hyperexcitability can be part of an increased synchronization over a broader frequency range, linked to reduced spiking reliability (central neural gain⇓). This latter stage mutually reinforces diminished metabolic support for auditory adjustment processes, increasing the risks for canonical dementia syndromes.

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Patterns of Auditory Processing and Articulation Deficits in Academically Deficient Juvenile Delinquents

Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders ◽

10.1044/jshd.4801.36 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 36-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Peter W. Zinkus ◽

Marvin I. Gottlieb

Keyword(s):

Auditory Processing ◽

Juvenile Delinquents ◽

Language Disorders ◽

Treatment Programs ◽

Early School ◽

Articulation Disorders ◽

Processing Deficits ◽

Academically Deficient ◽

School Period ◽

Speech And Language Disorders

Auditory processing deficits and articulation disorders were studied in a group of male juvenile delinquents. Significant auditory processing deficits were frequently observed and were significantly related to underachievement in reading, spelling, and arithmetic. In addition, articulation disorders were present in over 60% of the delinquent subjects. The results are interpreted to indicate that the evaluation of speech capabilities and auditory processing skills should be an integral part of treatment programs for delinquent populations. The importance of early intervention through identification and treatment of speech and language disorders in the early school period is supported.

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