Children with amblyaudia show less flexibility in auditory cortical entrainment to periodic non-speech sounds

ABSTRACTObjectiveWe investigated auditory temporal processing in children with amblyaudia (AMB), a subtype of auditory processing disorder, via cortical neural entrainment.Design and study samplesEvoked responses were recorded to click-trains at slow vs. fast (8.5 vs. 14.9/sec) rates in n=14 children with AMB and n=11 age-matched controls. Source and time-frequency analyses decomposed EEGs into oscillations (reflecting neural entrainment) stemming from the bilateral auditory cortex.ResultsPhase-locking strength in AMB depended critically on the speed of auditory stimuli. In contrast to age-matched peers, AMB responses were largely insensitive to rate manipulations. This rate resistance was seen regardless of the ear of presentation and in both cortical hemispheres.ConclusionChildren with AMB show a stark inflexibility in auditory cortical entrainment to rapid sounds. In addition to reduced capacity to integrate information between the ears, we identify more rigid tagging of external auditory stimuli. Our neurophysiological findings may account for certain temporal processing deficits commonly observed in AMB and related auditory processing disorders (APDs) behaviorally. More broadly, our findings may inform communication strategies and future rehabilitation programs; increasing the rate of stimuli above a normal (slow) speech rate is likely to make stimulus processing more challenging for individuals with AMB/APD.

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The Role of Visual and Auditory Temporal Processing in Reading Irregular and Nonsense Words

Perception ◽

10.1068/p3025 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 30 (9) ◽

pp. 1127-1142 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Agnes Au ◽

Bill Lovegrove

Keyword(s):

Temporal Resolution ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Reading Ability ◽

Word Reading ◽

Nonsense Word ◽

Stepwise Multiple Regression ◽

Irregular Word ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing

In the present study, the role of rapid visual and auditory temporal processing in reading irregular and nonsense words was investigated with a group of normal readers. One hundred and five undergraduates participated in various visual and auditory temporal-processing tasks. Readers who primarily adopted the phonological route in reading (nonsense-word readers) showed a trend for better auditory temporal resolution but readers who primarily adopted sight word skills (irregular-word readers) did not exhibit better visual temporal resolution. Both the correlation and stepwise multiple-regression analyses, however, revealed a relationship between visual temporal processing and irregular-word reading as well as a relationship between auditory temporal processing and nonsense-word reading. The results support the involvement of visual and auditory processing in reading irregular and nonsense words respectively, and were discussed with respect to recent findings that only dyslexics with phonological impairment will display temporal deficits. Further, the temporal measures were not effective discriminants for the reading groups, suggesting a lack of association between reading ability and the choice of reading strategy.

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Reference values of selected auditory temporal processing tests for Polish school children

Otolaryngologia Polska ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0012.4366 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 72 (4) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Elżbieta Włodarczyk ◽

Agata Szkiełkowska ◽

Adam Piłka

Keyword(s):

Reference Values ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Normative Values ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Frequency Pattern ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Sound Sensitivity

Introduction: Distorted processing of auditory information has a negative impact on the child’s cognitive development. There are only a few studies conducted by Polish researchers determining the normative values of psychoacoustic tests in auditory processing disorders. They are inconsistent due to different methodologies and different research protocols. Objective: The aim of the work was to determine the reference values of selected psychoacoustic tests for the population of Polish children between 7 and 12 years of age. Material and method: The study group consisted of 213 healthy children from 7 to 12 years of age. The condition for including the child in the study was an intellectual norm, proper sound sensitivity, proper development of children’s voice and speech. All children underwent two auditory temporal processing tests. The diagnostic procedure used a standardized Frequency Pattern Test (FPT) and Duration Pattern Test (DPT). The tests were carried out in accordance with the authors' recommendations, using the original versions available on the CD for 60 dB SL intensity, simultaneously for the right and left ear. Results: The reference values for FPT and DPT tests were determined at various age ranges in children aged 7-12. It has been shown that auditory functions change with age and development of the child. Reference values including age, language, cultural and educational differences were prepared. Conclusions: The development of reference values for individual tests for the Polish children population is a key element in the reliable diagnosis of auditory processing.

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Association between auditory temporal and visual processing in reading skill

Revista CEFAC ◽

10.1590/1982-0216/20192156119 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Ana Carla Oliveira Garcia ◽

Douglas de Araújo Vilhena ◽

Márcia Reis Guimarães ◽

Ângela Maria Vieira Pinheiro ◽

Teresa Maria Momensohn-Santos

Keyword(s):

Temporal Processing ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Reading Rate ◽

Control Group ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Significance Level ◽

Colored Overlays ◽

Visual Stress

ABSTRACT Purpose: to verify whether students screened with altered auditory temporal processing are more likely to present altered visual processing. Methods: the sample consisted of 68 children, aged from 9 to 12 years, 53% males, from the 5th and 6th grades of a public school. All children with alterations in the audiological or ophthalmological evaluation were excluded. The Duration Pattern Test (screening for auditory temporal skill), the Reading Perceptual Scale (visual stress symptom questionnaire and colored overlays selection) and the Rate of Reading Test (number of words correctly read per minute) were used. Appropriate statistical tests were applied adopting the significance level lower than 0.05. Results: participants screened with abnormal auditory processing had higher visual stress symptoms and lower reading rate, with a significant and moderate effect (p< 0.05; d< 0.71), when compared to their peers with normal auditory processing. Among the children with altered Duration Pattern Test, 58% improved the reading rate with the use of colored overlays, whereas 29% did so in the control group (Odds Ratio = 3.4, p = 0.017). Conclusion: children screened with altered auditory temporal processing presented a three times higher possibility of association with visual processing alterations, due to shared magnocellular system.

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Temporal Auditory Processing and Phonological Awareness in Children with Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2015/256340 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

M. I. R. Amaral ◽

R. L. Casali ◽

M. Boscariol ◽

L. L. Lunardi ◽

M. M. Guerreiro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phonological Awareness ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

School Age Children ◽

Control Group ◽

Healthy Children ◽

School Age ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Noise Test ◽

Better Than

The aim of this research was to analyze temporal auditory processing and phonological awareness in school-age children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS). Patient group (GI) consisted of 13 children diagnosed with BECTS. Control group (GII) consisted of 17 healthy children. After neurological and peripheral audiological assessment, children underwent a behavioral auditory evaluation and phonological awareness assessment. The procedures applied were: Gaps-in-Noise test (GIN), Duration Pattern test, and Phonological Awareness test (PCF). Results were compared between the groups and a correlation analysis was performed between temporal tasks and phonological awareness performance. GII performed significantly better than the children with BECTS (GI) in both GIN and Duration Pattern test (P<0.001). GI performed significantly worse in all of the 4 categories of phonological awareness assessed: syllabic (P=0.001), phonemic (P=0.006), rhyme (P=0.015) and alliteration (P=0.010). Statistical analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the phonological awareness assessment and Duration Pattern test (P<0.001). From the analysis of the results, it was concluded that children with BECTS may have difficulties in temporal resolution, temporal ordering, and phonological awareness skills. A correlation was observed between auditory temporal processing and phonological awareness in the suited sample.

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Lateralization of Speech and Auditory Temporal Processing

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/089892998562834 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 536-540 ◽

Cited By ~ 215

Author(s):

Pascal Belin ◽

Monica Zilbovicius ◽

Sophie Crozier ◽

Lionel Thivard ◽

and Anne Fontaine ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Cerebral Activation ◽

Language Lateralization ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Positron Emission ◽

Human Volunteers ◽

The Right

To investigate the role of temporal processing in language lateralization, we monitored asymmetry of cerebral activation in human volunteers using positron emission tomography (PET). Subjects were scanned during passive auditory stimulation with nonverbal sounds containing rapid (40 msec) or extended (200 msec) frequency transitions. Bilateral symmetric activation was observed in the auditory cortex for slow frequency transitions. In contrast, left-biased asymmetry was observed in response to rapid frequency transitions due to reduced response of the right auditory cortex. These results provide direct evidence that auditory processing of rapid acoustic transitions is lateralized in the human brain. Such functional asymmetry in temporal processing is likely to contribute to language lateralization from the lowest levels of cortical processing.

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Relationship between Verbal and Nonverbal Tests of Auditory Temporal Processing

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology ◽

10.1055/s-0041-1723042 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marni Novick ◽

Jay R. Lucker

Keyword(s):

Temporal Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Gap Detection ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Verbal Stimuli ◽

Processing Abilities ◽

Nonverbal Measures ◽

Auditory Processes ◽

Pearson Correlations ◽

Verbal Measure

Abstract Background Audiologists may choose to evaluate auditory temporal processing in assessing auditory processing abilities. Some may decide to use measures of nonverbal stimuli such as tonal or noise gap detection. Others may decide to use verbal measures such as time compressed sentences (TCS). Many may choose to use both. Purpose Since people typically come to audiologists for auditory processing testing complaining of problems processing verbal stimuli, the question arises whether measures of nonverbal stimuli provide evidence regarding a person's abilities to processing verbal stimuli. That is, are there significant correlations between measures of verbal stimuli and nonverbal stimuli that are used to evaluate auditory temporal processing? Research Design The present investigation is an exploratory study using file review of 104 people seen for routine auditory processing evaluations by the authors. Study Sample A file review was completed based on data from 104 people seen for auditory processing evaluations. Data Collection and Analyses The data from these 104 files were used to evaluate whether there are any correlations between verbal and nonverbal measures of auditory temporal processing. The verbal measure used was the TCS subtest of the SCAN-3 while the nonverbal measures included the gap detection screening from the SCAN-3 as well as the gaps-in-noise measures. Results from these tests were compared to determine whether any significant correlations were found based on results from Pearson product moment correlational analyses. Results None of the nonverbal measures were found to have a significant correlation with the TCS test findings based on the Pearson correlations used to analyze the data. Conclusion Results indicate that there are no significant correlations (relationships) between measures of auditory temporal processing using nonverbal stimuli versus verbal stimuli based on the tests used in the present investigation. These findings lead to a conclusion that tests using nonverbal stimuli are measuring different auditory processes than the measure of verbal stimuli used in the present investigation. Since people typically come complaining about understanding verbal input, it is concluded that audiologists should use some verbal measure of auditory temporal processing in their auditory processing test battery.

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Ahead of Maturation: Enhanced Speech Envelope Training Boosts Rise Time Discrimination in Pre-Readers at Cognitive Risk for Dyslexia

10.1101/2021.04.12.439411 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shauni Van Herck ◽

Femke Vanden Bempt ◽

Maria Economou ◽

Jolijn Vanderauwera ◽

Toivo Glatz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Auditory Processing ◽

Rise Time ◽

Temporal Structure ◽

First Grade ◽

Auditory Temporal Processing ◽

Time Discrimination ◽

Cognitive Risk ◽

Speech Envelope

Dyslexia has frequently been related to atypical auditory temporal processing and speech perception. Results of studies emphasizing speech onset cues and reinforcing the temporal structure of the speech envelope, i.e. envelope enhancement, demonstrated reduced speech perception deficits in individuals with dyslexia. The use of this strategy as an auditory intervention might thus reduce some of the deficits related to dyslexia. Importantly, interventions are most effective when they are provided during kindergarten and first grade. Hence, we provided a tablet-based 12-week preventive auditory and phonics-based intervention to pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia and investigated the effect on auditory temporal processing with a rise time discrimination task. Ninety-one pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia (aged 5-6) were assigned to two groups receiving a phonics-based intervention and playing a story listening game either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) envelope enhancement or a third group playing control games and listening to non-enhanced stories (n = 29). Rise time discrimination was measured directly before, directly after and one year after the intervention. While the groups listening to non-enhanced stories mainly improved after the intervention during first grade, the group listening to enhanced stories improved during the intervention in kindergarten and subsequently remained stable during first grade. Hence, an envelope enhancement intervention improves auditory processing skills important for the development of phonological skills. This occurred before the onset of reading instruction, preceding the maturational improvement of these skills, hence giving at risk children a head start when learning to read.

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