[Results from applying the monaural compressed speech test in Spanish at 75% and 100% in cases of stuttering and controls]. / Resultados de la aplicación de la prueba monoaural con palabra comprimida en Español al 75% y al 100% en casos de tartamudez y controles.

AIM: To evaluate the results obtained from applying the monaural compressed speech test in Spanish at 75% and 100% in cases of stutterers and controls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study involved 50 cases with ages ranging from 8 to 36 years, 25 of whom were stutterers and 25 controls, who were paired one to one by age, sex and schooling. Severe cases of stuttering were not included. Subjects had to have normal auditory functioning, which was evaluated by means of audiometry and peripheral vocal audiometry, and also normal cognitive functioning, which was assessed using TONI-2 in children and by the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental State Examination in adults. RESULTS: The average number of correct answers on the CSTS at 75% was 60.98% in cases of stutterers and 82.04% in the group of controls (Student's t = -7.4; p = 0.0001), and on the CSTS at 100% the figures were 56.56% and 73.16%, respectively, (Student's t = -5.9; p = 0.0001). Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each test by means of ROC curves, together with the cut-off point. CONCLUSION: Applying the CSTS in individuals who stutter helped us to identify disorders in the temporal processing of auditory information.

[Brainstem auditory evoked potentials and vertex potentials in 5-year-old children with defective articulation of the phonemes /l/, /r/, /rr/ and /s/]. / Potenciales evocados auditivos de tallo cerebral y potenciales de vertice en ninos de 5 anos con fallos articulatorios para los fonemas /l/, /r/, /rr/ y /s/.

AIMS: In children with articulatory defects it is important to evaluate the central auditory level. We compared the results of the interwave intervals of brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) at 80 dB SPL (sound pressure level) and the latencies of the waves of long latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEP) (vertex) in 5-year-old children with articulatory defects for /l/, /r/, /rr/ and /s/, and in controls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty cases of 5-year-old children of both sexes were evaluated; 25 had articulatory defects and 25 with no articulatory defects were used as controls. Melgar's articulation test was applied to both groups. The following aspects were considered in the two groups: normal bilateral audition by means of tone audiometry, tympanometry and the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for preschool and primary school children, which were normal; there was no history of neurological damage. Interwave intervals for waves I-III, I-V and III-V of the BAEP and the latencies of the LLAEP (vertex) were evaluated. RESULTS: Data were analysed using SPSS 12, and descriptive statistics and Student's t test were carried out to appraise the differences between the two groups. No differences were found between the control group and the study group. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to determine whether children with articulatory defects have alterations in the auditory receptor or in their central auditory function. It can be concluded that the variables analysed in the two groups behave in the same way; no significant differences were found, which suggests that neither the auditory receptor nor the central auditory function are affected in the study group. Further studies are to be conducted to investigate the meaning of the difference in central nervous conduction between the two afferences in the study group.

[Identification of auditory laterality by means of a new dichotic digit test in Spanish, and body laterality and spatial orientation in children with dyslexia and in controls]. / Identificación de la lateralidad auditiva mediante una prueba dicótica nueva con dígitos en español, y de la lateralidad corporal y orientación espacial en niños con dislexia y en controles.

INTRODUCTION: In this study, a new dichotic digit test in Spanish (NDDTS) was applied in order to identify auditory laterality. We also evaluated body laterality and spatial location using the Subirana test. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Both the dichotic test and the Subirana test for body laterality and spatial location were applied in a group of 40 children with dyslexia and in a control group made up of 40 children who were paired according to age and gender. The results of the three evaluations were analysed using the SPSS 10 software application, with Pearson's chi-squared test. RESULTS: It was seen that 42.5% of the children in the group of dyslexics had mixed auditory laterality, compared to 7.5% in the control group (p < or = 0.05). Body laterality was mixed in 25% of dyslexic children and in 2.5% in the control group (p < or = 0.05) and there was 72.5% spatial disorientation in the group of dyslexics, whereas only 15% (p < or = 0.05) was found in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The NDDTS proved to be a useful tool for demonstrating that mixed auditory laterality and auditory predominance of the left ear are linked to dyslexia. The results of this test exceed those obtained for body laterality. Spatial orientation is indeed altered in children with dyslexia. The importance of this finding makes it necessary to study the central auditory processes in all cases in order to define better rehabilitation strategies in Spanish-speaking children.

[Basic disorders in human communication]. / Perturbaciones básicas en la comunicación humana.

This paper specifies the areas and disorders that concern human communication medicine. The frequency of the diverse disorders is analyzed in relation to age and sex, and the distribution in group ages of several disabling diseases is also discussed.