Do Room Acoustics Affect the Amplitude of Sound-Field Auditory Steady-State Responses?

The sound-field auditory steady-state response (ASSR) is a promising measure for the objective validation of hearing-aid fitting in patients who are unable to respond to behavioral testing reliably. To record the sound-field ASSR, the stimulus is reproduced through a loudspeaker placed in front of the patient. However, the reverberation and background noise of the measurement room could reduce the stimulus modulation used for eliciting the ASSR. As the ASSR level is heavily dependent on the stimulus modulation, any reduction due to room acoustics could affect the clinical viability of sound-field ASSR testing. This study investigated the effect of room acoustics on the level and detection rate of sound-field ASSR. The study also analyzed whether early decay time and an auditory-inspired relative modulation power model could be used to predict the changes in the recorded ASSR in rooms. A monaural auralization approach was used to measure sound-field ASSR via insert earphones. ASSR was measured for 15 normal-hearing adult subjects using narrow-band CE-Chirps® centered at the octave bands of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. These stimuli were convolved with simulated impulse responses of three rooms inspired by audiological testing rooms. The results showed a significant reduction of the ASSR level for the room conditions compared with the reference anechoic condition. Despite this reduction, the detection rates for the first harmonics of the ASSR were unaffected when sufficiently long recordings (up to 6 min) were made. Furthermore, the early decay time and relative modulation power appear to be useful predictors of the ASSR level in the measurement rooms.

Efecto de una intervención basada en realidad virtual sobre las habi lidades motrices básicas y control postural de niños con Síndrome de Down / Effect of an intervention based on virtual reality on motor development and postural control in children with Down Syndrome

Resumen: Los estudios sobre intervenciones basadas en realidad virtual y su efecto en el desarrollo motor y control postural en niños con Síndrome de Down (SD) son escasos. Objetivo: Determinar el efec to de una intervención basada en realidad virtual, sobre el desarrollo motor y el control postural en niños con SD. Pacientes y Método: Estudio con un enfoque cuantitativo, con un diseño cuasi experimental, que incluyó a 16 niños con SD asignados aleatoriamente a un grupo experimental (GWBB, n = 9) y grupo control (GC, n = 7). Se evaluó control postural mediante el desplazamien to del centro de presión y desarrollo motor con TGMD-2. El programa de intervención se llevó a cabo durante 2 veces por semana por 5 semanas. Los datos fueron sometidos a análisis estadísti cos, el test de Shapiro Wilk para la distribución de la muestra, y T de Student para la comparación de medias de los grupos. Resultados: Se observaron cambios significativos en el Test TGMD-2 y en su subtest de manipulación (p < 0,01) respectivamente. En el resto de las pruebas hubo una mejora, pero no se observan diferencias significativas. Conclusión: Una intervención basada en realidad virtual fue efectiva solo en el GWBB, proporcionando ejercicios de bajo impacto para mejorar el control postural y provocando con ello una mejora de las habilidades motoras en niños con SD.

Abstract: There are few studies on the effect of a virtual reality-based intervention on motor development and postural control in children with Down Syndrome (DS). Objective: To determine the effect of a virtual reality-based intervention on motor development and postural control in children with DS. Patients and Method: Study with a quantitative approach, with a quasi-experimental design, which included 16 children with DS randomly assigned to an experimental group (GWBB, n = 9) and con trol group (GC, n = 7). Postural control was evaluated by the center of pressure displacement and motor development with TGMD-2. The intervention program was carried out for five weeks, two times per week. The data were subjected to statistical analysis, the Shapiro Wilk test for the sample distribution, and the Student's T-test for the comparison of group means. Results: Significant chan ges were observed in the TGMD-2 Test and its manipulation subtest (p <0.01) respectively. In the rest of the tests, there was an improvement, but no significant differences were observed. Conclusion: A virtual reality-based intervention was effective in GWBB, providing low-impact exercises to improve postural control and thus leading to improved motor skills in children with DS.

Relación entre control postural y desarrollo motor en niños con síndrome de down y con desarrollo típico de Chillán / Relationship between postural control and motor development in children with down syndrome and with typical development of Chillán

El objetivo de esta investigación es relacionar el desarrollo motor y control postural en niños con Síndrome de Down de la ciudad de Chillán. La investigación tiene un diseño no experimental, transeccional, correlacional. La muestra intencionada no probabilística está constituida por un total de 36 niños entre 6 y 12 años con Síndrome de Down (n=16) y con Desarrollo Típico (n=20). Se evalúo el desarrollo motor grueso por medio del Test of Gross Development (Ulrich, 2000), y control postural mediante una plataforma Wii Balance Board (Rey-Martinez & Perez-Fernandez, 2016) calculando el área de desplazamiento del centro de presiones en posición estática con ojos abiertos y cerrados. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos tanto en desarrollo motor como control postural (p<0,05) siendo mejores en el grupo de desarrollo típico. No se encontró una co-rrelación entre control postural y desarrollo motor en el grupo de niños con Síndrome de Down. En conclusión, los niños con Síndrome de Down presentan un retraso en el control postural y desarrollo motor en comparación a los niños con desarrollo típico, sin embargo, es necesario realizar más inves-tigación para determinar la relación entre ambas variables.

The objective of this research is to relate motor development and postural control in children with Down syndrome in the city of Chillán. The research has a non-experimental, transactional, correlational design. The sample is non-probabilistic intentional and consists of a total of 36 children between 6 and 12 years old with Down Syndrome (n = 16) and with Typical Development (n = 20). The gross motor development was evaluated through the Test of Gross Development (Ulrich, 2000), and postu-ral control through a Wii Balance Board platform (Rey-Martinez & Perez-Fernandez, 2016) calcula-ting the displacement area of the center of pressures in position static with open and closed eyes. The results show significant differences between the two groups both in motor development and postural control (p <0.05), being better in the typical development group. Not found a correlation between pos-tural control and motor development in children with Down Syndrome group. In conclusion, children with Down syndrome show a delay in postural control and motor development compared to children with typical development, however, it's necessary to carry out further research to determine the rela-tionship between the two variables.

[Effect of an intervention based on virtual reality on motor development and postural control in children with Down Syndrome]. / Efecto de una intervención basada en realidad virtual sobre las habi lidades motrices básicas y control postural de niños con Síndrome de Down.

There are few studies on the effect of a virtual reality-based intervention on motor development and postural control in children with Down Syndrome (DS). OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of a virtual reality-based intervention on motor development and postural control in children with DS. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Study with a quantitative approach, with a quasi-experimental design, which included 16 children with DS randomly assigned to an experimental group (GWBB, n = 9) and con trol group (GC, n = 7). Postural control was evaluated by the center of pressure displacement and motor development with TGMD-2. The intervention program was carried out for five weeks, two times per week. The data were subjected to statistical analysis, the Shapiro Wilk test for the sample distribution, and the Student's T-test for the comparison of group means. RESULTS: Significant chan ges were observed in the TGMD-2 Test and its manipulation subtest (p <0.01) respectively. In the rest of the tests, there was an improvement, but no significant differences were observed. CONCLUSION: A virtual reality-based intervention was effective in GWBB, providing low-impact exercises to improve postural control and thus leading to improved motor skills in children with DS.